One of the items on our list of down-time activities this summer is journaling. Not only does it provide the kids with writing and spelling practice, it gets their creative juices flowing. They (and you!) also end up with a record of the summer’s events that will be a keepsake for years to come.

Even children who don’t usually like to write can journal. You can make the process as simple as it needs to be to suit your child’s age and personality. You might not focus spelling at all. Maybe you ask your child to just write four or five sentences. You child may surprise you and start writing a lot more!

Here’s a sample entry from one of my daughter’s journals. I didn’t correct or critique it; I just enjoyed reading it.

Mom made me clean my room. I did. It is a lot easier to find things. The Nelsons [cousins] are coming in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait. We have a violin performance thing soon. We might be able to go to the American Girl Store!!! I hope we can go. I am saving my money. That’s all.

Ready to get your child started? Here are some ways to make journaling part of the summertime fun:

1. Go shopping with your child for a new journal. We often just use inexpensive composition notebooks, but even these come with covers in a wide range of colors and designs. You can also find more elaborate journals at bookstores, art supply stores, and Wal-mart or Target.
2. Decide with your child how often he or she will write in the journal. We aim for five days a week, but in reality they usually write in it about three times a week.  If your child is involved in the decision-making, he or she will most likely be less-resistant to the idea.
3. Help your child choose the best time to write in the journal. In the evening before bed might be a good time. That way, your child can capture all the events of the day. Or, if your child is too tired, try having him write first thing in the morning. You might save journaling as something to do indoors on a hot afternoon.
4. As you go through the summer’s activities, consider taking photos and print them for your child. Then have him glue the photos to the corresponding journal pages.

To read more blogs about summer fun, try our reading blog at:  http://reading.smarttutor.com  Does your child like to journal? What has made journaling more enjoyable for your family?

Putting on a puppet show stretches children’s creativity in a lot of different ways. Not only does it require that they develop characters with diverse features and behaviors, but they also need a storyline with a beginning, middle, and end. While you can let children do all the work themselves, some direction from you will help them create an even better show.

The Puppets

Choose a variety of materials for puppet construction. Paper bags, paper plates, and popsicle stick puppets are easy-to-make and low-cost. Sock puppets are an inexpensive puppet choice, too. If you have some very crafty kids, you can make puppets from fabric and foam. Other supplies you might want to have on hand include felt, feathers, googley eyes, crayons, markers, glue, construction paper, and pipe cleaners. If you’re not sure where to start, check out these websites:

26 Kid’s Puppets You Can Make 

Seven Super-Fun DIY Sock Puppets

Easy to Make Puppets

Puppets (from corks, sculpey, and more) 

Puppet Crafts

How To Make Puppets with Jim Henson (1969 video) 

The Story

While the kids can make up the story on their own, the show will be more interesting to watch if they follow some basic story principles. Start by deciding just what type of personality each puppet will have. Is the puppet kind? Brave? Shy? Angry? Cheerful? A bully? Does the puppet love to sing or dance? Does it like sports or art? Does it have a family, or is it alone?

You can also teach the students about protagonists and antagonists. Who is the hero of the show? Who is the villain? Does the hero have what it takes to conquer the villain? Maybe there is no puppet antagonist. Maybe the heroes are facing another type of problem, such as a storm or other hardship.

You can show the children how to plot a story. Teach them about rising action (the problems along the way), the climax (the big conflict – the do or die moment), and the resolution (how it all ends). You can also show the kids how to divide their performance into scenes. They might want to add some cliff hangers in there as well.

Putting on a puppet play is a great way to get those creative juices flowing. For even more fun, join in and be part of the play! You’ll just have to find someone else to be in the audience. 

Photo by:  MIKI Yoshihito

The point of the contest was to help the students learn their times tables. I probably knew them before I started, but I certainly knew them by the time the contest was over. Writing them down so many times cemented them in my memory.

When my own children were learning their times tables, I tried offering my two girls a reward for filling up a notebook with the multiplication facts, similar to the way I had done it years before. The reward must not have been tempting enough, though, as neither one of them completed it. So we resorted to flashcards and worked on learning them that way.

My youngest, however, has been resistant to the flashcards, and getting him to get through them is painful to say the least. So we’ve been finding other ways to learn those multiplication facts. If your child is memorizing the times tables, here are some ideas you might want to try too:

Sing them! – Skip counting songs can help with memorization. There’s an example (5’s – 7’s) at TeachingChannel.org. You can find others online, or you can make up your own.

