Activities for children during summer break

Its getting that time of year where parents all over are asking, "What am I going to do with my children this summer?" I have collected some ideas to assist in answering this bothersome question.

• Play-dough, and play-dough sets - my children will spend hours playing with play-dough on rainy days. It will entice imagination and creativity.
• Crystal growing kits - depending on the age of the child, my eight year old and I will start one of the crystals in his kit every so often to encourage thought and science into his day.
• Sport equipment - one of the best childhood memories is kicking around a ball when I was young. As parents you do not need to actually know the rules of a formal game, children just love playing sports. It gives them exercise, teaches preplanning and team playing. My husband and I will take turns bringing the children outside or to the park to play a sport. It also helps when you have children that are over active or have emotional issues. It will also tire them out.
• Water paints - establish creativity and hand coordination.
• Educational computer games - I am not into the whole video games for kids, however, for rainy days in which I can not take the children out, they are allowed an allotted time to play on the computer a favorite educational game. This will encourage education, fun and will keep their minds fresh on what they learned the previous year.
• Lets not forget, bikes, roller blades, skateboards and alike - as long as the children have safety equipment , it is wonderful for them to use these items. It will encourage outdoor play, balancing and just sheer fun.
• And if I have to list this, I will list this last and I recommend only for rainy weeks and to use for a minimal amount of time, but the Nintendo Wii - this game console does have wonderful golf, tennis, bowling, baseball, football and hockey to name a few. I only put this one in because at the elderly home I work for we use this for physical therapy. This will get your child to interact much like they would outside.

I just hope that this list of a few items assists your family in having a better stress relieved summer filled with fun and excitement.