Another school year has flown by and it’s time for a lot of us young families to prepare for our kiddos to be home all day. The goal every summer is quite simple: keep everyone busy enough to be having fun and growing, while at the same time leaving plenty of time for them to relax and have simple quiet time like the summers we remember eons ago. 

I think it is so fun to create a bucket list with my kids every summer of fun and different things we want to do together to create memories. I thought I’d share some of my ideas today of some of things my kids and I will be trying out this summer. Please feel free to share any ideas you would add to this list!

1. Make Bread Together


Making bread is such a great learning experience for kids with great conversation about the science of how baking works. Not to mention it is so tasty and fun too! I recently found a recipe for “bread in a bag”, where you mix all the ingredients in a gallon size zip-top bag until your dough is completely mixed and then you finish kneading the dough on the table by hand and bake little mini loaves for the kids to enjoy. I can’t wait to try this with my kids this summer. They will love it!

2. Make Butter By Hand


Use heavy cream to make butter together and teach your kids all about fat molecules and how this process happens. It is simply filling a jar about halfway with heavy whipping cream and shake, shake, shaking it like crazy for about 15 minutes until you are left with a firm ball of butter and buttermilk. It is a fascinating process to see it get more every couple of minutes and go from fluffy whipped cream to separate and come actual butter. 

For extra fun, bake something like blueberry muffins or banana bread to spread that fresh homemade butter on. Check out the blog “Little Bins for Little Hands” for a great tutorial on how to do this.

3. Make Microwave Popcorn In a Brown Paper Bag


Another way to use up that fresh butter is to make popcorn with your kids right in a brown paper bag. It is so easy and is a great way to experience all the five senses when making popcorn--see, smell, hear, taste, touch. Simply add ⅓ cup popcorn kernels to a brown paper bag, fold the bag over twice at the top and heat in the microwave for about 1 ½ minutes. And voila! Popcorn right in a bag with the perfect serving size for them. You can always add butter and salt to taste, if desired.

4. Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas

These are a simple treat that will not only beat the heat and make for a tasty summer snack--but it is fun and simple to melt the chocolate and decorate these with sprinkles, nuts, etc. to let the kids customize them and be creative all at once. Just set out the fixings for their bananas and let them go nuts!

5. Try a Baking or Cooking Challenge from a Kids Baking Show


My kids love all the kids baking and cooking shows and I think it would be so fun to let them participate in one of their favorite challenges the kids did on the show at home. You could get ideas from shows like Chopped Jr. or Kids Baking Championship and let your child(ren) try and do the same challenge and you can be the friendly, encouraging judge.

These are some of the things I am planning to do with my kids this summer to have lots of messy fun in the kitchen and create lots of memories of the summer of 2022. Do you have any fun ideas you’d add to the kids (from ages 1-99!) kitchen bucket list? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

    Mary Richardson
    Weekly Newsletter Contributor since 2014
    Email the author! mary@dvo.com