Multiplication Bingo – A fun twist to the traditional Bingo game. Create game cards with the products (multiplication answers) written in the squares. On the tiles you draw, write the multiplication question. For example, the first tile you draw might say 4 x 5. Players with the number 20 on their card can cover it with a marker.

Roll the Dice – This game works up through the 6’s. Have your child roll two dice at the same time. Then have him tell you the product of the two numbers that are showing.

Multiplication War – This is a take-off on the traditional “War” card game. Start by going through the deck and removing the face cards. Aces count as one’s. Next, divide the deck equally between players. To play, each person flips over two cards and multiplies them together. The higher number wins all of the cards. If the numbers are the same, both players lay down three cards, then they flip two more to see who “wins” the war.

Dominos – To use the dominos for multiplication memorization, simply lay them on the table face down. Take turns choosing one domino and flipping it over. The player must then multiply the number of dots he sees on the two sides of the domino. If the player gets it right, he gets to keep the domino; if not, he puts it back and waits until his next turn to try again. The player with the most dominos at the end wins.

Hop to It – We played this game when learning to read sight words, and it works great with multiplication facts too. First, write down the products in dark ink on notecards. For example, if your child is learning the 3’s, write 3 on one card, 6 on another, 9 on another, and so on. Place these all around the room on the floor in no particular order. Next, write each multiplication question on another notecard (3 x 1, 3 x 2, 3 x 3, etc.) and shuffle the cards. To play, have your child choose a product card to stand on.  Flip over one of the question cards. Your child must find the correct answer on the floor and hop to it without touching the floor or any other cards.

What’s your child’s favorite way to learn the times tables?

Photo by:  Bro. Jeffrey Pioquinto, SJ

The story follows the adventures of Stanley, an ordinary boy; that is, until a bulletin board falls on him during the night, making him completely flat. Not only can he slip under doors, but he can become a kite for his younger brother to play with. He also disguises himself as a painting to catch some art thieves. Flat Stanley is even able to visit friends by being mailed in an envelope!

The Flat Stanley Project

This is where the Flat Stanley Project comes in. Children are encouraged to create their own paper Flat Stanley, either from their imagination or using a template. Then they send their Flat Stanleys on a new adventure! Here are some possible places Flat Stanley could go:

• To a participating school or class
• To a family member who lives in another state
• To a friend who lives in another country
• To a politician or celebrity who is interested in participating
• To a participating Girl Scout or Cub Scout troop

How It Works

The student creates and mails the Flat Stanley. The recipient then takes Stanley along with him wherever he or she goes, taking photos and journaling about interesting places they visit and people they see. They might even pick up some postcards or other souvenirs. Then the recipient mails Flat Stanley home again.

Where Do I Start?

Read the story about Flat Stanley.

Ask family members or friends if they would be interested in taking on Flat Stanley as a guest. You can also find other participants online at the Flat Stanley Project site.

Show your child how to create his or her own Flat Stanley. Feel free to get creative!

Have your child compose a letter to mail with Flat Stanley. The letter should explain that Flat Stanley is visiting and would like help keeping a record of the visit. Stanley might also like to know about the town, the weather, and the landscape (mountains, oceans, deserts, lakes, etc.) of the area.

Mail Stanley with the letter and wait for him to return! It might help if you limited Stanley’s visit to a week or two to be sure he arrives home in a timely manner. Longer can be okay, too, though  —  one Flat Stanley sent to a soldier had an adventure didn’t return for 10 years, but the reunion was incomparable!

There are lots of variations to this project. One Girl Scout troop creates Flat Stacies to mail. You can also incorporate lessons in science, social studies, math, and art.  Help your child brainstorm other ideas, and see just what Flat Stanley can do!

Photo by: Sin Jones

I didn’t know it at the time, but Lego has a free app for iPads, iPods, and iPhones. Download the app, and your child can start creating his or her very own stop motion video. It’s so easy! Here’s how to do it:

Make a Plan

Have your child decide on the type of movie he or she would like to make. Will it be an action film, a mystery, a love story, or an animal adventure? What is the basic plot of the movie? It’s okay for the plot to change along the way, but it’s helpful to have some sort of plan when starting out.

Gather Your Stars

When my son did the class at the library, everyone used Lego characters. The kids brought their own, and the library also had some they could use. Although the app is by Lego, children can use any type of characters they would like. Characters made of playdough or clay can change shape all through the movie. Figurines or small stuffed animals would also work. Have your child gather all the characters needed before filming.

