Summer Activity Ideas For Children
October 1, 2008
Summer break is finally here. After the first few days of enjoying their new found freedom, your children may start looking for new things to do. Here are some great summer activity ideas for children.
Summer Boredom Busters – 10 Great Ideas to Keep Kids from Getting the Summer Blues
Keep kids from getting the summer blues with these ten great ideas.
Build an Ice Cream Stand - Find a local ball park busy with little league ball games and set up an ice cream stand. Let the kids build and decorate the stand out of wood or cardboard (old refrigerator boxes work well) and add their menu to the outside. Keep kids involved by letting them be in charge of buying the supplies (large bulk clubs like Sam’s Club are great for this) and figuring out how much to charge. Encourage your kids to donate a portion of their profits to a charity or add some fun games for their customers to play while enjoying their ice cream. Keep the ice cream cold by burying it in plastic containers at the bottom of a big cooler filled with ice.
Organize a Summer Playgroup - Ask other parents to join you and your kids at a local park once a week. Play on the playground, organize lawn games, or provide crafts for the kids.
Hold a Treasure Hunt - Write up clues that will lead your kids on a hunt through the neighborhood and to local places of interest. Begin by mailing the first clue to the kids (what kid doesn’t like to receive mail?) and letting them figure out where to go. You can spread the clues out over the summer or have them complete the hunt in a day. At the end, have a “treasure” of prizes available as reward for their accomplishments. You can make it interesting by writing the clues on scrolls or by making them educational
Start a Neighborhood Business - If your child is old enough, help them start a small neighborhood business like pet watching, dog walking, mother’s helper, or house watching (getting mail, watering plants). Help them create fliers, determine pricing, and of course help them understand how to provide excellent customer service.
Host a Neighborhood Cookout - Encourage your neighbors and friends to take a break from their busy lives by inviting them to a neighborhood cookout. Include the kids by having them help make invitations, plan games, and prepare food. Make it easier on yourself and family by asking your friends and neighbors to bring a dish to share.
Join a Reading Contest or Challenge - Encourage your kids to get lost in a good book this summer by signing them up for your local library’s reading contest. Common among most libraries, book challenges are a great way to keep kids reading through the summer and earn prizes and awards for their achievements.
Start a Summer Scrapbook or Memory Jar - Start by saving small mementos from your summer vacations, activities, and trips. Over the summer let the kids add them to a scrapbook or store in a decorated memory jar or box. Make it fun by giving the kids a challenge of finding the most unique memento from their excursions.
Hold a Carnival - Let your kids organize a backyard carnival for friends and neighbors. Kids can be kept busy building a ticket booth, organizing games, planning food, and buying prizes. Let them take charge here; you will be amazed at what their imaginations can do!
Write a Family or Neighborhood Newsletter - Put your kids in charge of writing and publishing a family or neighborhood newsletter. Let them write creative articles and share the scoop on what is going on with friends and family. This is a great way to help them improve their writing skills and keep them busy at the same time.
Start a Puzzle - Pick out a large challenging puzzle and put it in an out of the way place. Encourage the kids to slowly add and complete the puzzle throughout the summer. This is a great one to have on hand when they say “I’m bored”.
Polly Schlafhauser is Founder and President of Families with Purpose, a website dedicated to helping busy families enhance their family life and find time for the little things in life. To subscribe to their FREE newsletter or to find more creative ideas to beat the Summer Boredom Blues, visit their website at http://www.familieswithpurpose.com
St. Patrick’s Day Activity
October 1, 2008
Tired of just wearing green? Here are some great St. Patrick’s Day activities you can share with your kids. Have fun!
St. Patrick’s Day Fun
By Angela Billings
Have a little “green” fun with the following activities.
Make Irish Toast – Simply get a piece of sliced bread and
paint
shamrocks on it using a new, clean small tipped paintbrush
and water mixed with green food coloring. Then pop it in the
toaster and serve when lightly browned.
Make Shamrock Pancakes – Use a heart cookie cutter and cut 3
hearts out of the cooked pancake and form in a shamrock
shape.
Make construction paper shamrocks – Cut 3 heart shapes out
and arrange them in the shamrock shape and glue on
construction paper. It is said that St Patrick used the
three-leafed shamrock to explain the concept of the Trinity;
which refers to the combination of God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. This is said to be one reason
for the strong association with St. Patrick’s day and
name.
Make Leprechaun Traps -give the children boxes, string,
ribbons, tape, glue, sticks, wood and other craft materials
to help them make a leprechaun trap have children set the
traps before going to bed, then while they are sleeping you
can leave gold wrapped chocolate coins or something else
special in each child’s trap.
Blarney Stones – Let kids get smooth rocks from outside and
bring in and wash them and dry. Then let them paint on glue
with a paintbrush and then roll in gold glitter.
Don’t forget to wear green!
Angela Billings is the founder of Home and Family Ezine
which is a free online newsletter offering encouragement and
support for homekeepers everywhere.
homeandfamilyezine.com
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Reindeer Art Projects
October 1, 2008
What would Christmas be without Reindeer. Here are some fun reindeer art projects you can do with your kids.
Do you know the names of Santa’s reindeer? Maybe or maybe not, but everyone knows “the most famous reindeer of all.” Kids will love to create their own Rudolph.
Cardboard Rudolph Art
This one is simple. Using a 5×7 writing pad, take off the brown cardboard at the back. Use two large black buttons and place them on the cardboard to make the reindeer’s eyes. If you don’t have buttons, you could use almonds or dried beans.
Color a cotton ball using a red marker, and glue the cotton ball onto the cardboard to make his nose.
Take two popsicle sticks, color them brown, and glue each stick to each end of the cardboard for his ears; and with a magic marker, draw a curved line for his smile.
Put Rudolph on a plate stand to display him in your home.
Paper Plate Rudolph Mask
Another idea is to take a paper plate and turn it into Rudolph mask. Lightly color the plate with a brown crayon to begin.
Then, you can make the antlers. At the top of the plate, glue two brown pipe cleaners for antlers. Then cut two or more smaller pieces of brown pipe cleaner and twist them around the longer pipe cleaner, turning them outward to create the antler effect. You may need to reinforce the antlers with a hot glue gun after your child is done creating this mask.
Cut holes for the eyes and color around the holes with a black marker to make his eyes look darker. For his nose, cut out a circle from any red fabric (even patterned fabric would be cute). Glue it onto the plate.
Then, draw a big smile with a black crayon. You’ve got an adorable Rudolph mask. Simply glue a Popsicle stick to the bottom as a handle and your child has a mask to wear. Now all you need are a few more and you’ll have all of Santa’s reindeer.
Now that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has been created, have you been thinking about the names of the other eight reindeer? The answer is: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.
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