How to Keep Kids Busy this Summer

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By the end of every school year, my kids are DYING for summer break to come. They are counting the days and are just SO excited but that excitement is short-lived. My husband and I don't get all summer off. Unfortunately, we have to work and can't play cruise director 24-7. My kids can only take so much television, gaming, and kicking the ball around before we hear the dreaded words “I'm bored”.

They are used to the structured schedule of school where there's always something to do even if it's not always fun. They seem to thrive and crave that and it's sorely missed in the summer. Thankfully, we have a few tricks up our sleeves this summer. One of them is Surprise Ride.

Surprise Ride is a monthly subscription box for kids 6-11 years old. It is filled with two activities, a snack, a book, and fun extras to keep everything moving. The whole box is centered around a central theme. For example, the box we received was all about Rockets which my son couldn't have been more thrilled about! What boy doesn't love rockets!?

Each box includes everything you will need for two activities and all the instructions and lessons needed so you can be the “teacher”. What I did was spread the activities in the box out so they lasted all month long.

We took our time painting and doing all the steps in each activity. This is what I plan to do in the summer too. When I hear “I'm bored” I'll whip one of these bad boys out and we can have some fun family time.

One of our activities was painting a rocket frame. All the materials were there, even an apron to keep my son's clothes clean! They thought of everything. My 6-year-old loved painting his rocket frame and is still trying to find the perfect picture to put in it.

We also did a little science experiment. We got to launch a rocket! It used the power of sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. My son thought this was amazing and got SO excited every time we launched it. We were able to do it three times with the included ingredients. SO fun! Plus it got us outside too!!

Hear my son in the background? He just can't wait for it to blast off!

My son thought the balancing space shutter was neat too. He couldn't quite figure out how it was balancing but I explained about the marbles inside (which he later saw when his brother opened it up). The first thing he wanted to do was put it on his shelf in his room because it was “his”. Later on, he made it a bath toy to play with. I love versatile things!

Also, included in our box was a book all about rocket science and foam rocket launchers. I had my older son read the Rocket Science book to his brother. It helped them get in their daily reading requirement in one swoop. Win, win! While the rocket launchers provided great fun. They had a blast shooting them at each other – AND me! Good thing they are foam or mommy wouldn't have been too happy.

The snack was an all natural fruit bar called That's It. My 6 year old thought they were great and I was thrilled. He doesn't usually like anything, but he gobbled this down. They only contain apples and cranberries – and that's it! He loved them even more when he found out real astronauts eat them and they are on the International Space Station right now. That knowledge made them extra tasty!

[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@surpriseride”]Surprise Ride means always having something in your back pocket when kid boredom hits. Priceless![/tweetthis]

My family loved Surprise Ride. It's a great way to keep kids busy. It'll be the best $29.99 per month you'll spend this summer because always having something in your back pocket when boredom hits is priceless. It'll also save you the time of getting sidetracked on Pinterest looking for ideas too!

What entertains your kids in the summer?