I am always looking for screen-free fun for my boys who love their devices. Here are some of my spring & summer must-haves. All of these offer some much needed screen-free time.
Spring & Summer Fun Must-Haves! Shh… It’s Screen-Free Fun!
This is a long list of great must-haves for this spring and summer! But I hope that you find it useful. Okay, let’s dive right in!
Yellow Scope
Uncover the hidden colors in plants, art supplies, and candies! New from Yellow Scope, The Paper Chromatography: The Art & Science of Color is chock-full of high-quality lab supplies for hundreds of exciting color-changing experiments. Girls will have hours of fun revealing rainbows of color using a cool scientific technique called paper chromatography!
With art and creativity front and center, this kit will appeal to all kids, even those who might not realize they love science. It’s the only science kit like it out there! Designed for girls ages 8-12. Three exciting science kits are available that will provide hours of critical thinking while having fun! These include NEW Paper Chromatography: The Art & Science of Color, Foundation Chemistry: Beakers & Bubbles and Acids, Bases & pH Chemistry: Explore Your World.
Learn more at https://yellow-scope.com/.
Eat2explore
Take your kiddos on a trip around the world each month without leaving your home thanks to eat2explore. This “explorer box” provides tools for families to cook together, learn, and dine on different cuisines and cultures from around the world. It is a fun way to explore the 3Cs – country, culture, and cuisine – in your own kitchen! The great part is the boxes do not include perishable products, so you can use the included ingredients and cook when you have time. eat2explore provides a shopping list to purchase proteins and vegetables of your choice at your local grocery store and includes hard-to-find spices and sauces. Kids love to learn, and each eat2explore box comes complete with three easy-to-follow recipes, explore country brochure, activity sheet, country sticker, flag pin, and a fun collectible.
Current countries available are France, Spain, Italy, Greece, USA, China, Japan, India, Mexico, Singapore, Israel, Morocco, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Brazil. One of the easiest ways to get kids to become fantastic eaters is by getting them involved in the cooking process. Shop by country (1-time purchase), continent (4-month subscription) or world (12-month subscription). Prices starting at $21.
Available at www.eat2explore.com and Amazon.
aGreatLife Kites
Kids love flying kites – this simple act just has a way of capturing the magic of childhood! This summer, go beyond the ordinary and delight your children with unique kites in super fun themes from aGreatLife, purveyor of joy and children’s toys. aGreatLife offers adorable, brightly colored kites for boys and girls, including a sweet ice cream cone with a cherry on top, a cheery hot dog, a darling rainbow butterfly, a cool pirate, and more! Each kite is made with sturdy, durable nylon fabric and guarantees hours of mesmerizing fun! Have younger kids? The kites launch at the slightest breeze and are perfect for small children to get their first taste at kite flying.
Available on the AGreatLife website and Amazon.
Best Seller Mix from aGreatLife
Thinking of ways to disengage your kids from their gadgets this summer? Win them over with fresh, fun activities sure to capture their attention and give them memories for keeps. aGreatLife offers a collection of its bestsellers – Rainbow Kite, Diamond Kite, Cuby and Cube – guaranteed to provide hours of quality bonding for the whole family while helping kids develop useful life skills. aGreatLife is on a mission to provide children with toys that will stimulate their imagination and senses, encourage learning about the world around them, and foster interaction with others.
Available on the AGreatLife website and Amazon.
Flybar Aero Scooter
My boys love spending time outdoors, and riding on scooters is a favorite of theirs. We have tried several different brands of scooters and the Flybar Aero Scooter is the sturdiest one we have tried. Here are a few of the features that we love from this scooter. For starters, I love the size of the deck where your child can place one foot as he or she kicks off with the other. Plus it has grip tape on it for added stability. The handlebar t-shape allows my boys to steer with precision and ride with both feet on the deck on gentle downhill slopes. You can see our full review here.
Available on the Flybar website and Amazon.
Aero Safety Gear for the Aero Scooter!
We recently received the safety gear that goes along with our Aero Scooter! My son was super excited to receive it and couldn’t wait to gear up and head outside!
