Summer Projects

Making a summertime memory doesn't have to be done in a day. Taking on a family project like a garden or a family craft that can be used as a gift later in the year can be a great way to bond together as a family.

We would love to hear about your ideas for taking on a project with your family. Your ideas contribute to the Vacation Planning Guide!

Disney has a website with some great family fun activities. From building a clubhouse to starting your own pumpkin patch there are some great ideas to start your family project. Combining learning and play family activities can be designed with a larger purpose in mind!

Crafts can also be a great way to let your children explore their creative side while having a barrel of fun.

Backyard Nature Crafts Who needs to purchase craft supplies? Nature can provide them just by exploring your own backyard!

Backyard Forts: Is building in your plans? Find all the how-to's here with lots of great ideas from forts to playhouses!

About.Com offers a great list of fun ideas to try for crafts and summer projects. Check it out!

Tell us about your fun projects!

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Great Summer Games for the Whole Family

They say the family that plays together stays together. Remember the games you used to play as a child? As a culture, we have become so accustomed to being entertained, that we have lost touch with all the great interactive games of old. Here are some ideas we found on various game sites to get you started; we encourage you to share yours as well:

Ring Toss - All you need is a stake and some "rings" to toss. Horseshoes would work just as well.


Mother May I? - The adult can play the part of the "Mother" who instructs the children to take steps, or hops, towards her. For example the "Mother" could say "Take five baby steps towards me." or "Take two bunny hops towards me." Meanwhile the child she speaks to must reply with "Mother may I?" before proceeding, otherwise they are kicked out of the game. The last child standing or first child to reach "Mother" wins.


Treasure Hunt - In the mood for some summer adventure? Organize a game of treasure hunt. You draw up a map and burying the treasure throughout the yard. You can leave small mounds of dirt where each treasure is buried to make it easier for the kids to find the buried treasure. Or you could mark the area around the buried treasure as another way of giving your kids a hint. The actual treasures can be things like marbles, beaded necklaces, quarter machine toys, coins, and other small objects.

Scavenger Hunt - What could be more fun than going on a scavenger hunt? Scavenger hunts can be simple or hard depending on the "clues". Simple clues would be "Find something blue.", "Find something soft.", or "Find something shiny." Harder clues could be made up using a combination of two easy clues "Find something blue and shiny." You can divide the teams up with one adult and one child per team. Whoever finds the most items or finds them all first wins.

Hide and Seek - The ultimate hunting game has always been "hide and seek". One player is the counter who must cover their eyes while the others hide. The player who is found first becomes the counter during the next round. Adults can easily participate in a game of hide and seek, either as an individual game or as a team game with their child.

Kick Ball - With just a ball and a few family members you can have hours of fun and competition playing this variation of baseball. Instead of hitting a small ball with a bat, you kick the ball and then run the bases!

Relays:

Egg Relay - Two spoons, one egg, are the basics of the classic egg relay game. To play a game of egg relay with adults and children you can have the adults line up in a row and the children line up in another, facing each other. Give each child a spoon with a boiled egg and have them race to their adult partner meanwhile trying not to drop their egg. The first one to reach their assigned adult wins. Then you play again allowing the adult to carry the egg on the spoon back to the child.


Three Legged Race - The three legged race is a classic summer barbeque game where two people tie one of their legs to the other and race to the finish line. This game can be played by both adults and children though I would not recommend mixing the two unless the child is older or the adults understand that they need to keep pace with the child and not the other way around.


Water Balloon Toss - Looking for a way to cool down at your summer barbeque? A game of water balloon toss may be just what you need to cool off during the warm summer months. Two people stand within feet of each other and one tosses their water balloon over to their partner who in turns catches the balloon. If they are successful they each take one step back and repeat. If they aren't successful the water balloon bursts and someone has just managed to cool themselves off meanwhile being kicked out of the game. The last dry pair is the winner. Kids and adults can play this game together or separated by age group.

Tag Remember how much fun it was to play a simple game of tag? When kids of decades past wanted to play something fun outdoors, tag was always at the top of the list.

Hide-and-Go-Seek A favorite outdoor game from yester-year. Find a good hiding spot where no one else would think to look, and to make the game even more challenging, move to a new hiding spot after the seeker begins searching.

Ghosts in the Graveyard This outdoor game that kids loved to play on a moonlit night. One person was chosen to be the ghost, and everyone else hid in the yard. The ghost would begin counting, one-o'clock, two-o'clock, three-o'clock, and so on until shouting midnight! At that point the ghost would search the yard for kids to run after and tag. Once they were tagged they also became ghosts who went in search of those hiding in the bushes and elsewhere in the yard.

