Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 6: Having fun with new interests
• Part 2 of 6: Improving yourself
• Part 3 of 6: Participate in activities
• Part 4 of 6: Having fun when it's really hot outside
• Part 5 of 6: Change something about the interior
• Part 6 of 6: Having fun grooming yourself
• Tips
• Warnings

The first week of summer is glorious. The second week you almost wish you could go back to school earlier. Immediately shake that thought away. There's a world of activities to do out there, so take the day and see what you enjoy doing today.

To step

Part 1 of 6: Having fun with new interests

1. Learn a new hobby. Is there something you always wanted to learn but thought you could never do it? Summer might just give you that spare time to pick up something new. Here are a few suggestions:
   • Learn to play a musical instrument.
   • Start singing or dancing.
   • Try something creative like photography or knitting.
2. Get into a sport. In most places, sport is the greatest time for outdoor sports, as long as you can withstand the heat. If you don't have a favorite sport yet, there is no better time to pick it up. Maybe you are interested in "unknown" sports, sports that are not well known in your country and the rest of the world, or are part of a certain culture. It's always nice to learn more about a particular country!
   • Gather some friends to play matches in some sport, such as football, basketball or hockey, or join a club.
   • Find an activity for one or two people, such as surfing, miniature golf, or tennis.
3. Make a movie. Gather a group of friends around you and start brainstorming an idea for a movie. This could be anything from an SF story to a competitive cooking show, or a music video. If you really get into the project, you can spend weeks planning a storyboard, making costumes, recruiting extras and editing the film.
   • You can also start with an idea for a series of smaller videos and start a YouTube channel.
4. Start with a radio show. Download a recording program or try to find a tape recorder and start your own show. Write down a number of things you want to include in your show: music, jokes, interviews, advertisements, real or fake news reports, etc. You can also go to the branch of your (local) radio and ask if you want to watch a program for a few hours.
5. Find a hobby project. Craft projects can take a lot of time and patience that you don't have during a school year, but they are perfect for the summer. Here are a few ideas:
   • Fold a paper heart. You can cut out heart-shaped notes for your loved one or buy square origami paper for an even more chic result. There are many more origami projects you can try too.
   • Make rainbow crayons or melt crayons on hot stones and create your own work of art.
   • Make your own slime or play clay. Use these strange-feeling materials for jokes or just to play with.
   • Make a hot air balloon. These balloons can travel hundreds of miles per day and are easy to make.
   • You can always search YouTube for all kinds of DIY videos or projects. They often explain and / or explain in steps how to make or draw something.
   • For more inspiration, there is still Pinterest; enter a keyword and be amazed by all kinds of creations, and don't hesitate to try a few!
6. Try to excel in a tricky game. There are more games out there than you could ever learn in a lifetime, but summer gives you the opportunity to choose one and become a true master of it. Some games, such as bridge, chess, Magic: The Gathering, or Starcraft II even have international tournaments with high prizes for the winners.
7. Learn to cook. If you don't know how to cook or you don't know much about food, you can start learning some recipes right now. There are thousands of recipes available online or through cookbooks at home, the store, or the library, or try the following ideas to get you started:
   • Make cold, refreshing smoothies. Try different, maybe even weird combinations, either to make a nice, cool summer drink or challenge your friends to drink a mysterious concoction.
   • Make a chocolate peanut butter parfait for a delicious dessert.
   • Make humus as a dip for crackers. If you are ambitious, you can even make your own bread.
   • Maybe you will surprise friends and family with your delicious homemade treats!

