Our Top Three Suggestions for Portland Summer Fun

With summer in full swing, it can be challenging to manage busy work schedules with coordinating exciting activities to keep children entertained. Camille here, with Lice Clinics of America-Portland, to let you, our devoted reader, in on some thrilling local festivities in the greater Portland area. Luckily, I found a plethora of family friendly activities to choose from and decided to provide you with my top three favorites. For inspiration, I turned to local magazines such as Red Tricycle, NW Kids, and PDX Parent. While I would no longer consider myself a “kid,” these sources gave me some great ideas for my own summer plans, and I sincerely hope they do the same for you.

Red Tricycle recommends attending outdoor film screenings. “Your kids will appreciate the freedom to move and play both before and during the movie, and you will pat yourself on the back for achieving that most coveted of modern parenting goals.” The opportunities for an outdoor movie night are abundant–from Portland Parks and Recreation’s Movies in the Park, Flicks on the Bricks, Topdown Rooftop Cinema, Pix Patisserie’s Movies at Dusk, to the classic 99W Drive-In experience. My personal favorite is the 99W Drive-In because it allows me to embrace the lives of characters from some of my favorite old movies, such as Sandy from Grease. Check online to find that your kid’s favorite movies are playing at one or more of these awesome locations.

Along with outdoor movies, NW Kids recommends Mt. Hood Adventure Park as a daytime activity that guarantees fun for the whole family. “For those new to Portland, Skibowl is about an hour and fifteen minutes from downtown Portland, and the drive is gorgeous. With over 20 attractions, nobody is going to be bored, but you likely won’t get to do everything either, so you are going to need to employ some strategy.” Our personal favorites include a Tree Top Tour, Zip Lines, AquaRollers, pony rides, miniature golf, Bungee Tower, and my personal favorite, the Alpine Slide. I don’t even know what half of those are, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.

Now that I’ve given you both a night and daytime event, you are probably wondering what else I have up my sleeve. Well, for my last recommendation, I turned to PDX Parent for a free local recommendation that requires little planning beforehand. If you have or know children, you are aware that heat has an undeniable power to trigger a tantrum. For this reason, one of my favorite summer activities is swimming. Whether this is at my local public pool or the river, it is the best way to cool down. According to PDX Parent, “We are so lucky here in the Portland metro area to have so many options for water fun. From fountains and splash pads to pools, water parks, and swimming holes, no matter how you like to play, there’s something for everyone.” I couldn’t agree more, so be sure to check out PDX Parent’s extensive list of free swimming opportunities, where they list a range of indoor and outdoor pool, fountain, and swimming hole opportunities by neighborhood. So, whether you live in NE Portland, Gresham, Vancouver, or anywhere in between, PDX Parent has you covered.

With these three ideas, kids have no excuse to be bored this summer! I hope you gained some valuable insight from these suggestions. Be sure to remember Lice Clinics of America-Portland to keep your children happy and lice-free all year long.