52 Wholesome Activities to do on Summer Break as a Family (in Utah)...

JUNE WEEK ONE

1. Car Wash Get the hoses out and bring the family. Time to wash the car and maybe get a little wet too. 2. Picnic Plan a picnic today and go to a spot that you haven't been before. -Try a place like Little Cottonwood Canyon or a small park. http://www.ultimatebasecamp.com/summer-recreation/picnic-areas.html 3. Bowling Take the FAM out bowling today. If you purchase the pass of all passes before April you can get great deals on Citydeals.com or groupon.com. The pass of all passes gives you access to bowling, arcade, fun centers and other activities. http://www.allstarbowlingandentertainment.com/ http://www.citydeals.com/seven-peaks-utah-pass-of-all-passes-renewaldeal.html?location=7751 4. Service Get the family together today and think of someone who needs help or encouragement. Plan something to enlighten them.

JUNE WEEK TWO

5. Lemonade

Make a lemonade stand on your block and sell some lemonade and brownies for fun! 6. Bike ride Take the family on a bike ride today. Some fun places to go are: Jordan River Parkway http://www.parks.slco.org/jordanRiverParkway/ Liberty park -has a trail around the entire park. Around your neighborhood 7. Hike to Angel Falls I call this hike Angel Falls because that's what my friends and I have always known it as. This is an easy hike that you can take little kids up with easily. The link that follows gives directions and information on where to park. http://liveandthrivewaterfallhikes.blogspot.com/2010/03/rocky-mouth-fallsnear-sandy-utah.html 8. Arts and Crafts Day! Growing up my mom always had us girls busy with things. It was good especially in the summertime when we ran out of things to do. Crack open the arts and glitter today. If you don't have anything to craft with, the dollar store is your friend. Don't underestimate the power of Popsicle sticks, glitter glue and stickers! Fun for all.

JUNE WEEK THREE

9. Treasure Hunt Create a treasure hunt for the kids. You can find easy printables on Pinterest or you can be creative and make your own. Here's a link : http://www.realtreasurehunts.net/2011/11/treasure-hunt-clues-for-aroundhouse.html 10. Water Park

Depending on the age of your kids and/or budget it's a Seven Peaks or Cowabungabay kinda day. If you're lacking funds there are also parks that have water areas. Liberty Park or the Ft. Union park work too. http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/neighborhoodmidvalley/53957453-126/parkcottonwood-heights-tree.html.csp http://www.cowabungabay.com/ 11. Camping! Plan a night away from home sleeping under the stars. Utah has millions (over exaggeration) of places to camp. Some of my personal favorite area to camp is in Kamas, Utah (http://www.outdoorsinutah.com/mirrorlakehighway-camping.htm) 12. Plant some Love Go to the Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart and pick up some pre-grown flowers to plant in the front yard to spice it up!

JUNE WEEK FOUR

13. Tie Dye Time Pick up a tie dye kit from Walmart, Target or even better HOBBY LOBBY! You can use dingy old white shirts to brighten them up or pick up plain white shirts in the craft section of any of the stores I mentioned above....minus Target, maybe. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tulip-12-Color-Super-Big-Tie-Dye-Kit/17299927 14. Glow Stick Crazies First go to the dollar store and buy a bunch of glow sticks. The glow sticks are for later after dark. With my family we like to set up a tent in the backyard then wait for dark. We use the glow sticks for WAR! Cut open the glow sticks and fling them at each other (avoid mouth and eyes) Spring the goo around the tent, hangout and stargaze.

15. Utah Hogle Zoo Take time today to visit the zoo and spend time together as a family. http://www.hoglezoo.org/ 16. Castle Park This park is in the heart of West Jordan next to a courthouse. It's one of the most fun places I have been to with my son. We usually go when no one is around and play king, queen, prince of the castle. Use Nerf guns for added fun. https://foursquare.com/v/castle-park/501444f0e4b00c78e4526382

JULY WEEK ONE

17. Geocaching My family and I went geocaching twice last year it is an adventurous blast! What we usually do is go to the Dollar store and pick out items that we can leave once we take the treasures when we find the cache. We used an app on an Iphone for GPS to find the location. It's a lot of fun! Try something new. http://www.geocaching.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/geocaching/id292242503?mt=8 18. Classic Skating Okay, I chose a Thursday because it's DOLLAR night. If you didn't already know. The great thing about Classic Skating is that you can bring your own skates, scooter or stroller. I like this place because it's very family friendly. http://www.classicskating.com/sandy/shoursprices.html 19. Park City Day Maybe you don't want to go to Park City on the Fourth of July...Maybe you do the same thing every July Fourth. Do something different than going to Liberty Park sitting too close to smelly strangers like you did last year. Be fresh, choose Park City.

