NEED IDEAS "NICE POST"

[wallyworld]

okay my daughter is coming for the entire summer.  I haven't seen her since xmas (that was my first xmas EVER with her!)  She is now eight.  Anyone have any ideas for inexpensive outtings/activities.  I also have a two year old so it has to be somethign he can do too.... HELP ME!  What do 8yo girls like!!!!!!

[MixedBag]

Brookfield Zoo

Lincoln Zoo

The beaches...

The parks...(with huge playgrounds!)

The museums

The planetarium....

[wendl]

lol

Sorry Wally I have al boys.

But some girls like crafts, girlie movies, window shopping (thats free)
minature golf, swimming, bike riding. hehe my yss loves to bake cookies or cakes with me.


**These are my opinions, they are not legal advice**

[joni]

Contact your local park district or church to sign her up for arts, dance, crafts, summer camp (I highly recommend 1/2 day summer camp to keep her from getting bored, it'll also give her a chance to meet kids in your neighborhood), swim lessons that they offer the youth.

Are you in Chicago?  my 8 y.o. SD loves this store and we joined the club
https://club.americangirl.com/login.php.  If you have one splurge with her this summer, get her an american girl doll she can keep at your home.

You can always use these two web sites to find family fun

//www.metromix.com
//www.digitalcity.com/chicago

Also consider the Kane County Cougars, very cheap seats right on top of the field, rate A minor league baseball.  Also DuPage County Fairgrounds always has great fairs going on all summer.  Navy Pier has fireworks every Wed and Sat night at 9:30 thru the summer.  Also, Chicago has different street fairs every week like Taste of Chicago, Taste of Lincoln Avenue, Old Town Art Fair, etc.

Other than the zoo and what not, there's not much your 2 y.o. can join in without unintentionally ruining your daughter's fun (I speak from experience, I have a 3 y.o.).  if you really want to make the summer special, she will need one on one time with just you and since you don't see her that often, spoil her a bit.

make the time to have a weekly date night with her where just the two of you (no half sibling, no stepmom) go to dinner or a movie, bowling, miniature golf, bowling.  she'll remember that forever.  it's a tradition you can have whenever you see her.  Call it "Daddy Date Night".

keep in mind, this child is probably not use to have a sibling around and that will take some getting use to, especially with a 2 y.o.  Be very sensitive to her feelings and her needs.

[Ref]

Now is the time to set up her second "home". She will need to have friends to make this a place that she will want to go to as she gets older. That is one of the biggest problems we face w/ SD. She is 14 and going to camp this summer. Some people think she is too old for camp, but her getting friends here is VERY important. She also has no friends to otherwise hang out with during the day.

A lot of towns now have "build your own bear" places where you can stuff your own teddy or pottery painting or bead stores. These are always a hit.

I think it has a lot to do with what you like to do. DH makes beer, so he will show SD how to make soda when she is here. I love cooking, so she and I will bake cookies or make pizza. If you like to fish, show her how.

Problem is, SD loves shopping and neither DH or I like to do that. Apparently that is one of the only things she can do in her town (same town your DD is in). We take her to the mall and do shop when she is here, but we don't like to consider that an activity.

Oh, my sister got a tiedying kit and did that with her. She loved it. They also bought pottery clay (self drying) and made all sorts of things with it. Craft stores rock for finding things to do.

Good luck!!
Ref

[c_alexander]

You are asking the right person here. For most of the time I was going through my divorce, and for years after for that matter, I barely made enough to survive off of, but I wanted to make the times I had with my daughter..now  9, the best that they could be...little did I know that in the process my very inexpensive, often free, outtings meant more to her then the expensive ones. Bottom line is that kids are usually jsut happy to have someone willing to spend as much time as possible with them doing the thing sthat THEY like to do.

Some great examples of things we would to together included picnics at the park....parks are almost always free...throw together so sandwiches at home, chips and drinks and take them along aand make a day of it. Don't be afraid to play tag with her while you are there, or hide and seek, jump on a swing and see who can swing the highest...sounds corny i know but kids love it. We also used to go fly kites...you can pick them up at Wal-mart for as little as 88 cents. You can also take her on a bike ride jsut through the neighborhood. Camping is awesome if you are an outdoors person and have already invested in some of the supplies. (Over the years I have gather together my camping gear, and for several years in a row we celebrated my daughters birthday on a weekend camping trip.)  Depending on your location a decent campground can run you less then a hotel for one night. Swimming is a big one....kids love swimming and a lot of cities have pools where you can swim all day for as little as $1.00.

These are jsut some of the things I have done with my daughter and as cheap as these outtings where, to this day my daughter still talks about many of them.  The bottom line however is your willingness to spend as much "quality" time with your daughter as possible is the thing that will stand out most in her mind. Often it doesn't really matter WHAT you are doing, but rather that you ARE doing that counts.

[MYSONSDAD]

You and your daughter could make your own calendar for the months she is with you. Use poster board, let her help design it, and add things she likes. Also include ideas in case of rain, never know about the weather.

You can also google search surrounding counties, using the word "events"

Little girls also like getting notes, leave them around for her to find, so she knows your thinking about her.

I would also build a scrape book. Something she could take with her and have it hold a summer of memories she will not forget. You can work on it together. Include a page of her little brother and the special moments they will have together.

ENJOY, ENJOY AND ENJOY! Hope you utilized all your vacation time!