Summer Spirit Week

The last four days of July are here. Can you believe it?

In South Carolina, school starts in less than two weeks. The bins of notebooks and glue sticks are taking over the store aisles. Lunchboxes are making their way back to the front of the pantry. And while I know a few mamas who are counting the days with a quiet hallelujah, I also know this: summer isn’t finished yet. Not quite.

How about we DON'T let summer slip out the back door unnoticed. How about we send summer off with a celebration? Join me and let's strip off our shoes, run barefoot and have a Summer Spirit Week.

No printables. No pressure.

We have four simple days to mark the changing season with our children. Can we fill them with nature and remember that every day still holds room for play.

Are you with me? 🌱 Day 1: Mudpie Monday

Today. Start the week messy. Summer should end with dirt under our fingernails and in desperate need of a bath. Turn on the hose, and let your kids get gloriously muddy.

To the mud kitchen (more on that another day if you don't have one already) to make mud pies with acorns and all things new!

🐝 Day 2: Bumblebee Tuesday

Tuesday, we are dressing in yellow and heading outside for a BIZZY bee counting walk. Whether it's in your backyard, a neighborhood park, or a trail near home, slow down and spot pollinators in action. BONUS* Make a bee watering station by using a shallow dish, some rocks, some fruit and water, just high enough, but don't cover the rocks. Leave a landing station.

🦋 Day 3: Wild Wonder Wednesday

Begin the day with this question: What’s the wildest thing we’ve seen in our backyard?

Let that question take you places. Maybe today is the day you catch a glimpse of a butterfly, or build a fort out of sticks, or spot a lizard doing pushups on the deck rail. Maybe today is just a reminder that wildness doesn’t mean far away or hard to find.

It’s right where you are, just waiting to be noticed.

🌿 Day 4: Taste of the Wild Thursday

Today is about tasting something wild. Let summer fill you—literally. Head out to the garden, the backyard, or even the edge of a trail, and find something you can nibble on (safely, of course). Will you pick a cherry tomato still warm from the sun? Try a nibble of wood sorrel—that zippy little heart-shaped leaf that tastes like lemon. Maybe you’ll spot some mock strawberries or the last of the wild blackberries, tucked in the brambles.

Share with your littles about how the earth feeds us. How sweet and simple it can be to eat something that didn’t come from the store. Let your children feel the joy of gathering and grazing.

🍉 Day 5: Float & Feast Friday

Celebrate the last day of summer spirit week with a splash and a snack. Hello August! Celebrate the last day of summer spirit week with a splash and a snack.

Fill the kiddie pool.

Set up a sprinkler.

If you feel up to it, go to the beach with kids. Or, you know, just set up a sprinkler.

.As the day winds down, make homemade lemonade or slice up a watermelon and let the juice run down your arms. Eat this last meal of summer outside! A feast doesn’t have to mean fancy. Let it mean intentional.

Let the laughter linger. This is the kind of feast that fills more than just bellies.

How will your family end summer?

Maybe it’s with a nature walk. Maybe it’s popsicles before breakfast. Maybe it’s these themed days like these, or maybe just one slow afternoon with nowhere else to be. However you do it, I hope you’ll give summer the send-off it deserves.

Leave the season the way you came into it—open-hearted, dirt-streaked, and full of wonder.

💚Jennifer