Oh, summertime. We spend nine months out of the year dreaming about you. And you’ve finally arrived! Now we just need to make sure we make the most of our time together.

Here, fellow parents, is your guide to spending those hot summer days with fun filled activities.

We’lll begin this guide with one of my favorite categories of summer fun, the ones that include being outside with water!

Wash Stations

First stop, the toy washing station! This one is really great because kids love to emulate us, and this is one way they can do that in their own way.

Just fill a small tub or a large bowl with soapy water and take it outside with some small plastic toys. This can make for a super simple but really fun time.

Depending on what your kiddo is super into at the moment, you can personalize this activity and make it extra exciting. You could choose to only bring out plastic animal toys and make it a bath. Use only monster trucks, and it can be a car wash!

Frozen Toys

This next idea is also pretty simple and only requires a little bit of preparation. You can find some small toys around the house and put them in a large container of water. From there, make some room in the fridge cause these toys are getting frozen!

By the next morning, you’ll have an iceberg of your kiddo’s favorite little toys. From there you get the little ones excited! Maybe the iceberg contains little action figures that were frozen by the evil freezing villain! Or maybe you only froze hot wheels because there has been a horrible blizzard overnight and your kiddo is the only one who can help melt the ice!

Now, depending on the size of your container, you may want to opt for a larger or smaller vessel to hold the warm water that will melt the toys out of the ice. You could use an eye dropper filled with warm water to melt the toys out slowly. Or if you went huge with your container, you could use a turkey baster.

If you don’t have anything lying around to use to disperse the warm water, try a straw! Fill a cup with warm water, place the straw inside, and cover the top with your thumb. Pull the straw out of the cup and the water will remain inside until you uncover the top. This is also a good activity for hand- eye coordination! You can instruct your little one on how to go about releasing the warm water and rescuing their toys!

Water Painting

This next idea has got to be the simplest activity I’ve ever suggested. All you need is a paint brush or a few, and water. That’s it! You can have the least messy activity of all time and keep your kiddo entertained for a solid chunk of time. This is sidewalk  painting with water!

Have a cranky landlord who doesn’t want your kiddo to draw all over the sidewalk or courtyard with chalk? This is a wonderful solution. Your little one can be as creative for as long as they want. And there is no mess for you to clean up afterwards.

Chalk Painting

On the other end of the spectrum- if you are looking to get a little messy with your little sweetie and you’ve received two thumbs up on the sidewalk decorating front, try sidewalk painting! Chalk is great and all but kiddos really do love a fun twist on a classic activity to spice things up! And this one is pretty simple too.

You can use those tiny bits of chalk that are almost too tiny to hold. Crush those up creating a fine powder. You’ll want to mix equal parts cornstarch and water. Once mixed, you can add the chalk powder or if you don’t have any chalk at your disposal, food coloring works great too! Just mix, mix, mix, and voila! Chalk paint! Grab those paint brushes and get creative.

I love this activity because sometimes regular chalk is just a bit too difficult for me, and I love how much brighter the color shows up on the concrete.

Ok, parents! It’s the season we’ve all been dreaming of. And we WILL thrive this summer. With fun activities and a positive attitude, you can do anything!

Sophie Hamel is a freelance writer and works as a crisis responder. Her son is three years old.