Certified Multi-Sport Adjustable Helmet
He was outgrowing his current helmet so the Certified Multi-Sport Adjustable Helmet was much needed. He absolutely loved the fit. It has an adjustable dial in the back of the helmet which helps this helmet feel custom made! I liked how sturdy and well made it is. It has Strong Abs Outer Shell & EPS Foam Inner Linning which safely protects your head from impact while providing comfortable and snug fit. It’s also great that you can get this helmet in 3 sizes: S/M (53-55cm/20.8-21.6in); M/L (55-58cm/21.6-22.8in); L/XL (58-61cm/22.8-24in).
Available on the Flybar website and Amazon.
Flybar Protective Safety Gear Set – Multi Sport Protection
To go along with the helmet and to be safe you should have the Flybar Protective Safety Gear Set. The set we received fit as expected and work great. I like that my son can wear this set for many different things and not just with the scooter. I have lost track of how many times he has wiped out while learning to Rollerblade and it has worked like a charm. We both like that to wear these you don’t have to slip them on instead, they have thick velcro straps that allow for a snug fit. All of the pieces in the set are great and of great quality!
Available on the Flybar website and Amazon.
You Are Never Alone by Elin Kelsey and Soyeon Kim
From the creators of You Are Stardust and Wild Ideas comes a new picture book that explores how humans are inextricably connected to nature. This book draws examples from the clouds and the cosmos, the seafloor and the surface of our skin, to show how we are never alone: we are always surrounded and supported by nature. Whether its gravity holding us tight; our lungs breathing oxygen synthesized by plants; the countless microorganisms that build our immunity; or the whales whose waste fertilizes the plankton that feeds the fish we eat: nature touches every aspect of how we live.
Available on Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
What Will You Do, My Deer? by Kathryn Hast
In this tender ode to growth and development, Mama Deer muses over experiences her child may realize. With a nod to both career exploration and the pursuit of adventure, this book reflects on the importance of curiosity–and the inevitable friendships that accompany any journey. Perfect fodder for dreams at bedtime, or to gift as encouragement for the child who has grown, this quiet reflection rekindles wonder, invokes progress, and reminds us all to grow love, as we do what we do.
Available on the LuJu Books website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Wish by Chris Saunders
Rabbit has never had a wish before, but one day he gets not just one, but three! Wish is a touching story about the power of kindness and the magic of friendship, with beautiful and emotive illustrations from Chris Saunders.
Once every year wishes take flight,
filled with hope and twinkling light.
They dance in the air, with a swirl and a swish,
you have to be lucky to be chosen by a wish.
Rabbit cannot decide what to wish for, so he asks his friends Mouse, Fox, and Bear what they would do if they had a wish. Being selfless and kind, Rabbit grants all three wishes to his friends. They are so grateful for his kindness and generosity, they share their wishes with him.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids by Lee Foster-Wilson
Make art and memories with the special kids in your life! Packed with how-to drawing and painting projects, creative prompts, and original crafting activities, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids will inspire you and your little ones to spend hours of creative fun together.
This book includes drawing and painting projects featuring popular, kid-friendly, and on-trend subjects—like dinosaurs, pets, flowers, and robots—that adults and kids can create together. Guided practice pages invite interactivity and allow children and adults to draw and paint the same subjects, side by side, for a fun-filled joint activity. The book’s artwork is colorful, approachable, and done using ordinary, easily available art tools, including markers, crayons, colored pencils, and acrylic paint.
In addition to drawing lessons, The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids also includes projects and ideas for using artwork created from the prompts in the book to make crafts, including a map, pop-up art, and paper dolls.
The Grown-Up’s Guide to Making Art with Kids teaches valuable drawing, painting, and crafting skills to both kids and adults; inspires creativity; and encourages family togetherness. What better way to avoid screen time than by drawing, painting, and creating together with your kids?
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Read to Your Baby Every Day: 30 classic nursery rhymes to read aloud
Science tells us that babies develop best when they are spoken to, sung to, and read to. Introduce your baby to a world of words and pictures with these 30 classic nursery rhymes from the Mother Goose collection and beyond paired with images of Chloe Giordano’s delightful hand-embroidered illustrations on cloth.
Even when they’re tiny, the sound of their parents’ voices helps babies make sense of the world and feel comfortable with new people and places. This treasury gives you the opportunity to rediscover just how useful (and calming) these best-loved nursery rhymes are in one, handsome volume.