Build Your Props

Props for the movie set will make the final product even more fun to watch. If your child is using Lego characters, Lego buildings, cars, ships, and planes make great additions. You can make other props out of any type of craft supplies you have on hand. A cardboard paper towel tube can be a tunnels; construction paper or cardstock can be transformed into a house or storefront. The possibilities are endless!

Film the Movie!

Once you open the app, you’ll find a place to give the movie a title and put in your child’s byline. If your child is unsure of the title, don’t worry; you can come back and edit this slide later.

Next, show your child how to arrange the props and characters for the first scene and snap a picture. Then show your child how to move the characters just a little bit to create the next scene. Snap another picture.

Now it’s your child’s turn! He or she may want to pick up where you left off or start again from the beginning. If your child starts again, just delete those first two photos. Have your child continue posing the characters and taking photos until the movie has ended.

Edit and Save

There are lots of ways to edit the movie. Your child can add music or dialogue, change the color scheme, and insert extra photos. He or she can also change the timing of the movie so time between images is faster or slower. Be sure to save the movie when it’s finished.

My son has found a new creative hobby since he took that class at the library. Now he’ll spend an hour or two making just one video. It great to watch him swell with pride as they just keep getting better and better!

Photo by: Spielbrick Films

What You’ll Need:

A small piece of Styrofoam

A small piece of paper towel

A small piece of clear plastic wrap

A small piece of cardboard

What To Do:

Take the four items and cover them with some soil. If you don’t have any space outside, you can “plant” them in a container and keep it inside. Be sure to use soil or dirt from the ground; don’t use potting soil that you purchase. Potting soils can contain wood, bark, moss, and even synthetic pellets with only a small amount of real dirt.

Once a week, have your child check on the items. Your child will notice that the paper products are beginning to break down. The Styrofoam and plastic wrap, however, will stay the same.

Find Out More

Next, check out some books from your local library to read together. Here are some to look for:

• One Plastic Bag: Isatou Ceesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul
• Recycle!: A Handbook for Kids Paperback by Gail Gibbons
• Recycling, Step by Step by Jean M. Lundquist
• Reusing and Recycling by Charlotte Guillain
• Where Does the Garbage Go? by Paul Showers
• Why Should I Recycle? by Jen Green

You can look at these websites, too:

• BeGreenPackaging – This site has a neat infographic that shows how long it takes various materials to decompose
• Benefits-of-Recycling – This site explains what recycling is and how kids can be a part
• Kids Recycle Zone – This site has a quiz kids can take as well as a lot of great links.

Recycle!

Finally, have your child help create a system for recycling. Some cities provide recycling containers for free and will pick them up from your house. In other areas, you have to collect the items yourself and take them to a designated location. Whichever way you do it, be sure to get your child involved. It’s an easy way to teach them how to care for our world.

In what other ways does your family reduce and reuse?

Photo by:  Kevin Dooley

Before You Start

Find a recording device, such as a tape recorder or a voice recorder on your phone.

Go through your home and record familiar sounds. They might include:

• A squeaky door
• A toilet flushing
• A ceiling fan turning
• Water running in the bathtub
• Water running in the kitchen sink
• A pet meowing or barking
• The pump for the fishtank filter
• A buzzer on the washing machine or dryer
• The timer on the microwave
• Someone brushing his teeth
• Someone drying her hair
• Someone typing on a keyboard
• Someone clicking a mouse
• The fan over the oven
• A cabinet door closing
• A blender
• Someone sweeping the floor
• Radio static
• The vacuum
• Pots and pans banging
• A garage door
• Noises made by special toys
• Voices of family members

To Play

Play back the sounds for your child to identify (randomly, if possible). After your child names the object making the sound, ask him where it was made. Some sounds are only found in certain rooms of the house. Make a list together as you go, seeing how many sounds were made in the kitchen, how many were made in the bathroom, how many in the bedroom, etc. Include a column for sounds that can be found in more than one room.

Do it Together!

Get your child involved in the process even more by recording sounds together! After your child has played the game, ask him if he would like to find sounds for a friend or other family member to identify. Search for new sounds to record; you can go outside and even into town to find more sounds. Here are some ideas:

• Birds chirping
• Insects buzzing
• A bell on a bicycle
• A car horn
• The wipers or turn signal on a car
• Ambulance or firetruck sirens
• A motorcycle
• Squeaking of a swingset
• Someone splashing in a pool
• Beeping of a scanner in a grocery store
• Tires rolling over gravel or rough pavement
• Helicopters or airplanes
• Music
• Traffic
• Churchbells ringing

What sounds did you and your child hear?

