UNLIKE OTHER TO-DO LISTS, THIS ONE WILL BE FUN TO GET THROUGH.
- Grow a flower. Guess the color it will turn out to be. Measure its progress.
- Watch fireworks. Fire? In the sky? That makes beautiful shapes in pretty colors?! Before you’re old enough to understand the
science of the thing, a fireworks display can seem like a miracle. - Roll down a grassy hill. This is such a simple, silly thing, but we all remember doing it. And that’s the whole point.
- Catch a firefly, then let it go. This one has an extra, “‘now or never” imperative. Reports show that fireflies are declining in numbers just about everywhere. So catch some while you can.
- See a live show. There’s nothing like a stage show, with humans performing right there in front of you. Pricey tickets not needed.
- Go camping. It sets children up for a lifelong love of nature.
- Stargaze. Talk about how 1t takes thousands of years for the light of the stars to reach us. Your kids probably won’t grasp it all, but that’s okay. What they’ll remember is that they got to stay up way past their bedtime and go outside in their PJs.
- Do a character meet-and-greet. They will never be excited about people wearing silly costumes as they are right now. And the resulting photos? Priceless.
- Bake from scratch. Sugar cookies, carrot cake, brownies…it all works. The process is what matters. Let them see that not all food comes easy to us, and a lot of times it tastes better if it doesn’t.
- Visit an amusement park. Walking around all day, eating fried concoctions laughing your head off on automated rides, and then being carried, half-asleep, out of the par in your parent’s arms should be a hallmark of every childhood.