Part 2 of 6: Improving yourself

1. Take a summer vacation job. This keeps you busy, you get to know new people and you can earn some money. Many shops, tourist attractions or summer festivals need people in the summer.
2. Become a volunteer. Contributing to your environment can be very satisfying, make you feel good and of course you work for a good cause too. Look for an organization in your area to clean up junk, work with injured or abandoned animals, or for a specific political purpose.
   • Volunteering also looks good on your application for a particular degree program, although your admission interviews and essay will get a lot better if you have an actual interest in the work.
3. Get a stack of books from the library. Books can move you to another world or let you see through the eyes of others. Immerse yourself in a novel or a fantastic SF book. Or learn everything you can about a particular topic, such as Norse mythology, Japanese history, or space travel.
   • If you want to learn even more, try an online college course. Some of the best universities in the world post lectures online, which are often more interesting than a high school class.
4. Start a journal. Many people keep a diary to review their day, to get through difficult times, or to write down plans for the next day. Maybe you'll read it again in a few years and smile at the memory of all those well-spent summers.
5. Write a book. This is a large-scale project that you can enjoy all summer long, and longer if you have a lot of inspiration. If you're not sure where to start, try imitating a story by your favorite author, or work on it with a friend so you can share ideas.
6. Learn a new language. Learning a new language can point you in the direction of many opportunities, and it will look great on your resume. Start by looking for classes for beginners in your area, or ask a friend or family member to teach you a language they know. You can also search the internet for language lessons, online learning aids or conversation partners from another country.
   • An example of online language lessons is Duolingo. It's completely free and motivational. You can also see if there are language events in your area, to talk to people who learn the same language as you and have fun experiences!
   • A somewhat outdated way to learn a new language by communicating with conversation partners is to find a pen pal; from China, Ireland, Norway, Brazil ... You can write each other in English or in each other's language, it is still instructive! Especially if you tell each other about the (different) customs in your country. That way you also learn about a certain country!
   • There are many websites to find pen friends, sign up and start looking for fellow interested people from eg Manga, Harry Potter, the Minions, the universe, philosophy ... So you immediately have a like-minded person!

Part 3 of 6: Participate in activities

1. Go to events in your area. Most places have fairs, festivals, carnivals or other fun events during the summer. Check the calendar of your place or ask people in the area if they know anything. Check the websites or advertisements for concert halls, theaters and sports stadiums.
2. Act like a tourist in your own city. Check the tourist information website or brochures promoting events and see what is attractive to people from other places. This could be anything from museums to the fair or maybe something a short distance from your place.
3. Go camping. Spend a few days with friends or family at a campsite or go camping in the backyard. Sit around the campfire or barbecue with your friends and tell scary stories and make smores.
4. Go geocaching. Search the geocaching website or download the app and search for locations near you to see if someone has hidden secret rewards. You can look for these caches or hide your own with a GPS or by looking up the coordinates on a map. Always have a pen with you to write your name and the date you found the cache in the log! Sometimes there are small things such as key hangers or finger puppets in the cache. You can exchange them, so bring a small knick-knack if necessary. Note: don't exchange a finger puppet for a magazine, if you know what I mean! Always trade something with an item of equal value.
5. Come up with an indoor holiday. If the weather isn't cooperating, transport is too expensive, or if there is nothing to do in the area so that it makes no sense to go outside, make up a vacation. Invite friends to stay over and decorate your room as a palace, jungle, hotel or whatever you want. Go shopping and buy unusual food and "souvenirs" to share with your guests. If it's rainy outside, dress up by putting on swimwear and sunglasses, and relax indoors pretending to be on a vacation destination somewhere.
6. Get in touch with friends from the past. If your current friends have gone on vacation or are too busy, check old yearbooks, phone numbers, or emails, and reconnect with people you once knew. Any of the above activities can be more fun to do with friends, or you can just spend an afternoon catching up or reminiscing.

