Archive through July 13, 2003
TV ClubHouse: GD Archives: Help our kids fight the summertime blues:
Archive through July 13, 2003
Wargod | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 10:20 am     Hippy has inspired me to start a thread and may not even know it. For all of us with school aged kids, its that time of year we come to loathe and kids look forward to all year. Yep, its summertime. First day of summer break, the kids roll out of bed, wander into the the living room and look around, go to the toy box and dig for a minute, look at their bookshelves, run outside and check things out, then run back inside and plop themselves down in front of the tv with a bowl of dry cereal and emit the often heard, "Mooooom/Daaaaaaaaad, I'm so bored!" As I said in the Help thread, I am not an entertainer. I plan a schedule, and have time to spend with my kids, but I also have a house to keep up, meals to get ready, errands to run, and my own interest. I thought this would be a good place for us to get together and share things that have helped keep our kids busy and away from boredom. Doesn't matter if you're a parent or not, if you're kids are babies or if they're grown adults, if you have an idea, please share it..we'd all be interested! For us, since we are on a track system, we get two weeks off at the end of June/ begining of July, plus the month of August. We also get from Thanksgiving to New Years, and April off. So our activities revolve around what time of year it is. Tabby suggessted a summer journal. We do that and enjoy it. The kids can write about what they did and draw pictures, we do it every day, and then later we can go back and look at it. I've been toying with the idea of a scavengar hunt/I Spy game. Depending on how hot it is, it will be done either at the mall or around the neighborhood. I'm going to make a list of things to find and take a walk. Once the kids find what is on their list, they can mark it off and at the end of the game, the prize will be ice cream or something along those lines. The park is fun, but you can't go everyday or the kids get bored. The discount theater is nice, since it's cool and the kids get to see a movie, but they only have so many movies there to see. Any ideas or suggestions? Recipes that are kid friendly, unusual outings, games to play around the house, arts and crafts, how do you fight the summertime blues? I'm sure if we put our heads together we can come up with stuff to keep the kids occupied and stop the "I'm bored's." |
Draheid | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:07 am     There are lots of ideas for this and I'm glad to see you started the thread, Wargod. Thank you. One thing I want to mention right now is READING. A lot of comments we've heard from school teachers is that kids tend to almost 'forget' how to read because they don't seem to get enough of it during the summer months. Imagine if the teachers could start each new year with the course work instead of spending the first couple of weeks re-teaching the kids things they should already know. This could easily be turned into the much-needed *Me* time that all parents need by having them agree to a set amount of time to read and that they will do nothing else during that time, especially disturb you. You might even be able to include a 'reward' of a trip to the library once a week, another activity! and something they'll enjoy for the trip as well as the chance to visit the library and pick up new reading material. Just a thought, FWIW. |
Hereiam | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:32 am     Most libraries have great summer reading programs for kids. Both my guys love it! They even have special shows and activities. Also, check at your local bookstores. The barnes and noble near us is running a program for grades 1-6 where they can earn a couple of free books. They need only read 8 books and write a sentence about each book and then they earn a free book off a set list. They can only earn a max of 2 books but still pretty cool. We also do parks, bike rides, pool and beaches. Another fun thing to do is explore further away then you normally can go since you have a whole day. We hike in new places, try museums in other towns and just explore. Let the kids plan a couple of these day trips. The planning alone can keep them pretty busy. So that we can do all this fun stuff the guys have to help with chores around the house. They pretty much have to do this all year so it is not that new -- but in the summer they "get to" cook dinner about once a week. I assist and they plan, prepare and clean up the dinner. Looking forward to everyones fun summer ideas |
Hippyt | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:49 am     Hey,cool! I inspired someone,LOL! I have three words for a good summer break activity: Vacation Bible School! My son is going next week,and he's gonna love it,and he'll be learning,and I'll be getting a little of a break. I'll put more later.......kids want food. |
