Congratulations! Another school year is behind you and your family. For a couple of blissful months your kids can leave early morning alarms, school projects, quizzes and tests behind. So why not mark the occasion! Here are five wacky ways to celebrate the start of summer vacation:
ONE: Host a “Year in Review”
Get each of your kids to share some of the highlights from their year – things they learned in school, awards won, sports played or progress made in learning an instrument.
Let each child decide how they want to showcase their year. It could be a play that covers some of the history they learned, they could pull out their science experiment and do an at-home demonstration, they can write a short story about something that happened in the year, or set up a stand showcasing all their achievements.
This a lovely way to share experiences as a family, celebrate the progress kids have made and draw the school year to a close.
TWO: Invent your own holiday
Isn’t it strange that there are not that many official holidays over the summer months? It would seem like the perfect 
time. But no bother: invent your own this year! Give it a name (such as Summer Start! or First Day of Summer!) and make it an annual tradition. Invite friends and family over to celebrate with a barbeque in the backyard. You could top it off with a watermelon seed spitting contest!
THREE: Throw a Festival of Colours!
Okay, we borrowed this one from India. More specifically, the Indian celebration of Spring and the victory of good over evil, called Holi. Each March in India, people take to the streets and throw brightly coloured powder at each other and have a ball doing it!
Why not celebrate the start of summer fun with your own “Holi”. Look online for fun and easy ways to make your own powder, get everyone dressed up in old white clothes and then let the fun begin! We would recommend keeping the celebration to the backyard where a hose down can easily clean this festive mess up.
FOUR: Build a fire pit in your backyard
I have no formal evidence to back this up, but it seems the world has gone fire pit crazy recently. And why not?! It is magical to sit outside, in the backyard, around a blazing fire.
There are many options if you are looking to buy a ready-made fire pit. But why not make your own as a family project. Look online for sites to help you – whether you are looking to have something simple to contain the fire or something fancy to elicit “oohs and ahhs” from your friends and family.
Remember to use good sense and take precautions when mixing kids and fire and check your local municipal laws before lighting one up
FIVE: Make a summer bucket list flag
There is no better way to start the summer than to plan out what everyone wants to do, experience and achieve. This is your summer bucket list! Your kids will likely be able to come up with oodles of things they want to do; help them add a few sensible items such as not leaving any school projects or required reading to the last minute. Find a balance between fun and educational, individual and things to do as a family.
As a twist, design a bucket list flag to fly in the backyard. This makes it fun and colourful and always present. And you can make one each year and keep it as a record of each of your summers.
And if you are looking to kick off the summer with some extra help in your home, look no further. SOSgarde.ca is a Canadian portal designed to help you find local caregivers in your area, easily and quickly. The caregiver who is right for your family is only a click away.