5 Kid-Friendly Activities You Have to Do Before Summer Ends

Whether we like it or not, the school year is almost here. In addition to buying school supplies and picking out a new backpack, make sure to spend the last few precious weeks of summer with your children doing one or more of these fun and entertaining activities. Luckily for Middle Tennessee residents, our region is packed with plenty of awesome summer activity options!

Take a Hike Through Middle Tennessee

The beautiful summer weather only lasts for so long! There are plenty of places to go hiking in the Middle Tennessee area. Bring your children to one of these great hiking options before school starts:

• Cedars of Lebanon State Park
• Cummins Falls State Park
• Fall Creek Falls State Park
• Montgomery Bell State Park
• Natchez Trace State Park
• Radnor Lake State Park

Educational Summer Fun

While school may be out for the summer (for a little while longer, anyway), your children can still have a blast learning about all types of subjects.

Visit the Adventure Science Center to get your children psyched about science! Now through the end of the summer, visit the center to take part in all sorts of events, programs, and entertaining educational exhibits. From the Sudekum Planetarium to learning all about the human body, your children will have a great time at the Adventure Science Center.

If a trip to the science center isn’t in the cards this summer, visit their website for some crazy science experiments your kids can do right from home.

Image via Adventure Science Center — Facebook

Are your children interested in animals? If so, the Nashville Zoo is the place to be this summer. With new animals, exhibits, events, and programs for children, you don’t want to miss a trip to the zoo before school starts. In fact, the Nashville Zoo has a new animal resident — a baby giraffe!

Bring On the Thrills

If your family loves an adrenaline rush, a trip to an amusement park should be part of your summer schedule. There are plenty of amusement parks and other thrilling options close to the greater Nashville and Middle Tennessee area, including:

• Nashville Shores — Be sure to check out the new ride for the 2015 year, the Big Kahuna!
• Dollywood — Just a short trip outside of Middle Tennessee, this amusement park is a summertime classic.
• Kentucky Kingdom — Did you know this amusement park was recently featured on the Travel Channel?

If you prefer to make a weekend or week long trip of it, there are several great amusement parks located within a day’s drive from Middle Tennessee.

Image credit: By McDoobAU93 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Set Up An In-Home Movie Theater

Unfortunately, the Middle Tennessee summer weather can get a bit wet and even thunderous! Even when the weather is dismal, the fun doesn’t have to stop. Create a fun memory for your children by making an in-home movie theater.
Step 1) Make tickets to “purchase” from the ticket booth. You can let your kids create these however you wish. Let them show their creative side on a rainy day!

Step 2) Time to pop the popcorn. Whether you show your kids how to make popcorn the old-fashioned way or decide to pop a few bags in the microwave, delicious popcorn is the key to a great rainy day movie experience.

Step 3) Choose the movie! Find a movie you know all of your children will enjoy watching. Make sure they give you their tickets first!

Step 4) Sit back, relax and enjoy.

Get Creative in the Kitchen

Does your child have a favorite meal? If the summer weather isn’t ideal, you and your child can spend quality time together putting together their tasty meal. Remember, safety first in the kitchen, especially with little ones around.

Make a Summer Scrapbook

Eventually, your children will have to go back to school and the summer will be over. But that doesn’t mean you have to forget all of the wonderful memories you made. Making a scrapbook with help from your children is the perfect way to end the summer!
What exciting activities do you plan on doing with your kids before the school year starts?  Let us know on the PARKS Facebook page!