What to Do with the Kids

When my son, C, was younger he was bored in the summer because he was too young to find a job.  I was talking with a friend of mine at that time to see what she did with her kids.  She told me in the summers we do Bachelor School (obviously Bachlorette School) for girls. I thought what an awesome idea!  I bought certificate paper and awarded him a completion of the program at the end of summer.  We actually did this 2 summers in a row.  We had a lot of fun working together learning useful and handy tasks.  Build on the skills as time goes on.  

• Laundry - based on age, younger kids can fold, a little older can move clothes from washer to the dryer and learning how it works.  Responsibility for drying and folding.  For older kids, learning how to wash clothes from start to finish, loading and adding soap, learning about separating clothes.  For multiple kids, they each take responsibility for one step of the process.
• Ironing napkins, more advanced the iron clothing.
• Removing bedding, washing bedding, and then re-making the bed.  
• Pet care.  Feeding, walking, brushing, etc.
• Dusting, vacuuming, mopping and learning about the products and tools.
• Cleaning sinks and toilets, and learning about the products and tools.
• How to fill a ball or a bike tire (if you have a compressor or a hand pump).
• Review simple hand tools.  Learn their purpose.  
• Organizing a closet or drawer.  
• How to manage the household trash and recycling.
• How to load, start and unload a dishwasher. 
• Making pancakes from scratch.
• How to cut and section an Orange.
• How to arrange flowers.
• How to bake chicken.
• How to cook spaghetti.
• How to make a smoothie.
• How to make french toast.
• How to cook bacon.
• How to fry an egg.
• How set a table.
• How to make soup.
• How to make a stir-fry dish.
• How to bake muffins, biscuits and/or bread.  
• How to bake cookies.
• How to bake brownies.
• How to bake a tart.
• How to balance a check book.
• How to count back change.
• Arrange books and movies in alphabetical order.

These are just some of the ideas I've used in the past but you can come up with your own list.  I had about 12 things on the list each summer with objectives and a brief description and we worked through the list all summer.  I think when the routine changes and it forces us to find something fun, meaningful and useful to teach, and our kids will always remember the fun parts for life.