20. Go to a State Park Day Jordanelle, is one of my favorite places to just relax. Take a tube and some refreshments and just chillax for the rest of the day. Kids love it and it's also a great place for dogs. http://stateparks.utah.gov/park/jordanelle-state-park

JULY WEEK TWO

21. Day of Firsts Today get the family together and reminisce. Where were you when you got married, had your first date, first kiss or where the first baby was born? Make a list of those places and make a day of visiting them. 22. Volunteer Day It's always a good experience and nice to volunteer your time. The food bank always can use some help. https://www.utahfoodbank.org/give-time 23. Iceburg Iceburg is one of my personal favorite shake shops. Their shakes are huge! Take the family our for icecream today. 24. Gateway Mall At the Gateway you can window shop, go to the children's museum, Clark Planetarium or you can go to the fountain and play in the water. Make this activity extra fun and ride the Trax, It will take you straight there. http://www.rideuta.com/mc/?page=uta-home-trax

JULY WEEK THREE

25. Homemade Ice cream Like the recipe mentions this can be science project and just for fun. Get everyone involved. After the ice cream is made you can add oreos, chocolate syrup and more... http://allrecipes.com/howto/how-to-make-ice-cream-in-abag/detail.aspx?e11=homemade%20icecream%20in%20bag&e8=Quick%20Sea rch&event10=1&event8=1&prop24=SR_Showcase&e7=Home%20Page&soid=s r_showcase_2 26. Pioneer Day Parade Every July 24th in Utah is a holiday called Pioneer Day. It's celebrated more by people of the LDS faith but everyone is invited to join. They always have a parade downtown at Liberty Park that is fun to watch. After the parade the park gets really full but it's fun to spend the rest of the day there. 27. IKEA As a family sometimes we go to IKEA just to mess around and look at things in the store. My husband calls it daydreaming. One time we went there and they have these displays of living rooms, bedrooms and kitchens completely set up. I couldn't help myself from playing "house" there. My husband and son loved it. We took pictures of us being goofy in their showers and other room displays and posted it on Facebook. I guess today I challenge you to do the same or something similar. 28. Movie Marathon I just feel that after the last few days there needs to be one day that is somewhat relaxing. The movie marathon today should have a theme like; Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Disney, Back to the Future, Hunger Games, or Twilight. Don't forget the popcorn.

JULY WEEK FOUR

29. Camping WE LOVE TO CAMP, forgive me if camping gets added to the list more than once but it's such and easy fun thing to do! One of my favorite spots is Smith and Morehouse Reservoir just because every time I have ever gone, it's never busy and the hosts are so hospitable and friendly. There's good hiking up there and the campsite it's self is clean. The toilets are well taken care of. I was there last year for three days and every morning one of the hosts cleaned the bathroom and I don't know how they did it but it didn't smell too bad in there either. http://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/uwcnf/recreation/hiking/recarea/?recid=968 0&actid=29 30. Visit a National Park In Utah there is five National Parks. Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce, Zion and Capitol Reef national parks. I haven't visited them all so my goal this summer is to go to either Canyonlands or Capitol Reef. Bryce, Zion and Arches are all beautiful places that I have been many times. I guess the challenge to you is to visit one that you haven't been to or that you only have been a few times. http://www.visitsaltlake.com/things-to-do/state-nationalparks/?gclid=CPTRopOu4L0CFZFcfgodPyEA6w 31. Family Walk After dinner today get everyone together and go for a walk around the neighborhood. Take scooters, bikes and strollers and maybe teach road, car or stranger danger safety. 32. Date Night This date is for child/parent. Take your child on a date to their chosen restaurant (no helping, McDonald's will do.) and let that child be them self. Refrain from criticism and listen you will be surprised by what they tell you.

