Here Comes Summer Fun!

by Florence B.

This is it—my last blog post for the school year (looking forward to next year’s posts from Amanda, your new BFCP blogger!). I hope you all enjoyed the 2017-2018 school year as much as we did! While we’ll miss our days at BFCP, with the beautiful summer weather comes the fun mystery of what to plan each day! With so much daylight, there’s so much time to play!

Here’s a list of a few of my favorite activities if you need some inspiration:

* U-Pick Strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries,

* Visit local splash pad parks,

* Visit the beach (including the mysterious Jetty Island that’s only open in July and August)!

* Visit a park we haven’t been to yet,

* Visit an indoor playground when it gets a bit *too* hot,

* Go hiking!

For more detailed ideas for things to do, you can look back at some of my previous posts that I have summarized below!

1) Get your busy bag party going with “Busy with Busy Bags.” Rain or sun, this is still a fun activity with a great excuse to hang out with friends!

2) Go explore your kitchen with “Kitchen Science.” Exploring how ice melts is extra fun on hot summer days!

3) Continuing on the theme of the kitchen, focus on food with “Playing with Your Food.” What’s extra nice is you don’t have to worry as much about messes if you set up a play table outside! Plus, you’ve got the hose outside already for extra messy messes!

4) Don’t forget to read with “Let’s Read: Three Ways for You to Find Books.” Most of the library story times listed in that post will be on hiatus for the summer, but there are still plenty of other events that the libraries have scheduled! As an added bonus, you can tie in library visits with park visits since the library is a great place to cool off after some outside park play!

5) And finally, it’s summer so we can’t leave out the best part: playing outside at parks! If you don’t want the craziness of tracking your kiddo in a large park, explore some fenced ones in “Outside Fun at School and Fenced Playgrounds." Also, here’s a tip: you’ll probably find many large groups of kids with summer camps out in full force! Stick to the early morning or after two if you want to avoid most of them. Also, smaller parks will most likely be summer camp-free, and if you find a tot-lot area (like the one in St. Edwards Park), campers are very respectful of the age suggestions!

There you have it! Enjoy the summer!