Summer Bucket List 2014

Summer Bucket List 2014

“…collect moments, not things…” Aarti Khurana

I know it seems like spring has barely arrived, but our summer vacation will be here before we know it.  In past years, we have been spontaneous and random with our summer bucket list activities.  That is, we put all our ideas in a literal bucket and picked one at random when we wanted to do something.  I color code the activities according to how much time should be allowed to complete it.  That way there is some control over what we pull out of the bucket. 

We'll do almost the same thing again this year, but with some modifications.  Most of our "go" activities will need to be planned a bit.  I'm also going to save some of them for our "mystery destination box".  

Planned "Go" Activities (not in our bucket)

1. Climb a lighthouse
2. Visit a battleship
3. Visit a turtle rescue
4. Visit a fort
5. See The Lost Colony
6. Go bike riding on a rail trail
7. Go rock wall climbing
8. Attend a planetarium night sky watch
9. IMAX Movie followed by a corresponding museum visit
10. Volunteer at the food bank
11. Visit a Museum (art, history, science, maritime)

2 hours or less (green papers)

1. Make Shell, shark, beach, or washer necklaces
2. Make Bath fizzies
3. Make Bubble wands and blow bubbles of course (homemade recipe here)
4. Paint sun print flags
5. Grow a crystal garden (will take overnight to form)
6. Make Flower frogs and deliver bouquets to grandparents
7. Make Beaded garden art
8. Make Old fashion loop pot holders
9. Cook Funnel cakes
10. Make Milkshakes/floats
11. Make lemonade, limeade, or citrus-ade
12. Cook Dutch pancakes
13. Carve a shaped watermelon
14. Make and investigate our own microscope slides
15. Paint with fluorescent paints
16. Catch and release fireflies

Half day activities (purple papers)

1. Make Driftwood art picture
2. Bake The easiest homemade bread
3. Take the bus into town, eat lunch, and explore
4. Make popsicles/paletas, ice cream, or ganitas
5. Plan a BBQ and invite friends
6. Go for a picnic
7. Go play putt putt golf
8. Go bowling
9. Play croquet
10. Make tie dye shirts
11. Make a key lime pie
12. Pick blueberries
13. Go to a trampoline park
14. Visit a bakery
15. Make a pavlova
16. Try to make sushi

All day (blue papers)

1. Visit the zoo 
2. and then make animal stencil watercolor pictures
3. Visit a garden, take some good books and a picnic lunch
4. Visit a dairy farm and make homemade mozzarella cheese
5. Play at a sprinkler park

On the calendar or all summer long
Investigate our "I wonder…" of the week
Work on summer goals (more on that to come, we're doing a "Summer challenge")
Swimming and playing at the pool
Boating and fishing
Weekly library trips
Vacation bible school
Keep a summer scrapbook
Shop for veggies at the farmers markets
Bike rides and walks
Game nights 

A few random notes:

• Our summer bucket list is a list to do before summer kicks the bucket.  
• Our summer bucket list isn't meant to entertain us every moment of each day…more to give us some guidance to do the things we're looking forward to before the time slips away.
• We limit video game and tv screen time (as in there isn't any) during the week.  I'm planning to keep that same limit during the summer.  (I do put on movies or audiobooks in the car, I have my limits to how much chaos I can stand.)
• We have never, ever finished a summer bucket list, and that is OKAY!