Each and every year, we know summer break is coming, and yet somehow when it does arrive, we still find ourselves surprised! Pre-covid, I used to really dread summer time, unsure of how I’d occupy our time with the kids all home from school and trying to work. So each summer, I’ve tried to have a solid plan and schedule for the kids to keep all of our sanity. I thought I’d take some time to share our Summer 2022 plans with you all!

For those of you that don’t know me, we have 5 kids ranging from ages 7 months to 8 years. Ron and I both work full-time from home, and for about 9 months now, we have been a screen-free family. During the school year, our oldest two are in school and the 3 year old in a half-day preschool. Having all 5 home all day every day plus work can be a lot to manage! So let’s talk summer plans.

As a general rule, our mornings are pretty unstructured. I’m a firm believer that it is good for kids to be bored sometimes :) It sparks so much creativity! For the first 3 weeks of summer, the oldest 3 will go to camps in the morning. The weeks after that, they have the mornings for group free play. I find that mornings are typically our time of the day where everyone is in a good mood and the least fighting occurs! I also take a 1.5-2 hour break in the mornings and can facilitate some fun!
In the afternoons, while the little guys nap, we typicallys have a a very structured afternoon. And for the first time, Jackson is getting to join in! This time consists of workbooks, writing, reading, and independent playtime. I’m going to share more details about each of these.

I like to put a lot of emphasis on creativity and arts, especially during the summer when everyone is home so much. Most people get excited about back-to-school supplies, well I get excited about summer break supplies!

Every summer, I replinish our art supplies. I get new Playdoh, paint, markers, crayons, glue sticks, drawing paper, etc. Kids love having fresh supplies on hand!

In addition to replinishing our group supplies, each child has their own set of supplies. Let’s take a peek:

Workbooks:

Every child is different, and not every kid loves to sit down and do workbooks. In fact, only 2 out of my 3 really enjoy sitting and doing this kind of work. But I have found that these Summer Brain Quest Workbooks are the perfect thing! This is our 4th summer using them. I love the structure—math, reading, writing, social studies are all blended together to be able to work through one single book from beginning to end. My kids love them because the pages are fun, and after each page you complete, you get a sticker to place on a map. For my kid who doesn’t love worksheets, he gets super excited about these books! They also have fun little extras in the back, age-appropriate books suggestions, writing prompts, and more. I only wish they made a preschool version! So this summer, we’re trying out this Highlights Summer Preschool Workbook. Jackson loves these types of things, so I think he’ll enjoy it.

Pencil Pouches:

I found the cutest Wild Things pencil pouch in a small bookstore in NYC years ago (that is sadly closed now). I loved it so much! So now each year around age 3.5, I get the boys their own pouches. In a house full of kids, where they hear the word “share!” constantly, they love having something of their own. Each summer, I make sure that the kids’ pouches are fully stocked and replinish as needed. Here’s a look inside Jackson’s brand new pouch:

My kids love using flair pens to write and draw with. They also have their own scissors, glue stick, and a little notebook that they got in their stockings this year!

Writing Folder:

Finally, every kid has their own writing folder. My kids have no problem picking up books and reading, but if we’re not intentional about writing, it’ll never happen. I created Aly (4th grade) and Jackson‘s (Pre-K) summer writing activities, and I purchased Fynnlan’s (1st grade).

Aly—For the past few summers, I have provided here with a variety of writing prompts, and she usually writes a paper a week. We usually cover fiction, non-fiction, biography, how-to, and this year she’s even writing a play! (Bonus: she and her brothers can act it out later!). Here are our writing prompts for the past two summers:
3rd Grade Summer Writing Prompts
4th Grade Summer Writing Prompts
2nd/3rd Grade Blank Writing Paper
4th Grade Blank Writing Paper

Fynn—He is in a bit of an in-between phase. He’s ready for more than just a one-sentence writing assignment, but not ready to write full-blown stories. So this summer, I opted to purchase this packet. It has lots of simple and easy-to-follow writing prompts, and I will have him draw pictures on the back to go with it!
Also, here are the writing pages we used last year:

Kindergarten Blank Writing Paper

Jackson— He has really started to show interest in writing lately, so I am trying to capitalize on it! I created a list of summer writing prompts for Jackson. It starts and ends with a self-portrait, and then it works through the alphabet in between those. Each sheet has a place to draw a picture and tracing underneath.

Preschool Summer Writing Prompts

Preschool Summer Writing Pages

*Note with the summer writing pages, you can save your own copy and type in your child’s name.

Summer Schedule

Here’s a look into our afternoon schedule!

During the afternoons, we use this time for the kids to have a break from playing with each other. It helps keep the fighting at bay, allows us some quiet time to work, and gives them some structured time to work through the things I think are important. This has been a part of each of our kids’ routines for years now, so they are used to it. Even our toddlers know how to do “quiet reading time.” We also generally follow this schedule on our weekends at home and smaller school breaks as well.

Finally, our plans change constantly. Play dates come up, we’ve got random days off of work, we’ll have time with grandparents, etc. So this isn’t something we strictly follow every day all summer long :) It’s just a good starting point for us, especially on the days when I’m super busy and we need something to fall back on!

I hope this helps!

How to Plan for Summer Break

Workbooks:

Pencil Pouches:

Writing Folder:

Summer Schedule