Bond with your baby and help them grow as you recite and sing these timeless rhymes:
Hey, Diddle Diddle; Baa, Baa, Black Sheep; This Little Piggy; Hush Little Baby; Hickory, Dickory, Dock; Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; Little Bo-Peep; Pussy-cat, Pussy-cat; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; The Itsy Bitsy Spider; London Bridge; Mary Had a Little Lamb; One, Two, Buckle My Shoe; Humpty Dumpty; Rub-a-dub-dub; Pat-a-Cake; I Saw a Ship A-Sailing; Old MacDonald; Rock-a-Bye Baby; The Wheels on the Bus; I’m a Little Teapot; This Old Man; Jack and Jill; The Muffin Man; Little Miss Muffet; The Owl and the Pussy-cat; Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush; Old Mother Hubbard; Pop! Goes the Weasel; Are you Sleeping?
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Watch Me Read and Draw: On the Farm: A step-by-step drawing & story book
With Watch Me Read and Draw: On the Farm, kids can read a story and learn to draw 11 animals and objects from the farm, and then complete the tale with stickers!
What’s better than reading and drawing? Doing them together, in the same book! The Watch Me Read and Draw book series is special because it blends two things together that kids love: reading and drawing!
It’s easy and fun to learn to draw, especially when there’s a story to read and lots of stickers. In Watch Me Read and Draw: On the Farm, a city mouse named Flynn visits his country-mouse cousin to discover everything that happens on a farm each morning. Throughout the story, readers will learn to draw a farm full of friendly animals, step by step. The step-by-step projects in this book will help young artists learn to draw a mouse, baby birds, a cow, a sheep, an owl, a pony, a cat, a pig, and a chicken, as well as a tractor and a barn!
Each page features easy-to-follow instructions for drawing all of the characters from the story, one step at a time. Basic shapes that kids will recognize make it easy to follow along and learn how to draw. The flip-out drawing pad also offers drawing prompts and simple shapes for a jump-start, making it enjoyable and fun to draw favorite farm animals. Plus, there’s a whole bunch of colorful stickers inside to reward them as they complete the story along the way, and a farm scene at the end to make their very own! It’s the perfect starter drawing book for kids who love to read and draw.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Watch Me Read and Draw: Dinosaurs: A step-by-step drawing & story book
Watch Me Read and Draw: Dinosaurs is a step-by-step drawing and story book that teaches kids how to draw 11 different dinosaurs with simple steps and a fun, engaging story.
What’s better than reading and drawing? Doing them together, in the same book! The Watch Me Read and Draw book series is special because it blends two things together that kids love: reading and drawing!
It’s easy and fun to learn to draw, especially when there’s a story to read and lots of stickers. In Watch Me Read and Draw: Dinosaurs, kids will read about Pete the pterodactyl who discovers an egg and sets out to find its parent. Throughout the story, readers will learn to draw 11 prehistoric pals, step by step, including dinosaurs that roamed the land, air, and sea. Included are drawing instructions for a Pterodactyl, Apatosaurus, Compsognathus, Sauroposeidon, Ankylosaurus, Ornithomimus, Stegosaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, Diplodocus, Mamenchisaurus, and Triceratops!
Each page features easy-to-follow instructions so young artists can draw all of the dinosaurs from the story, one step at a time. Basic shapes that kids will recognize make it easy to follow along and learn how to draw. The flip-out drawing pad also offers drawing prompts and simple shapes for a jump-start, making it enjoyable and fun to draw favorite dinosaurs. Plus, there’s a whole bunch of colorful stickers inside to reward them as they complete the story along the way, and a prehistoric scene at the end to make their very own! It’s the perfect starter drawing book for kids who love to read and draw.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Get Smarter: Super Fun Travel Activities to Baffle Your Brain
We all love vacations, but getting there can be a hassle. Super Fun Travel Activities to Baffle Your Brain‘s 75 engaging and entertaining puzzles, games, activities, and challenges provide the perfect cure for “Are we there yet?” Hours stuck in the backseat will pass quietly and without complaint!
Activities include crossword puzzles, word searches, optical illusion fun, paper & pencil games, and more. Most activities need only a pencil and a brain! Don’t be surprised if this book ends up coming with you wherever you go!
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
On The Plane Activity Book: Puzzles, mazes, dot-to-dots, and drawing activities
Taking a flight is always exciting, and this activity book is the perfect companion for your journey. Play “I Spy While I Fly,” complete a “pilots’ eye view” scene, take a multiple-choice quiz, and fill in the speech bubbles in a comic strip story.
