It’s June, and to me that means summer, even if it doesn’t officially start until June 21st.

Summer is one of those seasons that always sounds simpler than it is. We imagine long days, popsicles on the porch, and happy children catching fireflies. The reality often includes hungry kids, complaints of boredom, endless snack requests, and wondering how the house got messy again five minutes after you cleaned it. I speak more to this in the something I wrote last week, “How to Have a Nineties Summer.”

Over the years I’ve written quite a bit about making summer a little easier, so I thought I’d gather some of those resources in one place.

If you’re just looking for a simple side dish that doesn’t require turning on the oven, you might enjoy my recipe for the easiest cucumber-tomato salad here.

Need breakfast ideas that don’t involve standing in the kitchen all morning? I shared some easy summer breakfast ideas here.

One of the hardest parts of summer is figuring out what’s for dinner every single night. To help with that, I put together a complete dinner plan for all of June here.

If you’re trying to encourage reading without turning it into a battle, I created a free printable summer book bingo here. .

For the inevitable moments when someone announces, “I’m bored,” this list of basic craft supplies to keep on hand all summer has saved me more than once. You can find it here.

And if your family enjoys board games as much as mine does, a list of my favorite games for kids is here.

Finally, if you’d like something a little more structured, my art curriculum includes seven meaningful art projects designed to help children create beautiful work while learning new skills. You can find it here. .

Here’s to sticky popsicle fingers, late bedtimes, muddy shoes, library books stacked on every surface, and all the ordinary summer memories we’ll miss someday.