Looking for more great fun? Check out 50 Ideas for Old-Fashioned Summer Fun

Travel Games and Activities

Planning ahead to have activities along the trip can make the difference between frustration and fun for your vacation travel.  Games can make the travel time go quickly and keep the family in a festive mood to make the vacation memorable.  Here are some ideas to get you going:

1.  I Packed my Trunk For India:  This is a memory game that everyone can play.  The game begins with the first player saying: "I packed my trunk for India and with me I took:" then they name something starting with the letter "a".  Example:  "I packed my trunk for India and with me I took an apple."  The next person has to recant the list and then add an item with the next consecutive letter.  Variation of the game we have enjoyed is packing the trunk with absurd items that couldn't possibly fit in a trunk or be needed on a trip to India.  It adds to the humor of the game. 

2.  Treasure Hunt:  When on a long trip, we have fun by listing off things that we might likely see along the way and creating two different lists and dividing the car into teams that will be on the lookout for the items on our list.  Here are two sample lists, but you can create your own:

Team 1
18 Wheel Truck
Vegetable garden
Grocery Store
Waterfall
Car from out of state

Team 2
Truckstop
Swingset
Billboard for the destination
Falling Rock Sign
Car with cargo on top

3.  Word Games: Make a game out of considering how many words you can form with the letters of you destination.  For instance, if you are going to Busch Gardens, write down how many words you can form with those letters like: (bush, guard, gas, bus chard, den, etc).  This can also become a competition between teams to increase the fun.

4.  20 Questions:  One person says: "I have something in mind, see if you can guess what it is".  The players ask yes/no questions to determine the item.  The players go around the circle asking one question each until they reach 20 questions.  If someone uncovers the answer, they win - if no one uncovers the answer, the person answering the questions wins.

5.  Hangman: Old fashioned game of hangman can be great fun on a vacation.  Increase the connection to the travel destination by selecting words that would be associated with that location. 

6.  Wave game:  When on the highway, make a game out of seeing how many travelers on the road you can get to wave back to you.  It can be a lot of fun and people will wonder how they know you.

7.  Story telling:  If visiting a family member or going to a location that is a family favorite, share stories about great memories that you had of that person or location.  It will not only help prepare the family for creating memories of their own, but will also help them to become acquainted with what to expect and they will know you more personally as well as a result.

8.  MORE GAMES:  If you didn't find the perfect game for your family check out the Top 21 Travel Games for the Car.

Summer Projects

Making a summertime memory doesn't have to be done in a day.  Taking on a family project like a garden or a family craft that can be used as a gift later in the year can be a great way to bond together as a family.

We would love to hear about your ideas for taking on a project with your family. 
Your ideas contribute to the 2013 Vacation Planning Guide! Send us a tweet or email. Contact Virginia Saves.

Disney has a website with some great family fun activities.  From building a clubhouse to starting your own pumpkin patch there are some great ideas to start your family project.  Combining learning and play family activities can be designed with a larger purpose in mind!

Or, if you want to stay a little closer to home, Virginia has a lot to offer.  Check out the summer festivals, beach and local community events.

Tell us about your fun projects you have planned for the summer, and we will post some of our ideas on Facebook.com/Virginiasaves.

For more ideas, check out these ideas at:
Parenting.com: 101 Fun things to do in the summer.

Plan to have FUN and SAVE this summer.

Great Summer Games for the Whole Family

They say the family that plays together stays together.   Remember the games you used to play as a child?  As a culture, we have become so accustomed to being entertained, that we have lost touch with all the great interactive games of old.  Here are some ideas we found on various game sites to get you started; we encourage you to share yours as well:

Ring Toss - All you need is a stake and some "rings" to toss. Horseshoes would work just as well.


Mother May I? - The adult can play the part of the "Mother" who instructs the children to take steps, or hops, towards her. For example the "Mother" could say "Take five baby steps towards me." or "Take two bunny hops towards me." Meanwhile the child she speaks to must reply with "Mother may I?" before proceeding, otherwise they are kicked out of the game. The last child standing or first child to reach "Mother" wins.


