Tiempo de Verano y La Vida es Fácil - ¡Esperamos!

We probably don't need a lot of "recipes" for summer fun with our children. What we need is permission, prodding, and reminders that:

• Stepping off the driven, fast-paced track is a good thing for us and for children.
• Scheduling days of enrichment experiences for our children may be a good thing for them, but not as good as us doing things with them.
• We are our children's first and best teachers, and we do that not by turning ourselves into teachers, but by giving them our time and being with them.

Here are a few summer ideas that can be adapted for children of all ages:

• Keep a summer journal. Capture the activities, sights, smells, sounds, and people of summer. Fill it with words, drawings, and photographs. Keep track of weather; chart the growth of garden plants (or children!).
• Write several postcards or letters and make sure your children get mail from friends and relatives.
• Collect flowers, stones, shells, or bugs.
• Visit the library more often.
• Make meals together.
• Take walks and, if you are with a young child in a stroller, let the child out of the stroller more often. (Time on the grass on their back or stomach is good for babies.)
• Have a lemonade stand even if just for family and neighbors.
• Visit water often – any and all water – ponds, streams, lakes, seashores, and pools; but remember wading in natural water places is a valuable and different experience than being at a pool.
• Try to spend at least one night in the country and watch the stars together.
• Play board or card games.
• Find some small jobs that allow children 5 or older the chance to make some of their own money.
• Help children help someone else; the elderly, smaller children, or anyone who needs help.