From monthly contributor Jenn of The Purposeful Mom:

I absolutely love the idea of a summer bucket list. A great way to pass the time, a creative outlet for you and your children and a chance to try some new things you’ve always wanted to do.

But. 

I seem to have a hard time actually following through on my “summer bucket lists”. In fact, in the 4 years I’ve made them, we’ve done just a handful of things on them.

This year, I am determined to change that! I am not overly creative but I do want to make an effort to do some unique activities with my kids. Here is what we are doing to find success in actually accomplishing our bucket list this year! Hopefully this helps you too, if you struggle with this same thing!

Have Low Expectations

I don’t want to become overwhelmed with too many ideas and not enough time or energy to do them, so I’m trying to limit my list. I also want to recognize that because I have a 7 month old baby (along with my 3 older kids), the days won’t always turn out the way I want them to. Having low expectations doesn’t mean I’m setting myself up for failure, just that I’m being realistic about how much we can actually do.

Be Prepared

Just like the Boy Scout motto says, it’s good to be prepared. That means in these next few days I’ll be looking at Pinterest, finding lists that others have already made (Stacie has a fantastic printable summer bucket list calendar that you can access here!) and grabbing ideas from my past lists that never were accomplished.

Be Flexible by Looking at Your Schedule

After I have my list of ideas, I am using the calendar on my iPad, which is synced with my husband’s iPad, to put in the activities we hope to accomplish. By looking at what he and the kids have on their schedules for the summer already I can know ahead of time what days are already full and which ones need some creativity “penciled in”. I don’t accomplish much if I fly by the seat of my pants, which has been my downfall with the past few bucket lists, so this time I will know when we are going to do these activities ahead of time (all the while being flexible with my expectations)!

Ask Your Kids

Maybe your kiddos or your husband want to do some things that you’ve never thought would be of interest to them. Some of the things on your bucket list can be family activities and some can be doing very simple crafts or visiting a new park while dad is at work. Getting input from you children might make them more excited about this whole thing and they’ll probably remind you of what you promised to do with them as well 😉

I hope you have a wonderful summer and that you are able to soak in this precious time with your children as things (hopefully) slow down a bit for you in the next three months. And even if it doesn’t slow down, you can be prepared, flexible and realistic about your “bucket list” so that you can accomplish what you’ve set out to do and make some new memories with your family!

Don’t forget to grab your free printable bucket list and summer fun calendars here!

Jenn is a daughter of the King, happily married to her college sweetheart and mom to four wonderfully spunky children. She spends her time taking care of her home and family, coaching a speech team, blogging and dreaming up more ideas than there are hours in the day. She shares her thoughts on staying debt free, raising children of character and living a life of intentional faith one day at a time at The Purposeful Mom.

Jenn is also the author of God’s Word in My Heart: A Scripture Learning Guide with Memory Verses.