Summer’s fiery energy is expansive—it invites you to play, enjoy friends, explore, and travel. Here’s a slew of ideas for creating memorable summer activities (that ideally will become traditions) for fun and relaxation whether for yourself or as part of a family with kids.
The world around us is zesty, delicious, and abundant. Blossoming gives way to ripening. As the fruits of the earth ripen, so can the dreams and projects that started as seeds in the spring. See if you can nurture what you’ve sown, both literally and figuratively.
Graphic above: ALLEVINATIS Studio EOOD/Bigstock
Start some summer traditions of your own
- Have an annual family campout, even if it’s in your own back yard. Have a campfire, and set up tents. Enjoy a cookout, then stay up late telling stories and stargazing.
- Grow pots of fresh herbs in a sunny windowsill, or on a porch or deck. If you prefer not to grow your own, make sure to buy fragrant bunches at farm markets to embellish summer fare.
- Learn something new. Brush up on or learn a foreign languages; study up on favorite periods in history, read political or literary biographies, or tackle a new craft or physical skill.
- Change up your home decor: Cover sofas with cotton slipcovers, and beds with cool cotton sheets and blankets. Place lots of bright flowers in every available vase, in every room of the house. Round up the family to freshen up coats of paint, especially doors and windowsills that can get grimy.
- Summer food traditions include fresh corn on the cob, berries, melons, and other luscious fruits, tomatoes, and more tomatoes! Feed your palate’s preference for minimally cooked, light foods with cold soups, veggie-filled wraps, and bountiful salads. Wash it all down with homemade lemonade, and top it off with ice cream.
- Beach visit collections: collect sea glass, shells, pebbles, and driftwood. Do art projects with your children from your finds—sea glass mosaics, shell-covered picture frames, or driftwood mobiles.
- Make a simple memory book of the summer’s activities and adventures. During the course of the summer, save memorabilia in a box—camp and vacation pictures, ticket stubs, travel brochures, postcards, and other paraphernalia. Use a quiet, rainy morning to glue them into a sturdy blank journal.
Beach traditions
Some of the most evocative childhood memories are made of sand and sun. Somehow, time spent at the beach becomes a cherished tradition for those lucky enough to have access to a shoreline.
Carolyn has been going to Cape Cod nearly every summer since she was a child, and has been taking her daughter there for at least one week each summer to enjoy the same things she did when she was young.
They bike into town or take the path to Provincetown, go on a whale watch and to the Audubon Society, and walk on their favorite rocky beach. The warm bays and ponds, the beauty of the light and colors, and the air’s briny scent add up to a cherished tradition that Carolyn can’t imagine doing without, even but for one week each summer.
Beth’s family enjoys an enviable week-long mini-reunion at the end of each summer—six side-by-side cottages on the Jersey Shore for her family, and the families of her two sisters, her husband’s brother, and each set of their parents. The days consist of cousins playing together, parents relaxing together, cooperatively made barbecue dinners, and lots of reading.
Traditional summer outings
Having at least one must-do summer outing—something old-fashioned, bordering on corny—can make the season complete. You probably already have a favorite summer activity or two. Elevate them to the status of tradition and see how much more satisfying they can be.
Consider your family’s preferences and interests (as well as your geographic location); try a few of these outings on for size. Decide whether your special outing traditions will be solely for your own family, or a chance to join forces with another family. Here are a few possibilities:
- Attend a local baseball game or other sport
- Attend a county fair
- Ferry to an island for a picnic
- Take a long, leisurely bicycle ride on a favorite trail
- Attend an outdoor theater performance, concert, or Shakespeare festival
Be a tourist in your own town
Adventure trips are good for taking you out of your comfort zone, though admittedly, they are work (the word travel is derived from the French travaille, which in fact, means work).
Families with young children, lots of children, or those who simply can’t get away in the summer might enjoy a tradition of being “tourists” at home.
Designate a day each week, or a weekend, to visit places you never seem to get to when you’re in work-and-school mode, such as museums, historic sites, and recreational areas. Eat dinner at new or favorite restaurants, get tickets to summer stock theater or an outdoor concert.
Explore an out-of-the-way waterfall; take a tour by bicycle; hop on a train or ferry to poke around a neighboring town that you never seem to get around to visiting.
Vacation at home
Rituals for Our Times authors Evan Imber-Black and Janine Roberts describe a family that plans a “vacation at home,” now rather unfortunately called “staycation” each year. This family of six found that they came back from their vacations exhausted and feeling that they had spent too much money. Instead, they began spending a yearly vacation at home.
They prepared favorite foods ahead of time, ate out more than usual, and made a commitment to put off chores, turn off the phone, and limit TV. Each day they did a nearby activity that they all looked forward to.
Getting into vacation mode while at home does take a certain amount of discipline, but is an effort worth making when going further afield isn’t an option. Packing the day with local activities that you rarely get around to, and ending up in your own beds, can be perfectly blissful.
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