50 Ways to Make the Last Month of Summer Fun - While Using Technology Together

Parents, you’ve probably started to hear this phrase too often around the house, “Mom, Dad, I’m bored!” For many families, there are still a few more weeks of summer vacation and your children have declared that they’ve already done everything fun. But what can you do to make sure both your kids and you are occupied with meaningful activities before the start of the new year? Instead of sitting around waiting for the first day of school, check out FOSI’s Summer of Fun Checklists. These 5 checklists contain fun and exciting ideas to incorporate technology into your family's summer plans.

Each list has 10 unique ideas where families can use technology to lessen the burden of boredom and boost family time. Categorized by Learning, Fun, Change, Digital Citizenship, and Go, parents have a plethora of options to fit the family’s overall goals. For example, the Learning checklist features ways to keep the mind sharp during the educational break. Options include practicing handwriting on digital screens or learning coding. The Fun checklist weaves entertaining projects with technology such as filming a ‘one second of the day’ video or creating a family blog. Activities on the Change checklist incorporate ways to volunteer or make a change in your community through the use of tech. Some of these ideas include getting grandparents online or recycling old tech devices. The Digital Citizenship checklist includes ways families can become a digital citizens and have up-to-date online safety skills. Highlights on this page include having a privacy settings checkup and switching up old passwords. And lastly, the Summer of Go checklist features ways families can stay active through the use of technology. Highlights include hunting for treasure in your neighborhood, visiting a local farm or orchard, or making your own dance music video.

See some ideas you like but not sure what to do next? Instructions for these checklists are easy - download the five pages, print them out, and have a family meeting. Discuss what options seem the most fun and make your way through each list. Bonus points if you’re able to finish all 10 on a page or all 50 by the start of school! And while this list is a good starting point, brainstorm other ways to incorporate using tech together over the summer and make your own additions to the list. Each idea can be done in your local environment - no need to travel far.

So, the next time the kids say, “I’m bored,” say to them, “what’s next!”

Download FOSI's Summer of Fun Checklists here!