Part 4 of 6: Having fun when it's really hot outside

1. Go for a swim. If you live in an area where the summers are very hot, you can have fun and cool down at the same time. Go to the beach or the pool with friends and family. Play swimming games such as Marco Polo or Shark Attack, go swimming competitions or ask a few friends to play water polo together.
2. Cool down by playing with water. Even if there is no place nearby where you can swim, there are many ways to have fun with water. Put on a swimsuit or light clothes that can get wet, and meet some overheated friends to do the following activities together:
   • Turn on the sprinklers in the backyard and play tag, hide and seek or rescue robber in the middle of the water from the sprayer.
   • Have a water fight. Fill a few water balloons, buy a cheap water gun, or improperly use a garden hose. This can be fun to do once ... or the start of a water war.
3. Make cold drinks and desserts. A cooling drink or a bowl of ice cream can be great when the weather is hot. Make them yourself and you will disperse the molting even more effectively.
   • Make your own ice cream, either using the classic "salt and ice" method or in a way that gives you the full flavor of real ice cream.
   • Make popsicles and fill your freezer with them all summer.
   • Fill the fridge with homemade ginger ale or lemonade.
   • Make water ice. Put cold water in a cup with a spoon in it. Place this in the freezer for 2 hours and lick it before it melts.
4. Relax indoors. Find a cool, shady room or make a fort out of sheets to shield from the sun. Turn on a fan, find a book to read, and wait for the hottest part of the day to pass.
   • Other things you can do to relax include sewing, playing solitaire or another card game, watching a movie, or listening to music.
5. Play games at sunset. At dusk and the temperature starts to drop, gather a group of friends in a large garden or park to play games such as hide and seek, sardines, tag or capture the flag. If the evening is still too hot for physical activity, set a table outside and play cards or a board game while you wait for it to cool down.
   • Choose a board game that won't just blow away in the wind, such as Carcassonne, Tikal or Blokus. These are all fairly popular games that you can buy everywhere, but classics like chess, checkers or any version of any game especially for on the go are even easier to find.
   • You can play a tricky card game like Hearts in windy places, as long as you have a rock or other heavy objects to keep the cards in place.

Part 5 of 6: Change something about the interior

1. Tidy up or rearrange your room. Some people like these things to do more than others, but even if you're not much of a decorator it's always better than just sitting and doing nothing. Even sorting out old junk can help you find old toys, books, and other nostalgic objects. If you want to take it a bit bigger, paint your room or hang up posters and pictures.
2. Pick flowers in the area. See how many wildflowers you can find in your own garden or lawns nearby. Make or flatten a bouquet to serve as a permanent decoration. Leaves can also be dried for use in art projects, or just as decoration just in case. You can also start a herbarium, which is a book with all kinds of dried and flattened plants and flowers in which you write the name and possibly some facts. Always a nice memory when you look back at that one plant from the mountains in the Pyrenees!
   • Do not pick flowers from someone else's garden without permission, or if it appears that flowers have been planted.

Part 6 of 6: Having fun grooming yourself

1. Make your own beauty products. There are hundreds of natural DIY recipes that use yogurt, avocado or other natural ingredients. Throw up the kitchen cupboards and treat yourself to a cheap beauty salon.
2. Update your wardrobe. Go through your clothes and choose which ones you want to keep and which ones can get away. Invite friends and ask them to bring clothes or other items they don't want anymore. Swap clothes or sell them at a garage sale to make some money.

Tips

• Make a tent in your room and invite friends to camp inside.
• Go on vacation!
• Do you have a pet? Play with it, teach your pet tricks.
• You can organize a dance party with and for friends.
• Find your friends and do fun things together.
• Put on new make-up and experiment with new styles.
• Go shopping.
• Try out new hairstyles.
• Make fun stuff for school and prepare yourself for the coming school year.
• Build a fort. Use chairs, pillows, blankets, sheets or whatever, and build the most illustrious fortress ever.
• If you are interested in a particular topic in this article but are unsure how to get started, take a look at WikiHow! You will certainly find everything there is to know about that subject!

Warnings

• Make sure your parents are happy with what you want to do before doing it. Summer is a crappy time to have to stay indoors.
• Swim only where there are lifeguards or experienced swimmers on the lookout.