Parenting in the summertime can be a little like living in a warp zone where time isn’t real and bedtime is just a suggestion. You had every intention of maintaining a school year schedule, but suddenly it's 8pm, the dinner dishes are still in the sink, the sun is nowhere near setting, and your kids are asking to go back outside. 

So what do you do with that extra hour or two of summer daylight when you don’t want to wind everyone up before bed, but can’t quite force yourself to make anyone go to sleep while the sun is still up? Simply go simple.

Some of the nicest summer evenings are the ones that aren’t planned. Think about the summer memories you have from your own childhood. Chances are, you remember the slowest summer evenings as some of the most magical ones. 

Here are 10 easy ideas of how to spend your extra daylight hours without getting anyone too wound up before bedtime: 
1. Take a family bike or scooter ride around the block
2. Catch fireflies (or just chase them around the yard) 
3. Take a walk with popsicles
4. Sit on the porch to read bedtime stories
5. Simply blow bubbles together 
6. Hide a simple thing in the yard and have the kids find it. Many times.
7. Draw with sidewalk chalk on the driveway 
8. Pull out a few board games and hang out on the living room floor 
9. Set up a quick movie night with popcorn and sleep mats for the kids
10. Build a blanket fort to read in before bed

Seasons Come and Go 

It can be stressful for some parents to get a little looser with the bedtime routine and give in to the longer summer evenings. You might worry that you’ll never be able to implement earlier bedtimes again and your little ones will be sleep deprived and cranky when school starts up again. 

But it can be helpful to remember that the structure will come back soon enough. The school year always rolls back around with the lunches to pack every night and calendars full of practices and pickups. The busier, shorter days will help kids get tired earlier once again. Summer evenings are one of the few stretches of childhood where you can let go of the routine a little and spend the extra daylight hours just being together. (Of course, if your kid thrives on a strict routine, by all means keep doing what you’re doing!)

Making the Most of Summer

Making the most of summer doesn’t have to mean fitting as many activities into it as possible. Think slow. Think simple. Think analog. It can also mean lots of slow family walks, popsicles on the porch, and playing outside long after the clock says it’s time for bed.