JULY WEEK FIVE

33. Aquarium They recently moved the aquarium from Sandy to South Jordan. It's new design and diverse exhibits are always interesting to explore. The family favorite is the touch pool. http://www.thelivingplanet.com/ 34. Hollywood Connection Fun to hang out here and just let the kids go do their thing. There is skating, mini golf, bumper cars and more... 35. Trafalga Wha? It's fun place in Orem that has things like mini golf, go karts and batting cages. It's good place for the kids to hang out and just have fun! http://www.sevenpeaks.com/FunCenterOrem/orem-attractionschedule.aspx/SITEID.1001_5/MDLPRTID.1003_0/MDLID.1002_787/MID.10 07_177/CatId_0/ 36. Go to a Play It's cheaper than a movie now-a-days and it's not something that you go to when you have nothing better to do unless you are into that theatre stuff. I really enjoy trying new things and this feels new everytime I go. Sadly I haven't been for a year or so. This one is going to the top of my list, especially since The Wizard of Oz is playing.... http://www.drapertheatre.org/

AUGUST WEEK ONE

37. Kearns Oquirrh Park I love taking my son to this pool. It has a water slide, whirlpool and more fun pool toys! You can spend your whole day here in the summer and it's fairly inexpensive too.

http://www.kopfc.com/ 38. Outdoor Movie Set up a movie outside on a nice night. Set up blankets and make lots of popcorn. If you are watching an action film you might want to invite the neighbors or warn them of your plans for the night. 39. Lagoon I make it a set goal to go to Lagoon every year. I just really love roller coasters but I feel like the pricing per ticket is getting a little over bearing. I have accidentally made it quite a tradition to go the second weekend in August. It seems like every year around this time it rains a bit and crowds are smaller. http://www.lagoonpark.com/ 40. Farmer's Market I like to go to farmer's markets when I can. I feel like giving back the locals is very important and I always seem to find something very interesting here. My husband doesn't really promote me shopping here because some things are a little more pricey than Wal-mart.

AUGUST WEEK TWO

41. Petting Zoo Wheeler Historic Farm is free admission and has activities like milking cows or hayrides. http://www.wheelerfarm.com/index.html 42. Fast Kart Speedway Way fun for older kids and adults. Slightly expensive, beats doing nothing at home. http://www.fastkartspeedway.com/locations/salt-lake/salt-lake-rates

43. Memory Grove Growing up my mom would take us kids here to walk and enjoy the scenery. I haven't been here for over six years since I had a kid of my own. Definitely worth giving it another change I know my son will love it. http://www.city-data.com/articles/Memory-Grove-Park-Salt-Lake-CityUtah.html 44. Tracy Aviary The Tracy Aviary is a bird zoo that is located in Liberty Park. It's fun to walk through and see all the different species of birds. After you can always take the kids to Liberty Park and play in the water.

AUGUST WEEK THREE

45. Board Games Some people really hate board games. My family is really into playing games, we have games that most people don't. For example we have a Zombie board game called Zombicide that is amazingly fun (can be purchased through Amazon) this game usually lasts 2 hours depending on the level and number of players. Also we play a lot of cards; Bang, Rook, Phase 10, Uno....more more more. It can be fun, wine is always a good default in tragedy or down falls. 46. Wave Like You Know 'Em This is a game that my dad made up when we were kids. Usually we play this game when we are driving. It's simple, you see a lonely pedestrian, honk (twice) nicely, everyone in the car waves to the pedestrian and if you are lucky you will get a wave back. It always really made me laugh if they waved back because the look on their face after they figured out that they don't really know you is priceless! 47. Ducks

Today is a good day to feed the ducks. I will tell you my favorite spot. 5400 south 1300 west, there is a pond here that locals made available to the public. Fences were recently put up along with parking. I like to go to WinCo before feeding the duck to get bird seed. You can find the seed in the bulk for about a buck a pound. I also take my almost stale bread from home too. 48. Temple Square I've always only ever gone to the Salt Lake Temple in the winter when the lights are up. Recently I had the chance to tour the grounds and it was beautiful. The smell of flowers was amazing and the grounds are always well kept. There are missionaries on site that smile and greet you. Everyone is welcome.

AUGUST WEEK FOUR

49. The Leonardo This fun museum is located downtown in Library Square. http://www.theleonardo.org/ 50. Red Butte Gardens I've spent hours here before exploring and walking through gardens of beautiful floral and trees. I would say kids 5+ just because it's hard to stop them from picking the flowers sometimes. 51. Silver Lake After I got married in 2013 my husband and I went up to silver lake and it was covered in snow. It wasn't too cold so we accepted the challenge....while walking in the snow I sunk waist deep. I was so surprised by what happened that I was laughing hysterically. My husband came over and tried to help pull me out of the snow. Long story short, he sunk too. While we got ourselves to safety he lost his wedding band in the snow. I guess, point is if you find a men's wedding band you know who to call. Also this walk is fun for all ages and has decks for easy stroller access.

52. Library The downtown library is really cool. There is place for everyone in your family to enjoy reading or surfing the internet. Pay a library a visit today.