Here are five ideas to get the creative juices flowing (and please, take these ideas, build on them, make them your own, use them as a springboard for bigger and better ideas):
One – Make a trip to the craft store and buy a fun memory book to keep all of your summer photos and crafts in. If you can afford it, buy your child(ren) disposable cameras (or give them a camera they can “use” all by themselves) to use this summer. Allow them to take pictures of anything they wish. (You’ll put some of those pictures into the album at the end of summer).
Two – Share family history, photos with your child.
Three – Watch an educational television show with your child and discuss it.
Four – Pick up a library reading list appropriate for your child’s age and help your child get a library card.
Five – Read a newspaper article about the environment with your child.
Featured Craft of the Week:
4 to 5 year olds
Mailing Tube Rain Sticks
6 to 8 year olds
9 to 12 year olds
Aboriginal Clap Sticks
Here is a fun activity from the book, “A Lithgow Palooza!”:
Kids are constantly making up stories, whether it’s about a trip to the beach or a favorite stuff animal’s fantastic adventures. And when two people alternate telling one story, with multiple doses of creativity at work, you never know quite how the story will end. Collaborative stories, part creative endeavor, part keepsake, can be kept on the bookshelf with the other books you read at bedtime.
What to do:
Write an ongoing story with an adult or another child. You can wrok on the book side-by-side or mail it back and forth — especially fun to do with grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. Start with a blank book — a small scrapbook or a blank journal. (Or bind the book together, if you prefer).
This project is all about collaboration. Each author takes turns adding to the story, following up on what has already been written. The work can be split sentence by sentence or page by page. It’s more fun not to plan out or discuss the plot in advance. Instead, be as random and freewheeling as you want.
The book can be about anything. Dream up an imaginary character or cast of characters, or base them on friends, pets, or toys. More ambitious writers might choose to write several chapters, each one a different adventure. Create a sequel or a prequel to a children’s book you love. Or tell a real-life adventure that you have had together. Then again, it can be an ongoing daily log, like a two-sisters-reporting-from-the-front-lines-of-camp journal.
Experiment with embellishing the format of the text. Different emotions can be about in different colors, and perhaps different characters talk in different fonts. You’ll probably want to illustrate what you write. You can also create a comic book together, complete with frames and speech bubbles, telling a story more with pictures than with words.