Ever since I handed my 7 year old daughter a guest post on my primary blog a couple months back, she’s been itching to have another pirouette in the spotlight. When I told her I was planning to write a list of things to do with your children over summer, she asked if she could contribute.

“Contribute!” I said, “Why don’t you just make the list?”

So she did. Here is the list of my daughter’s top 10 things to do with your family over summer vacation.

1) Pick an animal from each continent and write down your favorite things about them.
2) Help your parents to cook. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are all fun, but they taste even better when you help!
3) Practice writing! Writing is fun because you get to make up stuff and it makes your brain better with lots of ideas.
4) Practice your hobbies. I play the violin, but you can practice anything. Just remember, practice makes perfect!
5) Spend time with your friends. You can plan out what you’re going to do and even write them notes ahead of time.
6) Have fun! Summer time is the best time for fun because you’re off from school and so you don’t have as much work to do.
7) Go to the beach! Going to the beach is fun because you can go in the water and play in the sand. If you don’t live near a beach, you can go to the park instead.
8) Plant in the garden. Planting takes a lot of work, but it is really fun and when you are all done, you have pretty flowers to look at.
9) Watch lots of movies. I love to watch movies because they’re really exciting. I do not watch TV, but we watch lots of movies on the weekend and every Friday night.
10) Exercise! Since we don’t have to drive to school everyday during summer, my family really likes to walk everywhere.

My daughter’s list is probably different from yours, but take the time to find out what your child wants to do and you can have a ball for all involved.

Sean Platt is a dad and ghostwriter who also tweets.