Summer Projects For Your Whole Family to Help Complete

By Guest Blogger Rose Morrison

Summer is an excellent time for home projects, but it can be a tricky process when the kids are on break from school. Incorporating your whole family into your summer activities is a great way to bond, teach life skills and entertain them when they’re away from their friends. Here are a few summer projects your children can help with!

Create a Garden

Summer is the perfect planting season. You and your family can create a garden bed for growing fruits, vegetables and flowers.

Dig up a site for your plants, create a raised garden bed, or grow items in pots or containers. No matter which method you choose, having a garden is a great way to beautify your space, produce delicious food or cultivate beautiful flowers. Planting crops and watching them grow is a great way to teach kids about caring for the land and growing their food, while also giving them a project that they can be responsible for all summer long!

Paint

Summer is a great time to paint as long as the humidity isn’t too high. Warm temperatures and the summer breeze make it easy to open the windows as your whole family brightens your space with a new look. Open windows help to dissipate some of the paint fumes, while also allowing your paint to dry faster, too!

Painting your exterior is another excellent summer project and helps to brighten up your house and increase your curb appeal. Let children paint part of the siding with brushes or allow older kids to help with a sprayer. You can make your family feel even more involved by letting them choose the paint color and some new indoor or outdoor decor to match the fresh paint.

Make Bird Feeders

A bird feeder is a fun craft on a summer day and can benefit your outdoor plants! When you have birds around, they can eat the predatory insects that can attack your crops, allowing your garden a safer space to bloom.

There are many ways to create feeders, but an easy DIY for kids of all ages is to cover a pine cone with peanut butter and birdseed. Hang the feeders on branches or yard hooks to attract feathered friends, but watch out for sassy squirrels!

A bonus tip is to get a one-way bird feeder to place on the window closest to your homemade feeder. You can use the rest of the seed you purchased to view birds close up. Looking through the glass of the window feeder can help your kids see the birds enjoying their creation without scaring them off.

Do a Group Clean-Out

You might have heard of spring cleaning, but a group clean-out is a productive summer activity everyone can get involved in. When you eliminate items, you can sell or donate them to worthy causes. Kids are often home during the summer, making it a great time to pass on the toys, bikes and other items they no longer use.

Take an inventory of your home, writing down what you have so you know what to eliminate. Create a scavenger hunt for your children to go around the house and identify different toys, tools, blankets and any other extra items you have around. You can have them race to see who can inventory the room first or send them around the home to find different categories.

Before you get rid of anything that belongs to your kids, getting their permission and explaining why you’re taking items out of the house is important. Then, have a yard sale, letting them sell their things and keep some of the funds. For donated items, let them go with you to see exactly how their items are helping the community.

Power Wash

Summer is a great time to power wash your exterior, eliminating the dirt and grime from winter snow and spring mud. While your children should never use a power washer, they often enjoy seeing the spray instantly clean your siding, gutters and patios.

Power washing can serve as entertainment as long as your children are at a safe distance away with a trusted adult present. Have them direct where the spray will go to make different pictures as you clean. They’ll love seeing you carve out their favorite emojis, animals or even their name on the side of the house.

Create a Slip-N-Slide

Once you’re done power washing, you can use your hose for another fun outdoor project — a slip-n-slide. Take a large plastic sheet or tarp and lay it on a flat area of your yard. Secure the sheet to the ground using stakes. Spray the slide with water or hook up your hose to a kids’ sprinkler for a constant flow of water. For extra slippage, consider adding some baby soap to the slide.

Always supervise your children when doing this activity and ensure no obstructions will cause an injury. Unlike a pool or hot tub, you can fold the tarp up once it dries, making it perfect for small yards.

Make Terrariums

A terrarium is a fun craft for you and your children to enjoy watching this summer; the whole family can make their own mini ecosystems to grow plants with only a few supplies.

Layer pebbles, horticultural charcoal, and potting soil into a container like a glass jar or clean fish bowl. Then, plant small flowers or shrubbery — examples include tropical ferns, mosses and air plants. Most of these plants thrive in a low-light, humid environment.

You can set them in a window for a fun summer decor item. Have your kids decorate and care for their terrariums, letting them take pride in what they’re growing throughout the season and beyond!

Getting your kids involved with your summer projects can help them feel like a part of your home’s decision-making process. This can boost their confidence by letting them know you trust them to help out! These projects are great learning opportunities made fun and provide screen-free activities to do together all summer long.

Tags: DIY, Projects, Summer, summer diy, summer projects