With the school year drawing to a close, it also means my children will be home with me more…a lot more.

Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely adore my little ones (97% of the time), but I’m a work-at-home mom with no nanny, no daycare, and no family help.

To be frank – it sucks.

There are a lot of ways to survive as a WAHM, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. I truly love that I had the ability to quit my job and become a professional blogger/online business owner, but trying to work when my children are around 24/7 is exhausting. And doing so after my husband gets home at 6pm? Ooph. I love client calls, those are always energizing, but sitting down to write a blog post or create some social media graphics just doesn’t happen after spending 12 hours chasing around two little ones.

So lately I’ve been combing through my Pinterest trying to find ideas on how to keep my kids entertained without A) spending a lot of money B) having them watch 6 hours of TV every day or C) having to invest a ton of my own energy to do so.

Well one thing I kept coming across was setting up a “washing station” for kids to wash their toys – KIDS. LOVE. BUBBLES. This much I know.

Kid Car Wash Fun

summer fun diy idea

I decided to take things one step further, though. I went online to the Dollar Store – yes, I shop online at the Dollar store, have I mentioned I’m usually short on time? – and was browsing around when I found these AMAZING Crayola Bath Tub Paints. So I picked up a few of those, a couple cute plastic tubs, some bubble bath, and a pack of sponges.

green bottle of foaming kids bubble bath with pink bathtub fingerpaint soap in teal bucket

I decided I wouldn’t just set up a “car wash” but would in fact encourage they make a mess before then washing everything.

It took me all of two minutes to get them set up and they then played for NEARLY AN HOUR!! An hour in which they were too busy to pick on each other, whine about the sunshine, or beg for yet another cup of juice. It was heaven. Plus I didn’t have to give them a bath that night! 😉

Order Online from Dollar Tree

What’s your go-to summer activity to keep kids busy?

I’d love to know in the comments below!

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