Not1worry | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 11:55 am     Hippy, that's a great idea and most church are thrilled to have kids who don't "belong" to the church. I had a friend who managed to schedule a different VBS almost every week for her kids all summer. They loved it. Some of them are in the evenings now - could be instant date time for parents! I plan on taking a trip to A.C. Moore, our giant arts and crafts store. Let the kids pick out a big poster to color or a bead project or something. They are enrolled in art day camp for a week at our art museum too. We homeschool and during the summer we continue our school work on a smaller scale. A short math lesson, just so we don't forget the skills then a little reading or writing. Less than an hour about 3 days a week. We do ancient history too, only because it's such fun. |
Wargod | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 12:31 pm     One of the things the teachers do here that I like for our off track sessions is to send home packets of work. It looks like a lot, but when you get to doing it its only about half an hour of math, reading, or writing a day, and its convienent because if you're planning a trip, the kid can do a bit more work a few days, to make up for the days you aren't home. Sadly, Caleb's teacher stopped doing that about halfway through the year when she sent 20 kids home with packets, and 3 (Caleb and the twin girls who love to compete with each other) were the only ones to return them. I just picked up a couple workbooks to keep their skills up. We have an art museum that does a kids day about once a month. I'm going to look into that to see what they have to offer this summer. Once Caleb is out (next Friday) I'm going to set up a swimming/play date/picnic with the kids across the stree once a week. Should keep the kids busy and excited for awhile anyways. I told them last night that this week we'd work on a list of things to keep them occupied while they're out of school, so I'll let ya'll know what they suggest! |
Twiggyish | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:01 pm     We (daughter and I) belong to a reading group for parents and children. It meets twice a month. One activity we did one year was to obtain a county park map. Then, we had fun trying to locate parks (Our county has about 25). After finding them, we'd check out what there was to do there. You can plan to go exploring about once or twice a week. Another activity was to go skating a few times a week. Our local auditorium has summer skating. You can also buy learning cd games, which help update their school work. (I like Mathblaster) |
Schoolmarm | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:45 pm     Two words: PIANO LESSONS! You wouldn't believe how much the student can learn in a summer because they have more time to practice. I've been listening to some INCREDIBLE lessons from begining, intermediate and advanced students the last few weeks, mostly because they have more time to practice. Piano lessons give a boost to reading skills and a permanent boost in "spacial" IQ scores, when started in Kindergarten or 1st grade. It's never too late to start playing, but the neural net in the brain gets fairly established by age 9, so anything started before age 9 is easier to pick up than after say, age 9-12. Foreign languages are easier to pick up as well. And just a reminder, the new Harry Potter book comes out soon! |
Hippyt | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:50 pm     Twiggyish,that's a neat idea about the parks,we have a lot of parks around here. I'll have to check that out! |
Twiggyish | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 02:57 pm     Yay on the HP book Marm! |
Corriecat | Tuesday, June 10, 2003 - 06:05 pm     We play a game using a GPS called geocaching. It's basically a hike with a treasure to find. People hide tupperware or ammo boxes filled with inexpensivve "treasures" such as Happy Meal Prizes, small flashlights, keychains, etc. in areas where there is a nice hike. On the geocaching home page they list information about their geocache and the coordinates you plug into the GPS in order to search for it. There are all different levels of difficulty for both the hikes and how hard it is to find the box. Lots of families and their pets participate. For more information visit www.geocaching.com A similar game is letterboxing. Each person or family chooses a rubber stamp to represent them and carries the stamp and ink pad and diary on the hike. When you find the hidden box it has a stamp and diary inside. You put your stamp in the diary to show you found it and collect stamps in your own diary to remember all the boxes you found. In letterboxing you use maps and a compass instead of a GPS. The home page for letterboxing is www.letterboxing.org |