Packed with plenty to keep kids occupied at the airport or during the flight, this book also includes planes to decorate, matching games, fill-in-the-face drawing tasks, true-or-false airplane and flying facts, and behind-the-scenes diagrams to explore.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
The Great Big Busy Wheels Activity Book: Includes 4 adventure stories
It’s time to get busy with machines that roar, whizz, vroom, and zoom! This action-packed activity book is crammed full of things to find, amazing vehicles to color, and games and puzzles to entertain. Perfect for rainy days, offering both entertainment and educational value. Activities appear alongside entertaining adventure stories to engage and delight young vehicle lovers. From rescue vehicles to monster trucks, the stories feature a popular vehicle as the central character, and involve a group of animal characters in a supporting role. The activities use plots and themes from within the stories, encouraging reluctant readers to engage with the text and find out what happens next. Can the busy vehicles save the day?
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Sticker, Shape, Draw: Things that Go: My Art Activity Book
Use simple sticker shapes, children add all their favorite machines and vehicles to the scenes provided—diggers, jet planes, cars, sailboats, trucks, trains and buses… there is even a rocket and a hot air balloon! Featuring 20 ready-drawn background scenes to populate as well as seven sheets of draw-on stickers, Sticker Shape Draw: Things That Go is a super-fun creative package—all children need to bring is pens or pencils and their own imaginations.
Packed with exciting vehicles to construct and decorate, Sticker Shape Draw: Things That Go will keep kids (and parents too!) busy stickering and drawing for hours.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Sticker, Shape, Draw: On the Farm: My Art Activity Book
Using simple sticker shapes, children add all their favorite animals to the farmyard—cats, horses, pigs, sheep, cows, rabbits, goats, and chickens… there’s even a goose on the loose! Featuring 20 ready-drawn background scenes to populate as well as seven sheets of draw-on stickers, Sticker Shape Draw: On the Farm is a super-fun creative package—all children need to bring are pens or pencils and their own imaginations. Packed with engaging farmyard characters to construct and decorate, Sticker Shape Draw: On the Farm will keep kids (and parents too!) busy stickering and drawing for hours.
Available on the Quarto website, Amazon, and your favorite bookseller.
Learn to Draw Disney The Lion King
With Learn to Draw Disney The Lion King, artists-in-training will embark on a thrilling artistic journey to the African savanna! This 64-page book includes drawing projects for your favorite characters from the Academy Award®–winning, classic Disney movie The Lion King.
After an introduction to art tools and materials, a series of drawing exercises invites artists to warm up and learn a few basic drawing techniques. Then the real fun begins! You’ll find step-by-step drawing projects for Simba, Mufasa, Scar, Timon, Pumbaa, Nala, and more!
The easy-to-follow instructions in this book will guide you through the drawing process; each step builds upon the last until the character is complete. You just need to grab a pencil, a piece of paper, and your copy of Learn to Draw Disney The Lion King; then flip to the character you want to draw. You’ll draw the basic shapes shown in step one, and move on to step two, step three, and keep going! The new lines in each step are shown in blue, so you’ll know exactly what to draw. After adding all the details in each step, darken the lines you want to keep and erase the rest. Finally, add color to your drawing with felt-tip markers, colored pencils, watercolors, or acrylic paints. If your drawing isn’t perfect, hakuna matata! You can draw the characters over and over, getting better with each try.
Plus, learn some fun facts about the characters from The Lion King as you learn to draw them. Brief character descriptions and art instruction from professional Disney animators round out this exciting artistic adventure to the Pride Lands.
So grab your drawing pencils and go on an artistic journey with Learn to Draw Disney The Lion King!
Available on June 4, 2019. Pre-order it on the Quarto website, and Amazon.
I hope you found this list full of ideas for your littles. What are your Spring & Summer must-haves?
I found out recently that my daughter is a great snorkeler so I’m getting her her own gear for this summer.
These are all fantastic Summer fun products, thank you so much for sharing!! I really want to get our kids some better kites so I will definitely be checking out aGreatLife Kites. Plastic ones are so cheap and are constantly breaking.
I’m glad you liked this roundup. They are all great products. The aGreatLife Kites are very well made, and so sturdy. We love them!