If you want to make a truly great summer, create a summertime theme for your kids. Here’s a theme I’m quite partial to: Make Something Monday, Taste Something Tuesday, Wonder Somewhere Wednesday, Do Something Thoughtful Thursday, and Family Fun Friday (borrowed from here with a list of other great summer ideas).
Out and about
- Cruze Farm Ice Cream just opened their summer pop up shop, but if that doesn’t tickle your fancy, The Phoenix Pharmacy & Soda Fountain downtown might do it or one of several other sweet treateries
- Bring a bike, a scooter, or some skates (just don’t forget the helmet!) down to Safety City
- Make sure to check out the new Karns Lions Club Playground (yes, it’s amazing)
- Enjoy one of Knoxville’s great many festivals
- Put the pedal to the metal and race to Veloce Indoor Speedway
- Soon, enjoy a new laser tag, bowling alley, billiards and video game destination in Knoxville, Main Event Entertainment
- Summer = Summer Camp
- Take advantage of the Knoxville Summer Kid Movie Series at local movie theaters.
- Cool off at the many splash pads throughout the Knoxville area
- Enjoy one of the very few remaining drive-in theaters in the country by spending the evening a Parkway Drive-In Theatre in Maryville
- Skip Dollywood Splash Country this summer and take a trip to Kentucky Splash! ($10 admission and much cheaper concession stand food)
- Enjoy a First Friday at least once this summer
- Go on a family-friendly daytrip
- Create a zip line in your own yard
- Have you checked out the new tiger exhibit at Zoo Knoxville yet? While you are there, might as well play Zoo Bingo
- Go on a swimming hole scavenger hunt
- Putt putt, race go-karts, laser tag, or even visit the Ripley’s Aquarium
- Pack a picnic, get in the car, flip a coin for right or left turns, and have a picnic at a spontaneous location (wherever the coin takes you)
- Explore all the parks in Knoxville or visit the Urban Wilderness!
- Rent a Pedal Boat at Adventure Outdoors
- Open gym at Tataru’s and Gym Bugs or plenty of other indoor activities
Hanging around the house
- Reinvent their imagination with a kid-friendly podcast before bedtime
- Three words: squirt gun painting
- Make some flubber
- Water balloons for endless fun, including water balloon dodge ball or hang a line of them as piñatas
- Laundry basket skeeball and other great indoor activities
- Turn off all the lights during a storm, light some candles and have a throwback to how it was when you were a kid and the power went out
- Have a silly makeover day. Buy some cheap temporary hair color spray and temporary tattoos and dress crazy
- Let your kids set up a lemonade stand (or something else fun) and allow them to use the money raised to buy a new book, toy or movie
- Tie dye some t-shirts and buy some cheap flip flops to decorate to match
- Order some bath bombs
- Make a kite and then fly it
- Dig out the empty Easter eggs, put some glow sticks inside of them and have a glow in the dark Easter egg hunt
- Run, don’t walk to your nearest KARM and buy some board games for a family game night! (I recently bought three versions of Scene It!, two of which were brand new, for $13)
- Create a legendary slip and slide with foam, whipped cream, paint, add some bowling pins, etc. The options are endless
- Outdoor lawn games (think giant Jenga blocks, giant checkers, spray painted twister circles on the lawn or corn hole)
- Make your own sundae party and then settle in for a ’90s Retro Movie Night
- Have a bonfire, roast some marshmallows, and bring out the sparklers
- A neighborhood scavenger hunt ending with a summer piñata
- Show your kids some Pinterest projects and let them pick the art activity of their choice
- Make a fun summer art snack, edible art with toothpicks, and let the kids chow down after they are done! Or better yet, break out the popsicles and turn the leftover sticks into an art project
- Have an indoor picnic
thank you for refreshing some very good ideas – and websites – they are very very helpfull