Every summer I like to buy an assortment of fun things and little treats. (Buying things: it’s how I cope.)
Our first treat this summer was a selection of Hostess items (Twinkies, cupcakes, Sno-balls, a fruit pie) for cultural literacy. (Verdict: no one liked them as much as they’d expected to, but it was fun to do/try.) We also tried the York Peppermint Patty ice cream bars (verdict: pretty good) and the Reese’s Cup ice cream bars (verdict: two kids didn’t finish theirs and the others thought they were fine; I thought they were VERY YUM and I gladly ate the ones the two kids didn’t finish).
Then I bought the game Scrambled States (photo from Amazon.com). William got an “area of concern” marking in U.S. geography this past year, so he and I are working together on our geography dislike/difficulty. (My grandfather was a cartographer. You can imagine the pain he felt when, for example, he would ask me if I knew where Egypt was. Me: “Let’s see. It’s not in North America or, like, near England. …Wait. Right?”) We’ve been playing the game for a couple of weeks, and it’s a really good one. It’s marked “8+” and it’s definitely perfect for Rob and William (and, er, me), but it’s easy enough that the 7-year-old twins can play it with us too as long as I keep reassuring them that the rest of us have already LEARNED our states (…theoretically) so of COURSE we’re better at it.
Then a jump rope (photo from Amazon.com). Well, TWO jump ropes, because when I bought the one Elizabeth had asked for, Edward wanted to know why I hadn’t gotten one for him. …Well, THREE jump ropes, because then one of the kids left a jump rope in the driveway and I ran over the handle.
Last week I ran into some neighbors at the store and they heartily recommended Skip-bo (photo from Amazon.com) as a game parents could play with children without wishing for sweet, sweet death (see: Candyland). I bought it on the spot, at that very store. Upsides: I can play it with all five children at once (it’s for 2-6 players); even 5-year-old Henry can play with some assistance, and I notice it’s helping him with numbers (sequencing and figuring out how many more cards he needs to make five). Downsides: With six players, everyone was bored waiting for turns, and we barely finished stacks in time to refill the draw pile. A four-, three-, or two-player match works much better—which is fine, because it turns out that playing a game with all five children is not ideal for my sanity anyway.
Every summer for the last few years I’ve bought a new kid album for the car: we spend kind of a lot of time driving to and fro. This year I got The Yellow Album (photo from Amazon.com), from SpongeBob SquarePants. It’s better than I’d expected.
I asked the kids if they could think of anything else fun we’d gotten this summer, and William said “THE CAT!” Okay, we didn’t on purpose get him as a summer treat, but he HAS worked out that way: there’s been lots of cooing over the cat, and playing with him, and watching him. Big success, A+++++ would recommend.
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Have you bought any summer treatish things? There is still a lot of summer left.
Your comments about Skip-Bo made wonder…do you know of other games for young kids (5 years-ish) that older kids (say, 10 and 13) would be willing to play also? All of our games are either/or and it’s usually the almost-5 year old that’s left out. I’d like some that everyone could play together without having to hear how booooorrrriiinng it is from the older kids.
Brenna | July 4th, 2012 at 7:00 pm
Brenna- So far we’ve had very little luck with it! We’re always finding games that EITHER the 11 & 13 year olds can play OR that the 5 & 7 year olds can play—and the 5-year-old is hardest because he can’t read.
swistle | July 4th, 2012 at 7:08 pm
For Brenna, have you tried Uno? I know it’s pretty basic, but it’s a great family game. Also, I was with some kids last night and they were playing Spoons. Google it - you play with regular cards.
Our fun summer things include new popsicles - year-round I seem to have the kind in the plastic wrappers that you buy unfrozen, but in summer I like to buy “fancy” ones; new waterguns (and this year a football) for the pool; and watermelon, for obvious reasons.
Will have to think of a few more; I like the idea of making summer different, esp. since my kids are at daycare camp, which can feel a lot like school, in the summers.
el-e-e | July 5th, 2012 at 12:28 pm
Re. games that work for a variety of ages: Have you heard of Gobblet Gobblers? It is a strategy game that is basically like a nesting tic tac toe. The downside for a family is that only 2 people can play it but the upside is that it is fun and interesting for adults (really!) and anyone who gets tic tac toe can play it (i.e., a 5 year old). Check it out!
Beth | July 5th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
I love the way you described pinpointing Egypt.
And the cat is ADORABLE. Does she have a name yet?
I remember colored chalk being a fun summer thing as a kid. A fun summer OUTDOOR thing.
Life of a Doctor\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s Wife | July 5th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
For games, I was going to recommend Zooloretto (no reading required, but lots of interesting strategy for older kids/you!) and then realized I should just link this whole post of Catherine Newman’s with lots of games that could be appropriate for a wider range of ages — though 5 is just short of the recommended age range for a lot of them… http://benandbirdy.blogspot.com/2010/11/board-game-round-up-dear-ones-on-off.html
marilyn | July 5th, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Uh, I bought some brightly colored pencil skirts, a teal belt, and a couple of cooler maxi dresses for summer. I also bought some new books for summer (Swistle: Mysterious Benedict Society! LOVE!).
I don’t have any kids, but I am going to the beach next weekend, and I might get some “activities” for myself.
Buttercup | July 5th, 2012 at 7:59 pm
Life of a Doctor’s Wife- HIS (*full-on mock offended even though I didn’t say either way and cats are by default female as dogs are by default male*) name is Simon!
swistle | July 5th, 2012 at 8:16 pm
Buttercup- Ooooh, I’m glad you liked it! We found the sequels not quite as good as the first, but still fun!
swistle | July 5th, 2012 at 8:17 pm
Have you played the card game, Pit? It’s a card game, but you don’t have to know your numbers to play it. It is a game where you are basically trading commodities (kind of like the stock market), but your commodities are things like corn and wheat. Anyway, everyone “plays” at the same time so there is no taking turns. Small children can play it and adults love it also. I can remember playing it as a child (much to my grandmother’s chagrin - because it is loud) with my mother and my aunts (her sisters) and LOVING it. I am thinking about purchasing a new game and teaching my children to play.
It is loud (everyone is shouting at once to “trade” their commodities), but oh, so fun! And it kind of bridges the generations.
Other treats - I have been freezing Caprisun pouches and letting the kids eat them frozen which they think is awesome.
Also, we’ve been keeping a jigsaw puzzle up and going all summer. We all enjoy working on it, particularly in the evening. It is in our living room so we can kind of watch TV and work on it at the same time. I have caught the children working on it individually throughout the days which is fun to see that they are choosing the puzzle over TV or video games.
Also, we are re-watching the Harry Potter movies. The children have wands (we found some wooden, hand-made wands here locally) and have been researching all the “spells” they could conjure. They are making “wizard” notebooks and keeping all their research in them. It’s so fun to see them be creative and kind of take the movies to a different level. My older boys (9 & 10) are reading the books also.
Jolie | July 7th, 2012 at 1:58 am