Watching the clock down to the last minute of the school year, the ideas of what to do with another summer makes kids everywhere anxious with unbridled excitement. As an adult, summer produces an unusually busy social calendar. Summer, in general, allows us to engage in new experiences we don’t take time for throughout the year. While our list is practical, it also serves as a reminder to focus on life as a whole. Make time for the functional parts of life as well as the fun things we regularly crave. Here is a list of our top 10 things to do before the next school year starts.
Visit the Zoo or An Animal Farm
Zoos and farms are popular ways to engage various types of animal life in a safe place. Like with many experiences in life, we don’t know how valuable this interaction is until we are in it. Some farms (look up farms near me) and local petting zoos (look up zoos near me) allow visitors to feed and pet the resident animals. Animal sanctuaries are much the same, culturally. Always call ahead to find out what each organization allows in terms of interaction. Feeding animals by hand, petting them, brushing them, observing them in a natural habitat, or just sharing company with the wild life is satisfying in its own way. Forcing ourselves out of our own spheres of life is incredibly enriching.
Organize for the Coming School Year
So, it’s the last day of school and you have a bag full of schtuff from the newly ended school semester. You walk through the door, throw the bag in your room on a clear chair, and forget about the bag until the two weeks before school starts. It’s time to start a new system involving more organization. Clean out the bag when you get home. You don’t need to keep everything from the previous school year, although mom and dad may want to keep a few things for reflection and growth measure. In fact, clean the bag, then store it away for the coming school year. When you re-approach the bag for the new school season, it will be clean and ready to instantly serve your needs.
School clothes are another sorting goal for the coming school year. There are items you wear all the time that may need replacing like t-shirts, jeans, and other staple garments. Shoes also top this list as they are something we wear regularly. Some people buy their shoe size in multiples, so don’t be cautious about taking this plunge. Keep all wardrobe multiples stored away neatly for future use.
Accessories are something we wear regularly and they tend to fall apart quickly due to their loyal presence in our lives. Think about the clips and gummies that hold our hair in place, or the favorite pair of earrings that set off your skin coloring to something superb, the dainty teardrop necklace on a gold chain, or the stacked friendship bracelets that cuff your wrists daily. Clean everything you wear on a regular basis and discard everything you don’t wear, or gift it to someone else.
Clean out the desk space you use at home when summer starts. Place everything you need in organized spaces and discard everything you don’t need. Adorn this space with a favorite bobble head, stone paper weight, or vase of flowers. Bring sunnier items into your direct line of vision for greater personal wellness.
Organizing for the coming school year may take a few days to complete but it frees up valuable future time for unexpected and desired outcomes.
Ice Cream or Gelato Experiences
Ice cream and Gelato cools down blistering hot summer days with enjoyable success. Think of any favorite flavor in the world and nine times out of ten, it can become a cool treat masterpiece. Alone, this experience is a guilty pleasure that makes us smile big on the inside. With friends, the experience becomes a shared flavor review process, a catch-up on all the latest news, and endless moments of laughter. Traditional Gelato and ice cream has evolved into new glorious eating experiences with the addition of macarons, sprinkles, spiced and vanilla cookies, and other flavors and textures. While selecting your favorite flavors, remember that the people who service these cool-down treats also deserve a treat every-once-in-a-while. Always leave a tip in the tip jar and on occasion, treat the servers and pastry chefs to something outside of their shop space!
Take a Mini Vacation
While we would all like to get away to an exotic place where nothing in real life matters for a week or two, time perimeters bounce us back into real life. Since our real lives dominate reality, take a shorter vacation and make it count. Drive off to the mountains, spend some time at a lake side cabin, visit a tiny home resort, rent someone else’s home (AirBNB), or create a mini glamping oasis in the back yard for a long weekend. Create a short list of vacation rules and strictly enforce them.
Visit a Museum or Two
Getting away to a museum is like stepping back in time or blissfully entering a creative rabbit hole that transports you to somewhere only you know. Museums are not only educational, they expose the senses to stimulating advances in technology, art, and movement through interaction immersion. Staying on track for the summer, make a list of all the local museums and check them off one-by-one as you visit them. If you’re visiting a museum with fine art, be aware that you may not use flashes for taking images or may not be able to take images at all while in the museum. Not being able to photograph inside the museum produces a new hobby opportunity for post card collection.
Go On or Host A Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are not for the faint-of-heart. They are carefully planned strategic activities that take individuals or groups of people on quests to find objects in the most unusual ways. Some hunts force people out of their comfort zones by engaging everyday places in new ways. If you’ve ever seen a show or movie where a hunt takes place, you’ll understand this is not a simple activity but one that involves participants to call in favors, or take video or image proof of accomplished tasks. Some hunts go as far as securing proof from a stranger who is inadvertently roped into the hunt by texting a photo image proving someone else’s accomplishment. If you are interested in understanding hunt culture, check community and meet up boards for an organized activity, join and enjoy. If you want to explore organizing a hunt of your own, start planning one year in advance. This undertaking is incredibly detailed and forces you to think like never before. Only for those who are ready for impromptu experiences, this activity is one that creates unforgettable summer bonding moments that last a lifetime.
Volunteer
When was the last time you gave your time to someone in need of development? We all are in need of development at some point in time, so, take your finest skills and offer time to help others. Tailor your volunteer work around personal interests for the best possible outcomes. If you’re interested in animal welfare, volunteer at a vet clinic or local animal shelter. If you’re interested in helping children learn to read or accelerate their reading skills, find a community organization that supports this cause. Conducting an internet search to understand what volunteer efforts are in your community is a great place to start. Remember to always be of value.
Shop for Everything
Everyone rushes at the last minute to buy everything they need for a new school year. Brick-and-motor stores are high-traffic super highways for school supplies even with the onset of online shopping and home delivery. Enter a new and inspired b-t-s shopping culture; shop for core items in multiples at the beginning of summer. If you are aware of some of the items you or your children need for the coming school season, this solution places you ahead of the school supply race.
Take an Extra Class
In order to be of service to ourselves and others we must develop ourselves. In order to tame our mind we must pursue personal interests. Do you need an educational elevation? Does your creativity need a tune-up? Taking an extra class or two over the summer helps to build valuable skills while pursuing your goals.
Develop A Solid Stress-busting Schedule
Do you get stressed out at all when responsibilities and activities pile up? No worries! Make a list of everything that helps melt away personal stress and start executing this list immediately. Create a time table based on the stress-busting activities and seriously stick with it, marking off each one as they are accomplished. During this process keep a tracking journal to understand what works best for your life. Create milestone check-ins every month to determine what stress-busting activities work best for optimal performance.
Host A Bonfire
Nothing says good bye to the summer like a massive bonfire. If you don’t have the means to create a massive bonfire, a small one will do. No bonfire is complete without giant marshmallows and roasting sticks. Alone, the bonfire is a great time to reflect as the flames gently consume wooden embers. Shared with others, bonfires take on a new culture of their own with well-paced conversations. Each bonfire produces memorable moments untouched by all others.
BON
Images-Chirila Sofia’s Images, KaboomPics,
