Summertime is just around the bend, and my first thought is thank the heavens above! Then, my second thought: what are we doing with our summer? As my daughter grows older - she's the ripe old age of 4 now - I'm realizing we have to think more serously about summer camps and programs. Swim classes? Soccer? Day camp?

If your child wants to play doctor (or if you're trying to give them a little career nudge!), you'll probably want to invest in a play doctor's kit. But a doctor's kit can only hold so many tools, so you may want to supplement with some of these cute additions I've rounded up.

Yes, you read that right. Netflix for LEGO. I swear, we must have at least 10,000 Lego in our house. Wait, maybe 20,000. The desire for new sets never ends, but of course, the old sets are still around. Enter Pleygo, where you can rent Lego sets and then return them for new ones. Would you consider it?

When space is limited, toys need to be too. Wait...is this really true? No, not if you're space savvy: big toys can be replaced with small toys that are just as fun and do the exact same job. Here are a few small space alternatives to popular big toy items:

Landscape Dinner Set

• $42
• My Sweet Muffin

This set makes me think of summer camp dining halls with a designer twist. Playful and smile-inducing. Designed by Barcelona-based DOIY. 

OYOY Silicone Placemats

• $28/set of 2
• Huset

When young kids are at the table, cleanup is more than sweeping up crumbs. I like easy-to-wash and easy-to-wipe silicone mats and am digging these stylish, Danish-designed ones from OYOY.

If your child had the chance to give you any, ahem, additional facial features, what would she choose? I'm guessing you might end up with some kind of old-timey mustache, maybe a nose piercing, or perhaps some villainous eyebrows. With this DIY crazy family book, you'll be able to find out... and your child can indulge his creativity and sense of humor.

The Mad Hatter is always ready for tea time, so maybe you and your kids should be, too. If you stock up—or DIY it!—on these cute tea party essentials, your kids will certainly not echo Alice's sentiment: "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!"

Do you remember building stilts out of cans or wood? That has to be in one of my top happy memories. So when I saw my kids finding out how to do this, it made me smile really wide.