Summer Activities + Projects For Toddlers

Next week is Piper’s last day of her 2’s program and I can’t believe it. I think I’m going to be in full-on tears. It’s been such an amazing experience and school year for us. I get so emotional with goodbyes and change and with my hormones I just know I’m going to be a mess. At first I was pretty overwhelmed with the thought of Piper being home with me for 3 months since work doesn’t seem to be slowing down but a few weeks ago I got really excited about being able to experience our first ‘summer break’ together. And ever since that ‘lightbulb moment’ I’ve fully embraced the start of summer and can’t wait to have Piper home more. I started a big brainstorm list/Pinterest board of daily activities that we can do and outings we can take. Today I’m sharing this big list with you – I’ve included Pinterest links when I can but feel free to message me if you have any questions. I’ve also included outings here for local readers that obviously don’t apply to everyone :) My goal is to try and map out the week ahead on Sundays and pick a few activities, art projects and an outing/play date for every day. I know we’ll get into a routine but at least I’ll feel like there’s a little structure to her time off school. I imagine we’ll spend the mornings outside, doing an activity before lunch. Then I’ll have something set up for after nap time, then outside again before dinner. But we’ll see how it goes :)

SENSORY & DEVELOPMENTAL

Quiet boxes – love the idea of making 5 of these and rotating every day in the afternoon (idea here)
Scavenger hunt snack
Make a calendar together for the summer
Sensory bins ALL the sensory bins! I plan on doing a new one at least every week (Here’s a great post with ideas)
Frozen water play (here)
Hole punch activity (here)
Moon sand (here)
Pouring station (here)

OUTSIDE

Sidewalk chalk paint (here)
Sprinkler
Baby Pool
Picnic lunch
Fill baby pool with pool noodles for Flora (see here)
Stick maze (here)
Color matching with paint chips (here and here’s another way to do it)
Outdoor wooden blocks (here)
Plant vegetable garden
Nature scavenger hunt (here)

COOKING

Popsicles
Ice-Cream
Blender muffins
S’mores in backyard

CREATIVITY & ART

Swipe art (here)
Popsicle stick tents (before we go camping)
Rainbow salt dough sculptures (here) also like these tissue paper rainbows 
DIY nature paintbrushes with paint outside (here)
Potato stamping (lady bugs are cute)
Bird Finders (here)
Fish!! (adorable)
Cotton ball painting (here)
Fireworks painting (here)
Nature collage with contact paper (here)
Marble painting (here)
Tissue paper transfer art (here)
Baking soda paint (here)
Shoe box princess castles (here)

OUTINGS

Summer concerts at Maritime Museum + Quiet Waters Park
Discovery Theatre to see a play
U.S. Botanical Garden
Building Museum – toddler room looks fun
Patapsco Park
Gunpowder Falls
Terrapin Nature Park
Assateague
Port Discovery
Ice cream downtown
Boat ride
Sandy Point State Park
Downs Park
Canoe or kayak
Folk Life Festival on National Mall
Theatre In The Woods
Strawberry Picking
Toddler time at the library
Movies