Summer Activities
Every summer kids embark on a myriad of activities and adventures. Some staples of summer include swimming, summer camp, sleepovers; bar-b-que, and baseball. For most parents, sometime between the second hour and second day of their kids' summer vacation, another staple of the summer emerges: "I'm Bored!"This summer beat away the boredom with books and activities. The following activities, excerpted from various children's books, will provide hours of fun for your children.
Art Across the Alphabet
Kelly Justus Campbell
2003, Gryphon House, Ages 3 to 6, $14.95.
E is for Eggshell Mosaics
Use this art activity, excerpted from Art Across the Alphabet, to familiarize your preschooler with the sights and sounds of the letter "E". Be sure to identify the letter before beginning the project, and ask the child periodically what letter he is working on throughout the activity.
Materials:
Eggshells
Alcohol (adults only)
Paper towels
Zipper-closure plastic bags
Food Coloring
White Glue
Tagboard
Pencils
The Creative Process:
Soak the eggshells in alcohol before allowing your child to create with them. After you have soaked them, place them on paper towels to dry. The alcohol will evaporate quickly.
Crush the shells into smaller pieces and place into a few zipper-closure plastic bags, using one bag for each color you wish to create.
Drip a few drops of food coloring into each bag and close the top. Shake the shells around to cover all the pieces completely with food coloring. Allow the eggshells to dry.
Encourage your child to draw a picture on the tagboard, filling the page, without a lot of small, detailed designs. Larger areas to fill in are easier for little hands.
When the shells are dry, demonstrate how to apply glue to the area of the picture you wish to fill in, and then press the mosaic fragments into place.
When the entire picture has been filled in with mosaic eggshell pieces, allow it to dry flat.
I is for Indigo Ice Cube Paintings
Use this art activity, excerpted from Art Across the Alphabet, to familiarize your preschooler with the sights and sounds of the letter "I". Be sure to identify the letter before beginning the project, and ask the child periodically what letter he is working on throughout the activity.
Materials:
Large sheet of white paper
Scissors
Fat, black marker
Small paper or plastic cups
Water
Plastic spoons
Indigo-colored tempera paint (indigo is a shade of blue)
The Creative Process:
Using a fat, black marker, draw the letter "I" in large block form, filling the entire sheet.
Pour indigo paint into the cups, filling them approx. 1/4 full. Then pour water into the same cups and stir the mixture with a plastic spoon. Make one for each child.
Leave the spoons in the cups for children to use as a handle.
Place the filled cups into the freezer until the paint is frozen completely.
Once frozen, remove the cups from the freezer and twist the "Indigo Ice Cube" from each cup.
Ask the children to paint with them on the large letter "I". As the cube melts, it will leave a unique paint trail.
Caution: Be sure to stress to the children that this is NOT a Popsicle-it is frozen paint and is not to be eaten.
G is for Giant Games (Puzzles)
Use this art activity, excerpted from Art Across the Alphabet, to familiarize your preschooler with the sights and sounds of the letter "G". Be sure to identify the letter before beginning the project, and periodically ask the child to tell you what letter he is working on.
Materials:
12" x 12" tagboard squares
Markers
Pencils
Scissors
The Creative Process:
Give your child a tagboard square. Help him or her create a picture on the tagboard with at least one letter "G" hidden in the composition.*
Ask your child to turn the pictures over and help him or her to draw puzzle pieces on the back.
Help your child cut out the puzzle pieces.
He or she can turn over the pieces and try to put the puzzle back together again. Remind them to look for the hidden "G"!
* Note: this exercise can be repeated with any letter of the alphabet.
The Complete Book of Activities, Games, Stories, Props, Recipes and Dances
Pam Schiller and Jackie Silberg
2003, Gryphon House, Ages 5 up (with adult supervision), $29.95
Face Paint for Kids and Baggie Ice Cream
Beat summer boredom by decorating cheeks with Face Paint and make homemade ice cream for a yummy treat, with these activities from The Complete Book of Activities, Games, Stories, Props, Recipes, and Dances.
Materials: (Face Paint)
2 tablespoons cold cream
1/2 teaspoon glycerin
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon powdered tempera
Directions:
Stir ingredients together until well mixed.
Enjoy creating face paint designs
Materials: (One Serving of Baggie Ice Cream)
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 small & 1 large ziplock bag
3 teaspoons rock salt
Ice cubes
Directions:
Place the milk, sugar, and vanilla in the small bag and seal it. Place the small bag, the rock salt, and ice cubes inside the large bag and seal.
Shake.
Remove the small bag and eat with a spoon.
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Added 7/1/03
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