Photo by: Travis Isaacs

It took some time, and eventually I started figuring things out.  But you can help your children learn how to handle money, even before they get their first jobs. Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Show your child how to count money. While you can use play money, it’s fun to use real coins and bills as well. Don’t forget to include less-common currency, such as half-dollars, silver dollars, and two-dollar bills. Children also really enjoy holding bigger bills, such as twenties, fifties, and hundreds.

2. Have your child do chores around the house to earn money, such as taking out the trash, sweeping the porch, or washing dishes. You could pay your child per job, or you could pay her a set amount at the end of the week.

3. Teach your child that money is for more than just spending. Money is for saving and giving, too. Instead of just one “piggy bank”, set up three. In the past, we’ve used clear mason jars as banks, labeling each one with either “Spend”, “Save”, or “Give”. That way, the child can see the money as it collects in the jar. Allow your child to use the spending money as he or she would like. Let the savings collect. Teach your child how to give the rest – whether to a church, a charity, or a friend in need.

4. Purchase a wallet or purse for your child to carry the spending money in. Before you go on errands together, bring along some of the money. When your child sees finds something to buy, talk about whether or not he has enough money, or if he’ll have to save a little longer.

5. Help your child plan for a bigger purchase. If there’s an expensive toy your child wants, teach her how to keep collecting her spending money until she has enough. You can make a poster (similar to a fundraising poster) that shows the goal amount and her progress towards the goal.

6. There are lots of books to help you teach your kids about money. Here are just a few to check out:

• The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money by Ron Lieber
• Raising Financially Confident Kids by Mary Hunt
• Raising Financially Fit Kids by Joline Godfrey
• Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win by Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze

What ideas have you used to help your child learn about money?

Photo by: Pictures of Money

Supplies

Cardboard Shapes:  These should include whatever shapes your child is learning, such as circle, right triangle, equilateral triangle, square, rectangle, parallelogram, rhombus, octagon, pentagon, and trapezoid.  You can use several of the same shapes in different sizes.  Thin cardboard, such as cardboard from a cereal box, is easy to cut and should hold up well.

Paper lunch bag or small gift bag

Game 1: For Younger Students

Place the shapes in the bag and close it. Have your student shake the bag to mix them up. Next, have her reach into the bag and pull out a shape. If she identifies it correctly, she gets to place it on the table. You can make one pile for circles, one for squares, one for triangles, etc.  If she doesn’t get the name right, tell her the correct name, and then have her drop the shape back in the bag. Keep going until all of the shapes are out.

Game 2:  For Third Grade and Up

Put all of the shapes in the bag and mix them up. Then place your hand in the bag and pick up a shape.  Don’t pull the shape out. Instead, with your hand still in the bag, describe the shape in terms of angles and sides. For a circle, you might say, “This shape has no angles.” For a rectangle, you could say, “This shape has four sides. Two sides are longer than the other two. It has four right angles.”

When your child guesses the shape, it’s his turn to choose one.  Have him reach his hand in the bag and describe the shape he picks up, just as you did. Take your best guess!

Photo by: SmartTutor.com

We have a rather large family with thirty grandchildren and ten (or more — I’ve lost count!) great-grandchildren. While this may seem like it would make the task of filling a book easier, it’s actually been a challenge getting everyone to participate in a timely manner. But it will be a very thoughtful gift when it’s finshed!

The book includes photos and letters from the grandchildren to their grandmother. Photos can be older or current, they just have to include the grandmother with one or more grandchildren. Some are sweet, some are silly; some feature certain events, while others are just candid shots.

Each letter in the book was written by a grandchild. Some of the grandchildren recount their favorite memories with their grandmother, while others are appreciative thank-you letters. Still others tell just how much she means to them.

There are lots of options for putting a book like this together. If you and your child enjoy scrapbooking, you could organize it in a scrapbook complete with decorative pages, borders, stickers, and other embellishments. If the other grandchildren involved have some time, each one could create their own scrapbooking page and send it to you to include.

You could also put the book together online and have it printed as a memory books. If you’re using a service that has books made up mostly of photos, you can scan the letters in and save them as a jpeg image. Then insert it as you would a regular photo. This way, the letter could be in the grandchild’s own handwriting.

There are so many sites that offer memory books. Here are a few of them:

• Blurb
• Bookemon
• Lulu
• Mixbook
• MyCanvas
• MyMemories
• MyPublisher
• Picaboo
• Presto Photo
• Shutterfly
• SmileBooks
• Snapfish

A grandparent book is an ideal gift for Christmas, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or any day!

What type of keepsake has your child made for a grandparent?

Photo By: Vinoth Chandar