The Family Bucket List: 10 Fun Things To Do BEFORE Summer Ends

Spending time with your family is an important part of mental health.  So this summer, why not make a family bucket list complete with fun and the physically active things you can all do as entertainment and bond a little in the process?

While family time is fun, it also comes with some amazing benefits for your mental well being.  Giving our kids a chunk of our time is more important than giving them the newest iPhone or the most trendy clothes on the market.  Children who spend more positive quality time with their parents and siblings build up a healthy level of self-esteem. When children feel that they are valued by their parents, they feel more positive about themselves

Spending quality time with your family also creates more positive behaviors in children and gives them happy childhood memories. Much like eating dinner together creates a positive family-oriented environment in which children thrive, but it helps them develop “good” behaviors.  According to studies done by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse via Arizona State University, teens who have infrequent family dinners are twice as likely to use tobacco, nearly twice as likely to use alcohol and one and a half times more likely to use marijuana.

It isn’t just children that benefit from the increased family time either! Being with your family can be a mental break for those who are overworked or continually stressed-out adults. Preppers can get burned out too just thinking about where the world is headed, and taking a few days away from it all to spend some quality time with family will help one feel recharged and reactivated!

Give your mind a hiatus by having days where you’re not focused on anything but having a good time and enjoying each other’s company, whether out to dinner, or having a dinner/movie night at home, or activities with your church or any organization you may belong to. Having “normal” (a better word is unstressed) family time is just as important as preparing them for the next disaster to come up. –Ready Nutrition

Family adventures don’t always have to cost a lot of money.  Instead of that expensive trip to the aquarium, plant some starts for a garden indoors in March so you’ll get a jumpstart when summer rolls around. This has the added benefit of getting kids interested in eating a more healthy diet and learning how to grow food. A garden will also give you a great opportunity to get the kids out helping you weed and water and you’ll notice just how fast that time will fly when you’re just spending time together!

You could also head to your closest lake or beach and look for unique rocks or walk along the shore. If you have hiking trails around, you can trek on a path that’s already been made! Just be mindful that snakes may be around the area.

The options are endless, and even families with a lower budget can do several of the ideas on the list we have provided:

*Make sure you keep the age of your children in mind when considering family fun activities. For example, paintball may not be appropriate if your kids are under 10.

1. Paintball
2. Go to the lake or beach
3. Family bike ride on the local trail
4. Go hiking
5. Backyard movie night
6. Create a butterfly garden
7. Visit a cave or cavern
8. Take a class as a family (learn about photography, cooking, sewing, or first aid/CPR)
9. Water balloon fight
10. Plant a garden

In all reality, the options are endless! But if you’ve got kids that are having a difficult time dropping electronic devices for the great outdoors, consider doing a “backyard movie night!”  It’s fairly easy and won’t break the bank! You really only need a white sheet and projector.  While you can spend $1,000 easily on a projector, you don’t have to.  Amazon offers quite a few decent quality projectors for under $100. And if you use it more often, you’ll be getting your money’s worth out of it!

The list above is far from an extensive one too.  Many other ideas can be added to it. Do you have a budget-friendly activity you love doing with your family in the summer? If so, share it with our Ready Nutrition readers below and let’s build up a long list of ideas!

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