The Motherlode July 2025

Summer Weekday Fun: A Budget-Friendly Itinerary for Kids

by Jillian Amodio, LMSW

Summer is meant to be a season of endless fun and relaxation, but figuring out how to keep your kids entertained can feel like a challenge. Don’t stress! Here’s your Monday through Friday itinerary of at-home and paid excitement to keep you and your kids laughing, playing, and sane all summer long. Monday Get Messy. Start the week off right with some hands-on fun that engages all the senses. • Morning craft time: DIY slime, finger painting, guided painting or drawing tutorials, play dough, sculpting, origami, friendship bracelets, or nature collages are just a few ideas to get you started. • Crafty in the kitchen: Decorate cupcakes, bake a cake, make cut-out cookies in fun summer shapes, create magic potions with food coloring and water, or make edible play-dough. • Sensory bins: Use items around the house or go to a dollar store and stock up to create themed sensory bins such as underwater, construction zone, garden, beach, etc. • At-home art show: Set up an at-home gallery featuring famous prints or homemade creations. Do a gallery walk and pretend to be visitors at a fancy museum. • Visit Blended Essentials in Severna Park to create custom candles, soaps, bath bombs, body sprays, and more. • Enjoy the ArtLab at Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center : Get creative with endless art supplies and browse the exhibits for inspiration. • Take art classes and workshops at local places like Artworks, ArtFarm, and ArtsyPartsy. • Paint pottery at Providence Pottery and Art Studio. Tuesday Take a Trip. Explore new places, learn new things, and have fun on the go! • Morning map and adventure planning: Get out local guidebooks, trail guides, brochures, or maps and pick new places to discover and explore.

Photo Courtesy of Skate Zone.

• Go park hopping: Visit a few different playgrounds or nature trails and compare their offerings. • Visit your local library. Check out books and their calendar of events. • Go on a scavenger hunt: Create a themed hunt of your own, download a nature scavenger checklist online, or use a scavenger hunt app (such as GPS My City, or Let's Roam) to explore local attractions. • Be a backyard explorer! Fill a backpack with binoculars, a magnifying glass, a camera, notebooks, and nature guides, and see what plants, animals, and curiosities you can find and record. • Try a new food! Visit a new restaurant or café and try something different for breakfast or lunch. Lots of restaurants offer deals during the week. • Get moving on roller skates or blades at Wheels or Skate Zone. • Visit a local museum like the B&O Railroad Museum, the Banneker-Douglass-Tubman Museum , the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, or the Maryland Science Center. • Explore the outdoors: Visit local places rich with opportunities for discovery, including Historic Annapolis*, Historic London Town and Gardens* , Kinder Farm Park, Maryland Zoo, and Terrapin Adventures. Wednesday Make a Splash! Cool off and have fun with water-themed play and activities. • Water tables and kiddie pools: Add toys, sponges, and cups for hours of fun.

JULY 2025 | 7

* denotes Annapolis Moms Media Community Supporters.

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