Treasure Hunt - In the mood for some summer adventure? Organize a game of treasure hunt. You draw up a map and burying the treasure throughout the yard. You can leave small mounds of dirt where each treasure is buried to make it easier for the kids to find the buried treasure. Or you could mark the area around the buried treasure as another way of giving your kids a hint. The actual treasures can be things like marbles, beaded necklaces, quarter machine toys, coins, and other small objects.

Scavenger Hunt - What could be more fun than going on a scavenger hunt? Scavenger hunts can be simple or hard depending on the "clues". Simple clues would be "Find something blue.", "Find something soft.", or "Find something shiny." Harder clues could be made up using a combination of two easy clues "Find something blue and shiny." You can divide the teams up with one adult and one child per team. Whoever finds the most items or finds them all first wins.

Hide and Seek - The ultimate hunting game has always been "hide and seek". One player is the counter who must cover their eyes while the others hide. The player who is found first becomes the counter during the next round. Adults can easily participate in a game of hide and seek, either as an individual game or as a team game with their child.

Kick Ball - With just a ball and a few family members you can have hours of fun and competition playing this variation of baseball.  Instead of hitting a small ball with a bat, you kick the ball and then run the bases!

Relays:

Egg Relay - Two spoons, one egg, are the basics of the classic egg relay game. To play a game of egg relay with adults and children you can have the adults line up in a row and the children line up in another, facing each other. Give each child a spoon with a boiled egg and have them race to their adult partner meanwhile trying not to drop their egg. The first one to reach their assigned adult wins. Then you play again allowing the adult to carry the egg on the spoon back to the child.


Three Legged Race - The three legged race is a classic summer barbeque game where two people tie one of their legs to the other and race to the finish line. This game can be played by both adults and children though I would not recommend mixing the two unless the child is older or the adults understand that they need to keep pace with the child and not the other way around.


Water Balloon Toss - Looking for a way to cool down at your summer barbeque? A game of water balloon toss may be just what you need to cool off during the warm summer months. Two people stand within feet of each other and one tosses their water balloon over to their partner who in turns catches the balloon. If they are successful they each take one step back and repeat. If they aren't successful the water balloon bursts and someone has just managed to cool themselves off meanwhile being kicked out of the game. The last dry pair is the winner. Kids and adults can play this game together or separated by age group.

Tag  Remember how much fun it was to play a simple game of tag? When kids of decades past wanted to play something fun outdoors, tag was always at the top of the list.

Hide-and-Go-Seek A favorite outdoor game from yester-year.  Find a good hiding spot where no one else would think to look, and to make the game even more challenging, move to a new hiding spot after the seeker begins searching.

Ghosts in the Graveyard  This outdoor game that kids loved to play on a moonlit night. One person was chosen to be the ghost, and everyone else hid in the yard. The ghost would begin counting, one-o'clock, two-o'clock, three-o'clock, and so on until shouting midnight! At that point the ghost would search the yard for kids to run after and tag. Once they were tagged they also became ghosts who went in search of those hiding in the bushes and elsewhere in the yard.

Looking for more great fun?  Check out 50 Ideas for Old-Fashioned Summer Fun

Computer Games

If you have a child that is "plugged in", finding computer games that are age appropriate and child friendly can be a challenge.  Check out some of these free locations for games that can be entertaining and sometimes educational too. 

Free summer fun computer games for kids to mix up some of the activities in the summer. 

From Scooby's Rippin' Ride to Mower Mayhem to puzzles and word games all appropriate for kids.  Check out this summer games selection from Primary Games!

The US Mint has a great selection of fun games that teach about money, art, history and just plain action games.  Play When Pigs Fly to build your own plane an see how long you can keep it in the air.  The Lewis and Clark Adventure can inspire the explorer in you.  Join the journey into the old west and overcome the challenges that were faced by Lewis and Clark.  Many more games at H.I.P. Pocket Change 

The FINRA Investor Education Foundation has a website Dollars from Sense a beginners guide to getting started with money management, saving and investing.  Great information for the whole family.

Learn for Good is a great website with a great array of fun online games for kids.  Some educational and some just plain fun.

Make a Memory

Vacation is not just about getting away, it is about connecting with the important things in life.  The pace of everyday routines can allow us to take family and values for granted.  Summer is about getting back to the essence of who we are and creating memories to last a lifetime.   Think about your happiest childhood memories, weren't they when you felt loved and connected as a family?  Summertime is a great time to make these memories for your children.  Check out some of these great resources:

Fun Doesn't Have to Cost Money

Great Free Summer Computer Games

Games Adults and Children Can Play

Summertime Projects

Summertime Recipes for fun

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