Tips for Summer Activities for Kids

Remember when summer seemed to stretch endlessly for you when you were a child? Did you savor the promise of adventure that each new day held?

Now that you are "the parent", perhaps you've forgotten that the gift of summer is time?unstructured, simple time.

Even if you are a working parent, you can create space for your child to have unstructured time and:

• Rejuvenate and relax
• Get bored and discover something new to do
• Make new discoveries about themselves
• Savor and strengthen family relationships

Ideas for savoring those lazy days of summer:

Nature! Be outside in new ways:

• Get up early and take a walk in pajamas. Who is up at that hour? Are there workers? What are they doing?
• Have an all-day, out-side day?do everything outside?eat, sleep, read, play.

Eat! Summer is a perfect time to change the way you eat - even if only for a day.

• Make popsicles and have them with dinner!
• Picnic on the living room floor, on the porch, or in the backyard.
• Try some new foods, try a new recipe.

Music! Many communities have free summer concerts.

• Take a picnic.
• Meet friends, make new ones.
• Be sure to dance!

Books! Have a Book Festival!

• Grab pillows, blankets, make a fort and bring out the "old" children's books that your kids may have outgrown. They love reading them again. And this time, maybe they'll be reading them to you!
• Libraries - visit often and take part in their summer reading programs.
• Be sure you have a stack of books for yourself.
• Read cartoons, comic books, and magazines, too.

Art! Summer is a great time to explore free-form art:

• Sidewalk chalk - Decorate your sidewalk?and your neighbor's (ask permission, of course). Invite them to join you. Decorate the neighborhood!
• Washable markers make great body paint. Draw on each other and then wash it all off under the sprinkler.
• Have lots of paper around?make little books, hang butcher paper on the side of the garage for a mural, envelopes and funny stickers for letters to grandma, make paper airplanes and have a flying contest.
• Papier mache' (from very inexpensive powdered wallpaper paste) is a great way to create 3-dimensional forms, use found objects and paint the finished ?creature.'
• Paint or collage rocks. Paint smooth rocks to liven up the garden. Older children enjoy cutting out magazine pictures. Mod Podge attaches pictures and also protects them from weather. Add glitter paint, sparkles, googly eyes and gems for truly spectacular art!

And after all that, they may still say, "Mom, I'm bored!" That's great! Bring it on! Let it happen! Listen to their complaints (with interest but do not solve their dilemma). Kids need to experience boredom?out of it comes creativity, innovation and a belief in their own capabilities.

And yes, the kids will argue and fight. Keep an ear out for danger, otherwise, let them work it out - outside! They are learning how to negotiate and navigate social relationships.

Be sure to take some time for yourself this summer, too.

You can clean the house in September!

Enjoy!