Summer Fun in (and out) of the Sun: Considering Clubs

While the official start of summer is still a few weeks away, Memorial Day unofficially ushers in the highly anticipated season. Over the next few weeks, we are going to share some ideas that will feature plenty of opportunities for fun while still surreptitiously continuing some learning. Today’s topic is all about clubs.

Clubs can be about just about anything. They can be pre-established, or you can start one of your own. They can meet year round or for just a few sessions. Meetings can be weekly or spread out a bit. There are no hard and fast rules to them, and that’s part of what makes them so fun. While it is fun to join organizations already formed in the community, such as 4H, library programs, the YMCA, local parks and rec programs, and church-based youth groups, it can be especially exciting to build a club from the ground up. So how do you do that? Begin by taking an inventory of the primary members: your kids!

What do your kids love to do? What have they expressed an interest in but haven’t had time to explore? Answering those questions will help you start to shape the club. Do your kids have an interest in gardening? Start a garden club! You could even create the club around a theme. Perhaps you want to create a pizza garden and grow basil, parsley, tomatoes, and garlic. Or maybe your kids would like to grow a candy garden: stevia and lemon balm are sweet plants to place in it.

Perhaps your kids are interested in space. There’s no better time than the summer to start a star gazing club. Pull out the blankets and pillows, grab a set of binoculars if you don’t have a telescope, and download a sky map. Don’t forget to grab some mosquito repellent as well! Then when the sun goes down, you can help the kids locate constellations, planets, and satellites in the night sky.

A garden club and a star gazing club are just two suggestions. Here are a few more you can consider:

• Baking club: Bake cakes, cookies, breads, and more. Not only is the result tasty, but learning to bake integrates math, reading, organizational, and cooperation skills.

• Book club: Pick a book and set a date for discussion. We will have a blog post dedicated to this idea next week.

• Entomologist club: Gather your budding bug lovers and build a bug board, start an ant farm, or launch some painted lady butterflies. Or join in the Monarch count for 2021. Spring migration has already begun!

• Tree club: Take walks in the woods and learn how to identify different trees based on their leaves, bark, and shape. Press leaves to keep as mementos.

• Virtual travel club: Pack your (virtual) bags and head to Mexico, Belgium, or anywhere else your fancy takes you. Have each student’s family host a night. Provide a craft, food from the country, and share information about the country to expand everyone’s borders beyond their community.

• Community vacation bible school: Recruit older kids to help lead a neighborhood bible school over the summer weeks.

• Sign language club: Sign language is a great skill to have, and learning it with friends makes it fun to learn.

• Knitting club: Teach the kids to knit hats for premature babies, and then donate them to a local hospital.

• Singing club: Singing rounds is a ton of fun. The more voices, the merrier! Work on a few selections and then invite families to a picnic and sing-a-long.

• Poetry club: Have each member pick a poem to recite. Then enjoy snacks and conversation after everyone has recited.

• Science club: Build electrical circuits, bake a cake, or dissect a flower. There’s no end to the fun you can have exploring scientific concepts. You could have different students lead the club each week by having them pick a topic of special interest to them. This in turn builds their confidence while developing their leadership skills.

• Chess club: Have the kids bring their chessboards and dive in. Be sure to have a table available to teach students who are new to the game.

• Community service club: Reach out to organizations around you to determine their various needs, and then have the kids vote on which organization they want to support. Once they decide, they can provide the support. Maybe they will decide to bake cookies for local firefighters, pick up trash along a community road, or make sandwiches for the area homeless. Serving the community is rewarding and fun to do as a group.

• Origami club: Have fun folding paper into fun shapes! Pick a different project or two for each week you meet.

• Art club: Explore a different art medium at each meeting.

• Drama club: Find a play or have the kids create one themselves. Then spend time creating the sets and costumes and celebrating at the end by putting on the play for friends and family.

• Sewing club: Teach basic sewing skills by creating a small quilt square, basic garment, or other small project.

• Woodworking club: Using basic tools, create a small project such as a birdhouse.

• Vehicle (or mower) maintenance club: Tackle a different skill at each meeting such as changing a tire, checking the fluids, and replacing sparkplugs.

• Pickleball (or tennis, basketball, running, or other sports) club: Not only do the kids have fun being with their friends, they also benefit from the exercise.

• Hiking club: Pick a new trail each week and get outside and enjoy the great outdoors.

• Climbing club: Go to a local climbing wall and have your children learn how to climb. Teenagers can look into becoming certified belayers.

• Skin care club: Create natural skin care items to use and to give as gifts.

• Photography club: Using a kid’s guide to digital photography for reference, cultivate a club that teaches kids how to frame different types of photos.

If you can dream it, you can do it. Once you hit upon a theme, consider how often you want to meet and where. So gather your children and let the dreaming begin! Recruit some kids, prepare some savory snacks, and congratulations! You have a club!