Summer Ideas Needed

vERY SOON, i MEAN IN THE NEXT MONTH, THERE WILL BE SEVERAL actual fairs for summer camp that you can attend. Many Chrisyian schools and the YMCA's have summer programs. Many prescools have them. Many towns have them. The yellow pages may list some.

I would check with other parents in the program to see if they have found anything for summer care. In MO the daycare centers ran year round. For the school age group(completed K-5th) they had a "Summer Program". We would do special things for the younger children as well. Fridays were always Water/Picnic Day. Depending on what curriculum we were planning we would have a week to month long main theme. Some summers depending on enrollment we would have special summer prices. I also would suggest that if paying for daycare would not be in the budget plan things yourself possibly with some other mothers that have children the same age. Good Luck

I loved having my children home for the summer. I never did any of the all day camps. We did an art class for a week or swimming lessons for two weeks.

Check into the summer activities for children in your community. Does the library have a children's story hour? Do any of the parks have any summer activities? Check the children's theater schedule, the zoo, the children's museum. Check into art classes and swimming lessons. Plan out your summer around the local activities for children.

When I was a stay at home mom we had a schedule. We did chores for about 1.5-2 hours in the morning--my kids got really good at folding wash cloths, picking up their toys, and putting their clean clothes away. About 9:30 or 10 a.m. we would go do something fun--play in the backyard, go swimming, go to the park, the zoo, the children's science museum. About 2 or 3 p.m. we would come home and they would take a nap while I finished up what I needed to do and made dinner. We did the free/cheap things Monday - Thursday. On Fridays we would blow it out. The kids would get up singing, "It's Friday, it's Friday." I would cook a big breakfast and we would go to Wave Pool, the Children's Theater, something that cost money. We even blew off naps on Fridays and they all went to bed early on Friday nights.

I used Friday as the motivator. Hey we want to go to the Wave Pool on Friday--put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket. It was the reward for being good all week. But, I never took Friday away when they were not well behaved. We would spend 15 less minutes at the park on Tuesday or 15 less minutes playing in the backyard on Wednesday, but I never took the Friday reward away. Good luck finding a schedule that works for you. The years that they are little slip by so fast. Enjoy your summers!

ymca! ita great i went and we did so much fun stuff. i can only imagine what they do these days! im hoping that i can get my daughter in this summer

I do not know if you are in a metro area or not. Most Museums, etc have free days at least once a month. Michael's Art Store, Lowe's etc have free or very reasonable projects at least once a month for kids to do.
sites like this might be helpful: http://midsouthmoms.com/
Also some churches have groups for moms, like MOPS, or try a New Neighbors type organization, many have a playgroups.

Check local preschools for summer programs. My kids preschool had a summer program that was from 9-2 three days a week. This helped with their routine a lot.

the library is a great place for us (my kids are 5 years and 3 years). Story time is what both of my children enjoy. There's a story, a craft, a video (about 5 minutes long and related to the story and craft) and then a song. We'd pick out some books read some there and bring some home. Of course, that is not every day, but a few times a week and usually in the morning. Check with churches close to you some churches may have some social activities during the summer. We make crafts, bake (unless it's too hot) and play games.

Our city has several publications featuring summer programs. It is challenging to find one for 3 year old - I ran into that issue last year. We ended up attending, and totally loving, your local YMCA summer camps. In Matthews, NC, the Siskey YMCA's Camp Eagle Rock was such a hit with my daughter that she went for 5 weeks. Most of the kids were there the whole summer as were the counselors and staff. There was the option of a half-day or full-day program. My DD can't wait to go back this summer!

S.,
I'm confused by why she needs to "continue her routine" It's summertime-shouldn't she sleep late and relax a little?I'm a mother of 4 and can tell you from experience a 3 year old does not need constant stimulation-let her play with her toys and be independent for a while. The problem with all the stimulation is she may grow up to be a child that can't entertain herself(and will drive you crazy!!!)
I have had fiends who made everyday so busy that their children literally did not know what to do with themselves when they were not being entertained.
I think having a few activites and playing with friends is great but so is running through the sprinkler(she's only three-she won't even remember the camps/clubs in the future)
I'm sure if she;s like most kids her age, she's happiest just being with you!
N.

Well my sugg would b to enroll her in year round pre school. kids love to be with one another and be away from us parents. I enrolled my son in one of the best pre schools in here in Hope Mills called Breezewood Christian. Its a bit pricey but I wouldn't change it for anything. He is now enrolled in the pre school program at Baldwin and he is one of the top kids there. With that being said you can tell that from him being at Breezewood helped him to were he is now!!