There’s a type of summer I really want to experience again.

I want to provide it for my children and have it again for myself as a Mom. Not busy, overscheduled or where every day has a plan and your mornings feel rushed trying to make breakfast, get everyone ready and out the door. And you are having a breakdown at 9am.

One that feels slow and a little dreamy and like something out of a book. A little whimsical, involving being outside and making memories together.

I think that summer is more available than we think, not because we plan it perfectly but because we slow down and just let it flow.

These are ideas when you want to add a whimsical activity here or there. 

Fairy Tea Party

Just take it outside on a blanket and make it a tea party. A tea pot, tea cups, chamomile, hibiscus or peppermint tea. I especially like chamomile tea right before nap time. And a plate of berries and watermelon and finger sandwiches. Use a cookie cutter to make them even more whimsical and bring them out on a plate or platter. Sit down together, pour slowly, clink cups, invite their favorite dolls. Ask her what she would wish for if a fairy came right now and just listen. This brings so much joy and it’s pretty much just lunch with a few extra details.

Moon Walk

On a full moon evening after bath time, pack a small basket with a flashlight and something to drink and walk outside together slowly. Look at the way moonlight touches everything differently than daylight does. Let there be some quiet. Whisper moon wishes. Come home and look at the stars for a few minutes before bed. Something intentional and unhurried.

Lantern Walk at Twilight

Make simple lanterns from mason jars with battery tea lights inside. Let them decorate with tissue paper or stickers or pressed flowers and mog podge. At twilight after dinner, walk slowly with your lanterns lit. Something about carrying light in the dark is deeply satisfying to little kids. They walk differently. They speak more quietly. The whole evening slows down.

Frozen Nature Popsicles

Add some mint or basil leaves, citrus slices, edible flower petals and drop everything into popsicle molds or ice cube trays. Fill with water and freeze overnight. Use them for pretend fairy feasts the next day or float them in a sensory bin or eat them on the porch.

Outdoor Cloth Washing

Fill big bins with soapy water and let them wash doll clothes, socks, play clothes. Rinse and hang with clothespins on a rope or drying rack in the sun. Add a few drops of lavender. This sounds like a chore but doing actual work with their hands, keeps them focused and proud.

River or Creek Wading

Find shallow moving water and let them wade. Bring a bucket  for rock collecting, a blanket for the bank, a snack. Build fairy boats out of leaves and sticks and watch them float. Stack stones. Dip your own feet in. Don’t direct too much, sometimes your little one will lead and it won’t be anything you were thinking. Just observe and let them imagine. 

Backyard Campout or Fort Sleepover

A tent in the yard or a fort built from couch cushions and sheets inside. Fairy lights, sleeping bags, a flashlight, a stack of books. Tell stories in the dark. Let them stay up a little later than usual, kids remember this one for years. Not because anything extraordinary happened but because it felt like an adventure and you were there for all of it.

Flower Crown Making

Collect whatever is blooming, real or from a craft store, and sit together outside to make crowns from floral wire and twine. Add ribbons and herbs if you have them. Wear them to dinner or on a sunset walk. Let her wear hers to bed if she wants to. The making of something beautiful together with your hands and then actually using it, they will be proud.

Sunset Picnic Under the Stars

After dinner, big soft blanket in the yard or a quiet park. Fruit and something cold to drink. Your summer playlist playing from a small speaker. Watch the sky change colors and then watch the stars come out. Tell stories, looks for pictures in the sky and just let it flow. 

All of these have something in common.

They’re slow, low pressure and they build core memories, not just playing with a toy. 

The summers that feel like something are usually the ones where we stopped trying to make them feel like something and just showed up intentionally.

If that’s the kind of summer you’re after, the 90s Butter Mom Summer Guide is less about activities and more about a whole way of moving through the season. The way you want Motherhood to feel, the small everyday things that make life feel whimsical. A motherhood slowed down and present like they did in the 90’s.