Wargod | Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 02:14 pm     Marm, a couple questions....actually about music lessons in general. Do you have to have your own piano for piano lessons and how old should a kid be before they start? I'm not too sure Dakota at 4 and a half would be able to sit still long enough to learn, lol. Also, how much do you know about guitar lessons? Before my step dad passed away, he had asked if he could get Caleb started on guitar lessons. He bought a small accoustic guitar for him that was his Christmas present that year. After he died, his buddy who he had talked to about the lessons told us to let him know when we wanted to start them, and understood when we said that for the time being, we were going to hold off. I'd been a bit worried about Caleb being too young, and without David to encourage and help him, he'd lose interest. Now at 7, I'm wondering if he's old enough. I know any instrument takes a lot of determintation and dedication on part of the child and really don't want to start them before they are ready. Also, does anyone know about the Barnes and Nobles story time? Last summer we did the library story time, and it was just too short for the kids. They went for four weeks, then off for six. I'm wondering if B and N is year round or works like the library. Kota had been home six minutes Tuesday when she started in on the "I'm bored's," lol. Today we've been all over the place. We went to visit the retirement home this morning. She enjoys that for awhile and then gets a little tired of being hugged and kissed by everyone, lol. This afternoon we went to my sisters where she got to play with her cousins. She had fun, but I really can't take her somewhere everytime she gets bored. |
Schoolmarm | Thursday, June 12, 2003 - 03:21 pm     War, I have several Kindergarten and preKindergarten piano students. I use the Alfred's Music for Little Mozarts and it is very good. There is a story that goes along with it and a CD, and the pacing is just right for little ones with short attention spans. This series has a coloring book and little "Beethoven Bear" "Mozart Mouse" stuffed animals they can play with, too. The stories are on the CD, as well as the teacher duet parts. My preschool student didn't get the CD because the parents would read the story and play the duets. NOT all piano teachers will take young students. A big keyboard is ok for the first year, until they get to the pedal. For guitar, the only problem would be if his left hand can't go around the neck of the guitar to push the strings down. Acoustic guitars with nylon strings (folk guitars) have a thicker neck than acoustic guitars with steel strings. The steel strings can cut little fingers until they build up the callouses. If his hand fits around the neck, then he should be ok. With young children and music lessons, it is perfectly fine for them to practice for 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there. Aim for 20-30 per day for beginners, and 30-40 for intermediate players. The more they practice, the better they will become. |
Jmm | Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:27 pm     I don't know about fighting the summertime blues, but did you ever just want to do this?
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Wargod | Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:54 pm     All the time! LOL. Dra had a good idea today when I was complaining about all of the art work Caleb's been bringing home this week. That was to decorate a box for all his stuff so that he can go through it later. He already has a full bookshelf of all the little books they made this year, so hopefully that will keep him happy for awhile. I also have a ton of their art work hanging up, so I'm going to take most of it down in preparation of a new school year, so Dakota will also get to make her own box for her stuff. I'm also going to get Caleb back to writing to a certain little angel pen pal. He loves to get mail so that will make him happy. |
Wiseolowl | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 07:49 am     How about the old fashioned lemonade stand. Or pitch a tent in the backyard- kids can come up with all kinds of mischief when they think nobody is looking. |
Egbok | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 08:06 am     War, we always had a little inflatable wading pool filled with water toys and a Slip'n'Slide in our backyard. Along with a playhouse, sandbox and swingset. Plus, all three of my kidlets started piano lessons when they turned 7 (they eventually took 10 years each but that's a whole other story!). We also did the library reading program, Park & Recs softball teams, and I would arrange playgroup get-togethers with other moms and their small children. Yes, it was very time consuming and sometimes I felt like I lived in the family van, but as I look back on it now...it was only a few years of my lifeline and so well worth it. |
