Here's Why Every Family Should Create A Mid-Summer Wish List

Raise your hand if this scenario sounds familiar: It's Labor Day, everyone's gearing up for a new school year, and amid all the errands and to-dos, you get a little twinge of regret about everything you wish you had done with your family over the summer.

*Raises hand*

Don't get me wrong, it's not that the stuff we did do wasn't good enough — it was great! It's just that there's always a pesky list of coveted summer adventures that we can never seem to make a dent in.

If I'm being honest, I've gotten that end-of-summer twinge more times than not. So this year, I decided to take matters into my own hands and beat summer at its own game. Enter: The mid-summer wish list.

It's the perfect solution for families who want to salvage summer up until the last possible second. No matter how much of the season is left, it's never too late to sit down with your family and have your version of a strategic planning sesh. Share what's on everyone's bucket list, then display it in full view somewhere it can't be ignored.

To help families start making the most of summer, Romper teamed up with the DQ® brand to give readers the lowdown on why the mid-summer wish list is the simplest way to make memories that will last long after the season ends.

You Can Get Creative With It

While jotting down a list of activities in your planner or on a piece of notebook paper will certainly get the job done, take this opportunity to lean into your artistic prowess and turn the wish list into a mini art project. Let everyone contribute their own creative style by writing and drawing on a big poster board, or on something interactive like pieces of a paper chain. Hang it somewhere that gets lots of foot traffic like the kitchen or the inside of the front door, and it'll be sure to stay top of mind for the rest of the season.

Everyone Will Feel Involved

No matter how old your kids are, creating a wish list is an activity that gives everyone a chance to contribute and feel like they're part of making summer plans. Activities can easily be tailored based on age; younger kids will love playing in a DIY ball pit made from blown-up balloons and a kiddie pool, or setting up their own 'obstacle course' in the driveway with brightly colored chalk.

For older kids, more complex projects like curating a sidewalk art show or hosting a driveway bake sale will teach them valuable entrepreneurial skills in a way that still feels age-appropriate. And hey, whether or not they make a profit, end the day by surprising them with a trip to DQ® for a sweet treat that shows hard work really does pay off.

It's The Perfect Opportunity To Prioritize New Experiences

Every family has those activities that they go back to year after year: pool days, picnics at the park, campouts in the backyard. And even though those joyful traditions are some of the things we most look forward to every year, adding new-to-everyone experiences in those last few months of summer is a great way to keep the season feeling fresh all the way up until Labor Day.

Some activities worth trying out: making your own play dough, tie-dying T-shirts, and creating a 'drive-in' movie theater experience in your backyard.

Kids Can Practice Familiar Skills — & Learn New Ones

Just because school's out for the summer doesn't mean the learning has to stop! Summer is a wonderful time to work on reinforcing classroom lessons, plus learn about new subjects in unique ways that feel more like games than work.

Practice basic addition and subtraction with water balloons on your deck (followed immediately by an epic water balloon battle, of course), or take some notebooks and pencils on a hike and teach your kids to play naturalist, recording what plants and animals they observe, then doing a show-and-tell of everything they learned.

No matter what ends up on your family's mid-summer wish list, setting intentions for the rest of the season is sure to lead to more of the good stuff — more joyful moments, more memories, and more experiences that you'll never forget.

This post is sponsored by the DQ® brand.

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