We are in the middle of summer! This is usually when you start to hear, “I’m bored!” Keep the boredom at bay with these fun activities to do in July. We are doing our amazing free Summer Reading Program and we want your kids to not only read great books, but to get hands on, too! Here are a ton of great ideas to go along with the themes of the Fourth of July, Sharks, Coral Reefs, and Picnics. Each category will have hands on activities and free lessons, poetry ideas, and snack ideas. Get ready for a summer of fun with these amazing summer activities for kids to do in July.
Fourth of July
Activities
Tie dye shirts red, white, and blue
Poetry
I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman
America the Beautiful by Katherine Lee Bates
Snacks
Fruit kabobs: Grab your kabob sticks and layer them with blueberries, raspberries, and mini-marshmallows to make them look like flags.
Red, white, and blue popsicles: Grab your favorite popsicle molds and use blue juice, lemonade, and red juice to make your own homemade popsicles. Make sure to freeze each layer individually before adding another color. You can also make strawberry and blueberry/blackberry smoothies to create these layers to avoid food dye.
Sharks
Activities
Poetry
The Shark by Edwin John Pratt
A Shark is a Pet by Ken Nesbitt
Snacks
Shark snack cups: Fill a clear cup with your favorite yogurt. Add blue food coloring if you’d like to make it look like water. Use ground up graham crackers or granola for sand and add some fun shark gummies to top it off.
Shark shaped watermelon: Grab a shark cookie cutter and cut out pieces of watermelon in the shape of a shark for a healthy treat.
Coral Reefs
Activities
Poetry
A Jellyfish by Marianne Moore
Deep Sea Dance by Ken Nesbitt
Snacks
Under the sea snack mix: Pop some popcorn and mix in goldfish crackers, blue M&Ms (Unreal brand is great for dye-free), pretzels, and more.
Coral cup: Using a clear cup, place some cheese sauce on the bottom. Place pretzels sticks sticking up from the cheese as your coral. Place some goldfish crackers between the “coral”.
Picnics
Activities
Decorate your own tablecloth: Buy a white tablecloth and fabric markers. Take time to decorate it to bring to all of your future picnics.
Poetry
Going to the Picnic by Julius C. Wright
Our Family Picnic by Ken Nesbitt
Snacks
Ants on a log: This is a classic picnic snack! Using your favorite nut butter, smear it into sliced up celery. Top with raisins or another dried fruit grapes, etc.
Fruit cones: Take an ice cream cone and fill it with your favorite fruits (berries, slices kiwi, grapes, etc.). Top it off with whipped cream.
Books to read in the month of July
Of course you want amazing books to read along with all of these activities! You can find our July reading list here, plus you can sign up for our free Summer Reading Program to receive book trackers, rewards charts, and more! I pray you have an amazing summer exploring all of these books and activities with your kids in July! You can also head over to see our June book list and activites to do in the month of June.