It has been kind of summer-y this week here already, and while summer is officially over a month away, it seems like it is peeking through, sneaking in! So I started thinking about summer plans and what we might be doing. However, looks like we will be spending many a summer’s day at home.

So like me, if you might find yourself at home on summer days during the vacations, and you maybe were hoping or imagining yourself on a beach or in the mountains or on a lakeshore somewhere, I have got you covered. There are so many other delightful things you can do right in the comfort of your home! So here are a few ideas for you!

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If on a Summer’s Day at Home, Delight in ….

🌞 Sun-Kissed Sips

Brew a pitcher of iced hibiscus tea (my daughter mentioned this to me recently) or mint tea, toss in citrus slices, and sip slowly as you watch the – well, whatever – from your relaxing chair. Let those sun-kissed sips do their magic.

🎶 Music & Movement

Put together a summer playlist— Bollywood beats, salsa, or a playlist with the family’s favorite dance songs in it—and have a dance party, in your living room, or use a bluetooth speaker to move it to your backyard! Have the party lights on as dusk turns to night (was going to say dawn, but…). Or make it a karaoke evening instead.

😴 Afternoon Naps & Dreamy Tales

Draw the curtains, pile on the pillows, and indulge in a lazy summer nap – it has been a while since I did this, and it sure is sounding tempting to me already! Keep a notebook by your side to catch any dream fragments when you wake. Who knows what adventures your sleepy brain might cook up? I know I have had dreams that could have been instant best-sellers (if only I could have remembered them!)

🍽️ Cooking Through a Cookbook or a Cuisine

Choose a favorite cookbook or maybe a cuisine you have always wanted to try; and then cook up a storm as you go through the recipes there!

🔍 Scavenger Hunts, and Make them Silly!

Create a hunt based on colors, shapes, or nature finds—indoors, in the backyard, or both. Add some riddles and a few goofy challenges (hop like a frog to the next clue?) for the giggles. Maybe some mini photo challenges too, simply because!

🧺 Picnics

Spread a blanket (even if it’s over carpet), pack a basket with finger foods and lemonade, and dine like explorers. Indoors: bug-free picnics; outdoors: aah, sunshine and fresh air! I can’t recall when we went on a picnic last, though we have had impromptu ones maybe during road-trips when we pull off at random exits, find a nice spot to park, and have our packed Trader Joes’ to-go lunches there.

🛖 Fort Building

Drape sheets over furniture or string tarps between trees. Add pillows, flashlights (simply because), and snacks—and you have your secret summer hideaway. I recall summer days of my childhood when I did that, and more recently, when my now college-age kids, built their own as little ones!

🎲 Board Games and Backyard Fun

Rediscover the classics, discover new ones, or invent a game of your own! Indoors, try Monopoly, Uno, or a storytelling game. Outdoors? Sponge relays, ring tosses, sack races, or a game of tag never go out of style.

🍃 Fairy Homes and Nature Art

Gather pebbles, twigs, and flower petals. Construct tiny doors, leaf roofs, and pebble paths. Leave a note for the fairies—you never know. Check out this book for many more stunning ideas.

Or make collages from leaves, sticks, and petals. Last but not least, you can paint rocks and leave them around your neighborhood to spread the delight!

📸 Family Photo Shoots and Videos (Goofy or Glam)

Dress up in themed outfits (or totally random ones), grab props, and take a zillion silly pics. Pose, or do not – your choice. Print your faves for a scrapbook, or turn them into summer postcards! Or make it a fun family movie – maybe enact a favorite scene from a book or movie, or make your own based on a memory, or just capture the moments!

🌌 Stargazing the Summer Nights Away

Lay down a blanket, bring a snack, and look up. See if you can find constellations (or make up your own—“That one? Definitely a dinosaur eating a pb&j.”). There’s something magical about watching the sky together. And if you have a telescope (like this one that we have and forgotten we do), dust it off and use it!

🫙 A “Summer Joy Jar”

Decorate a jar, fill it with slips of paper naming things you love about summer, activities to try, or favorite memories. Pull one out each day. Or make one, adding slips of paper with what you did each day to look back at later for those future memories!

This post contains Amazon and other affiliate links, that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Thank you for your support. Please see the full disclosure for more information. I only recommend products I definitely would (or have already) use myself

Not If on a Summer’s Day, But…

If on a Winter’s Night A Traveler

First Thoughts

I am finally reading this book and “wow!,” “brilliant!,” “everyone has to at least try to read this once!,” and similar thoughts have been going through my mind

(1 & 2) Book Beginnings and First Line Friday

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

3 Friday 56

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne at HeadFullofBooks. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up and visit others in the linky. 

4 Book Blogger Hop

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.  

What are some of your favorite books to re-read?

Given there are so many books I have on my TBR and keep adding to it each day, books that have never seen the light of my day, I should not be rereading any books at all. But I do! And often too. I have books I reread for different reasons:

• Nostalgia: my childhood favorites like Black Beauty, Little Women, comics (Tintin/Asterix and Obelix/Amar Chitra Kathas, etcs) and more
• When I need a good laugh, cry, or whatever: I know these books will never fail to provide me those feels, even though I have read them before. Now I do it on cue, like before I get to that page, I am laughing or crying or whatever…
• Guilty Pleasures: When I just need to escape, then I fall back on these reads, like favorite romance series, thrillers,

5 Posts of Summer’s Days of Yore

Like I mentioned already, I know summer is still a month (more than) away, but the weather of late did have me thinking of it, so…

• Summer Reads of Childhood Today
• 5 Quick Tips to Have a Bookish Summer
• My Lit List: “Summer”-y Books I Want to Read
• Looking Forward to Great Reads and Sunny Summers
• Go Anywhere Literally: From Amazing Mountains to Awesome Beaches

And Now, the End of This Post

Dear reader, have you read or heard about any of these books in today’s post? Your thoughts on them and other similar recommendations please. Which of those ideas appeal to you for a summer’s day at home? Also, as always, all and any other comments on my post today are welcome.