Wargod | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 08:54 am     I talked to one of my "brothers" the other night about getting my nephews over here for swimming. I think we decided two weeks (his oldest doesn't get out of school for another week) and then we're going to have a pool party for all of the kids. One of the things I have going for me right now is that my sister is a stay at home mom and my bro is a stay at home dad, so we're going to start getting back into the play dates a few times a month. All of the kids (with the exception of the youngest) are 9 months apart in age (8,7,6,5,4) so they all get along fairly well and enjoy playing together. Wiseowl! You've got the next spot on my list with campout night. I think they'd enjoy pitching a tent in the den and "camping." It'd be fun for them and a special occassion. |
Tabbyking | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 09:04 am     have the kids make harry potter-type costumes out of large paper bags and construction paper. they can make capes or hats, etc. have lots of stickers or shiny stuff to glue on their item. rent a harry potter movie and have a 'harry potty'! |
Tabbyking | Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 09:06 am     i also remember the neighborhood joke when my brothers were little. "quick, send the boys over to play at johnny's before they send johnny over here!" |
Ducky | Wednesday, June 25, 2003 - 08:35 pm     I'm posting this for Wargod since it is her Birthday and she asked how to make windsocks in my folder. We had a fun time at the library today. It was the last day for the summer reading program and the kids made Windsocks. All you need is yarn, ribbon, and either some multi-colored construction paper or fun foam which you can get at any craft store. Cut your foam or construction paper 6"long by 15"wide. Punch 6 holes 2" apart on the bottom and Punch 3 holes on the top. Punch your first hole on top 1 1/2" from the end and your second hole 5" from the first and you third hole 4 1/2" from the second hole. Cut 6 pieces of ribbon 3 blue and 3 red. Cut three pieces of string all the same color or different colors. We used red, white and blue. Have the kids use markers to color what ever they like on there foam/construction paper. Or stamp pictures of stars. Or you could use stickers. Then fold it and staple the ends together. Have the kids thread a ribbon though each hole on the bottom alternating red blue red and tie each one on. Do the same on the top with the yarn. Very easy to do for the kids. Here are the materials and the finished Windsock that Little Ducky made.
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Wargod | Wednesday, June 25, 2003 - 08:40 pm     Thanks, Ducky!! I appreciate you letting me know, and it looks like something that both kids can do. |
Happymom | Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 01:46 am     Great thread! Thanks to everyone for the great ideas. here's a few more. For preschool - elem. age, get a huge piece of paper, have someone trace around each child, children then color themselves in. You could even do this with chalk outside. Along the same lines, sheet of paper for a place mat, kids draw in the silverware, napkin, plate, etc., food too if they want. I read in a book once...the dad just tells his kids it's ok to be bored. I do this with mine too! They always find something to do. Water play is very fun especially for hot days, create a water table - big tub with lots of different size/type scoops. Also, big sponges passed from person to person who are laying on their backs, very fun! Paint with water using house painting type brushes. My 9 yr. old was just with my parents for a few days. They went to a tech museum and made ice cream using rock salt and ziploc baggies. She loved this and eating the ice cream afterwards. I don't know how to do this, but it probably isn't too hard to find out. Let the kids make lists of what they want to do and then do some of the things on the list if possible right then, another day, or if it is going somewhere, maybe don't even tell them...just say "we're going on an adventure" or "we're just going for a drive" and surprise them. Have kids plan a meal or two and have them shop and make the whole meal as much as they can. Sock party...all unmatched socks dumped in middle of room, everyone matches as many as they can. If some don't match and haven't for years, turn them into puppets (if they are large enough) with buttons &/or sharpies. |
Happymom | Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 01:50 am     Oh... one more to help keep them busy while having to sit somewhere (car, restaurant, dr.), Mad Libs! They are booklets filled with pages of fill in the blank stories. Great for many ages, non readers can have someone ask them the questions (name a noun...if too young to know what a noun is, name an animal or whatever...it's very easy to improvise). Then, the story is read aloud and is always very silly. |
Texannie | Sunday, July 13, 2003 - 08:54 am     I love the windsock..my kids are 13 and 9 and would like to do that. I keep forgetting about the ice cream. My 13 year old LOVES mad libs!!! |
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