Fill Your Bucket with the Best Summer Stories
Welcome Back, Summer!
We sure missed you. And so did the kids! Because let’s face it, kids are the real experts of summer! They know what they need to make a splash or dig for buried treasure. They fill their summer with adventures both outside and inside. Swinging on a porch swing, playing in the sand, taking a road trip, camping under the stars - summer is when memories are made and new stories are created. Following the “summer experts” lead is truly the best way to have a wonder-filled summer.
But even though “the living is easy” in summer, how can you guarantee that your kids will write their greatest summertime adventure stories? How can you immunize yourself and your children from the dreaded “I’m bored” refrain? Especially as those long summer days stretch out without the structure of school.
Balancing work demands, camp schedules, childcare needs, family visits, and hopefully a vacation or two, can be overwhelming. Summer is long and although it’s wonderful, it can be a challenge to “keep up with the summer Jone’s.”
But here’s the thing, the most important thing of all… the best summer stories can happen in the littlest moments. Those itsy bitsy moments of wonder that happen spontaneously while your kids play and explore. Savoring those moments is the key to having a summer to remember.
How to Add Wonder to Summer with Kids
So here is how to incorporate the above directive: encourage your children to approach everything with curiosity and ask these 2 essential questions often:
- Why
- What if?
These two questions will guarantee to make your summer and your children’s life more interesting. Ask them often. Question constantly. (I imagine they already do!) Seek the unknown and seek to know it. These questions can guide any play adventure both inside and outside but they are especially potent when you open the back door.
Go Outside!
Being outside in the world surrounded by fresh air, raindrops, and mud puddles is akin to a laboratory of wonder. Every tree, every bird, every rock, are there to be wondered about. Where is that little bird heading off to? What do they eat? What kind of nest do they build? I encourage you to bring magnifying glasses and get on your hands and knees to look closely at things. What tiny insects! What amazing crystals in those rocks! Perhaps a pile of seemingly boring dirt is filled with shrunken leaves and twigs.
The point is that nature is always more than meets the eye, and when you approach it with the sense that I consider one of the most important, that extra sense called wonder, you unlock the door to a lifetime of exploration and discovery. And as your children look closely at nature and the world around them, they will inevitably begin to create amazing stories and imaginative adventures. The littlest sparks can create the biggest stories. It doesn’t take much… just a couple of questions, some time, and a willingness to look at all the wonders of our world. Because the same story is written all over the world every summer, and it starts exactly the same way, “Once upon a time there were kids who loved to play.”
Share Your Summer Story with Us
At HABA, for 85 years our mission has been to encourage this sense of wonder, exploration, and love of play. Our toys and games, and everything we do, are designed to help write these new stories, the ones that etch into your children’s hearts for years to come. We want to hear your stories, whether big or little, so share them on our Instagram page with #HABASummerStories. Shop our summer catalog for all kinds of ideas for summer adventures and ways to add to the fun.
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