Tuesday, May 28, 2013

100 Days of Summer: Creative Ideas for Summer Fun


100 Days of Summer:  From Memorial Day through Labor Day, Fundamentally Toys brings kids and parents tons of creative and imaginative ideas for fun all summer long.

By the time summer rolled around when I was a kid, the last thing I ever wanted to say to my mother was "I'm bored."  Her quick reply was always "Bored? I'll can find plenty for you to do!" Following that threatening statement was a long list of distasteful solutions to my boredom, such as cleaning my closet, bedroom, or worse yet, the garage. Believe me, I learned to not bring up the subject and appear to be busy, or take off for the neighbor's house.

Summer in the Midwest evokes sweet childhood memories for me: feeling the heat and humidity on my skin; seeing a flash of lightning in distant black clouds; or listening to an endless orchestra of cicadas in the trees. My family never planned a big summer trip. I didn't go to camp. Cousins from out of town never came to visit. My memories center purely on the fun we made for ourselves in the backyard, woods, streets, library, or community pool with friends and families in our small town in Ohio.

When my daughter was growing up, I made sure she spent a long portion of her summer vacation with my mom in Ohio. I did not want her to miss the uniqueness of a Midwestern, small-town summer. Boredom was nothing this kid ever experienced at her grandma's house. There were ponds to play in, fireflies to catch, gardens to plant, swimming lessons to take, and many trips to Dairy Queen for frozen custard. It was fun for me to re-experience my childhood summers through her.

As I was planning Fundamentally Toys' 100 Days of Summer events, I wondered to myself if the summer fun I had as a kid was really so very different from the fun that kids have today. Of course, much has changed -- particularly in the digital age. But I really think there's still lots of fun that simply never goes out of style in the summer months.  It's a great time for kids and families to not only relax, but to continue to learn, explore, and create together. And we'll be showing you how to do just that with events, ideas, giveaways, promotions, rewards, and more as the summer unfolds.

So we "cleaned our closet" over the Memorial Day weekend and held a sidewalk sale. Now that the hard, boring work is done, we can concentrate on fun from now through Labor Day. And as my mother said, "I'll find plenty for you to do!" But I mean that in a fun way.

Stay tuned for 100 Days of Summer fun.

Debbie Scholl

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