6 Steps for an Awesome Summer Series | Crafts

I’m hoping last week’s post on schedules was well received.  Steve and I have spent some time this week tweaking our summer schedule and the kids and I have been adding items to our summer bucket list.  I have also been adding items to my personal summer activities list and looking at the calendar to tentatively plan the best time to do these.  I cannot tell you what a difference planning can make. I’m not panicked for the summer and am getting so excited for all the extra time to spend with family.  If you decide to only do one of these steps, choose to schedule your summer.  It will be worth it. 

Today we are talking crafts.  Arts and crafts are a big deal around our home.  We love working on messy projects, getting creative, and making something with our hands.  I give my munchkins a few supplies and I’m always amazed at what they come up with.  It is something relatively easy to do at home and the kids look forward to it each week.  I have in the past tried to plan our summer craft the week that I’m actually doing it with the kids.  This has been such a stress for me.  In the midst of summer and all its activities  I have found myself overwhelmed by which craft to choose, trying to find time to run to the store, and putting it all together in just a couple days.

This summer I have decided on 12 crafts and have collected and prepared the supplies and instructions for each before the summer even begins.  Now it is just a matter of grabbing our supplies and crafting.  This sound like so much fun and I feel so prepared!  I’m not scheduling a week for each craft, but instead I will have them all ready, and when the time come I can choose the craft that we feel like doing and that fits best with our current week.  Love the ease that comes from planning and preparing.

So, this last week I sat down and wrote a list of crafts I wanted to do with the kids.

I came up with some on my own, found a few on the internet, and a few were a combination of both. As needed, I printed off the directions and recipes for a few of the crafts.

I made a list of supplies needed and then headed to a couple stores to buy the items that I didn’t already have.

I then came home and placed them all in a tote and through in the manila folder full of the tutorials and recipes.  It only took me a couple hours to plan, an hour to shop, and about 1/2 hour to gather the supplies at home and them in their tote.

I’m all set for craft time this summer!  You can sit down and come with a list of crafts on your own, or you can use the list I have come up with!  I have included in this post a list of the crafts we are doing and the supply list.  Mine lists are safely tucked away in my Summer Binder.

2014 Craft List
Supply List