With cheerful weather and days that start early and end late, summer is funner. Be sure to set aside plenty of time to enjoy the season with your kids, whether that means activities for babies such as stretching out on a blanket to watch the leaves blow or embarking on an educational field trip to the zoo with your preschooler.

Crawl: Fun Family Activities

Purpose Take advantage of summer’s more relaxed pace to make your own fun family activities.

Play Manufacturing play tools with household items can make a long summer day go by in a snap. For example, there’s no need for store-bought bubbles if you’ve got dish soap under the sink. For eye-popping orbs, combine 1 cup of water with 1/3 cup dish soap and 2 tablespoons corn syrup.

And a trip to the craft shop for finger paints isn’t necessary as long as there’s shaving cream in the shower. Combine 1 cup white shaving cream with 1 cup white school glue in a bowl, then mix in food coloring. Little ones will delight in the tactile experience of creating foamy, scented paintings.

Plus Remember that even with fewer obligations during the summer, children still thrive on routines. Try to keep your child on a consistent waking, eating and sleeping schedule even if it’s a different one from what occurs during the school year.

Walk: Kid Fitness and Learning

Purpose Gear up for school in the fall with lessons disguised as fun.

Play Turn everyday activities into teaching moments. A walk around the block can be a nature expedition: Before you leave the house, circle your child’s wrist with a piece of tape, sticky side out, and encourage her to attach found items such as pretty leaves and flower petals. On another day, hand her a notebook and pencil and have her draw interesting bugs or plants she comes upon while strolling.

Turn errands into field trips, finding ways to inject fun into mundane tasks. At the grocery store, challenge your child to point out everything that starts with the letter A, for example. Then move to B for the next aisle. Let her choose which stamps you buy at the post office. Sign her up for a library card and fill a bag with books she picked out herself.

Plus Teach responsibility and money-management by putting your child to work this summer. Choose age-appropriate daily and weekly tasks such as feeding pets, dusting and folding laundry. Reward jobs well done with a modest allowance.

Encourage kids to save some of their hard-earned cash, but also suggest they bring it along on errands to curb “gimme” requests. If your son wants a pack of trading cards, have him count out his money to see if he can afford it. If it will cost everything he’s saved, talk with him about wants, needs and choices.

Run: Travel for Kids

Purpose Hit the road one weekend for an adventure-filled family vacation.

Play Travel offers countless opportunities for learning and growth. Use this as an excuse to visit friends and relatives within driving distance. If you stay with them, your only expenses will be gas and food.

Plus Who needs portable DVD players? There are plenty of ways to keep backseat passengers occupied:

  • Play a round-robin memory game. The first person starts by saying, “I’m going on a trip and taking an apple.” Moving clockwise around the car, the next person says, “I’m going on a trip and taking an apple and a baby.” Play continues with each person adding a new item according to the next letter in the alphabet. The person who lasts the longest without forgetting any items wins.
  • Create a scavenger hunt ahead of time by pasting or drawing pictures of things kids might see to a sheet of paper with check boxes. Possible items include cows and horses, a McDonald’s, a construction barrel, a billboard for the city you’re visiting, or a water tower.
  • Have the kids research your destination before the trip at the library or on the computer, or through brochures gathered at rest stops. Allow them to choose one point of interest — within reason — to visit during your stay.
  • Give your child his own map and help him chart the drive with a highlighter. Have him watch for city signs along the way to plot your progress. A side benefit to this activity is that it reduces the number of times you’re likely to hear, “Are we there yet?”


 

Rebecca Kavanagh is contributing editor of START, EduGuide's early childhood publication written for families with children ages 0-5.