2. Sign up for your library summer reading program.
Set a minimum reading time each day of thirty - sixty
minutes. Or break reading time into two thirty-minute
chunks — one for a parent-approved book and the
other for whatever your child chooses to read. The
library offers lots of variety, and summer is a great time
to check out age-appropriate comic books and graphic
novels, as well as cookbooks and biographies.
3. Visit museums in your area. Find out in advance
when the free days are to visit local museums and
learning centers. Opt for a guided or non-guided tour,
as your family prefers. Be sure to check out the gift shop
on your way out for inspired games and toys.
4. Plant a garden together. Use illustrated gardening
books by Sharon Lovejoy to find projects that suit the
personalities of your family and kids. If your family loves
pizza, plant a pizza garden. If fresh salsa is your thing,
plant a salsa garden. Think about what your family likes
to eat and plant accordingly. See sidebar for guidebooks
bursting with gardening inspiration.
5. Shop like a teacher. Visit your local teacher supply
money, price items, break out the calculators, and do the
math. Make playing store an all-day affair or a weekly
occurrence, if your kids enjoy it. Make the game as
simple or complex as suits your childrens’ ages.
7. Visit local nature centers, Audubon societies, and
nearby gardens. Make a list at the beginning of summer
and plan to hit all the regional natural destinations
before the first day of school. Then, plan a weekly
outing and bring along a picnic. To review what you saw
and learned on the way home play “I Spied,” instead of
“I Spy.”
8. Research a future vacation. Let each child pick their
own destination and figure out what it would cost for
the family to spend one week there including airfare,
transportation, meals, hotels, and everything else. Have
them present their proposed vacations to the whole
family by showing the math writ large on posterboard.
Who knows, they just might talk you into a trip you
hadn’t thought of yourself.
9. Let them plan a meal. The kids can become chefs
store and stock up on workbooks and educational
games. Other things you will find that might motivate
summer loungers include timers for breaking the day up
into learning chunks, craft supplies for every age, and
educational games, videos and music. for the day, including the jobs of finding the recipes,
making the grocery list, cutting the coupons, doing the
shopping, comparing brands, and cooking up a storm.
Then be a good sport and enjoy whatever they serve.
Very young children can do the same, only with make-
believe food.
6. Play store. Pull a portion of the food in your cabinets 10. Have a word of the day. Put the word in large letters
and pantry out onto the countertops. Let kids use real
at the top of a page with the definition just below.
Hang the word on the fridge and make a game out of
using it in sentences all day long.
11. Battle bugs or weeds as research projects. What a
great way to practice troubleshooting and potentially
solve your most nagging nuisances. Challenge older kids
to solve your ecological challenges by researching and
experimenting with natural solutions they track down
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