Creative Summer Activities for Kids

When you're a kid there's nothing better than Summer. There's nothing worse, however, than Summer boredom. Maybe it's too hot, maybe it's too rainy, maybe every tree has been climbed and every rock overturned and the daily grind is just getting too unbearable, but there's bound to be a day or two when your child (and maybe you) just needs something new to do. Well before you turn on the TV and zone out in front of a movie or video game, try one of these creative activities sure to encourage imagination and cure that hot, dreary Summer boredom.

Your Kid, the Author

As an author of children's books, myself, this project is a personal favorite. Sit down with your own little author and a few pages of paper, ten or so should do to start, and help him or her write and illustrate their own exciting adventure. The creative process is difficult to structure sometimes, especially with kids, but you can still helpfully guide them through the creation and, if you're lucky, maybe they'll give you a co-author credit on Amazon.

Of course, it takes more than a few scribbles and delightfully misspelled words to make a book. Once your kid is finished penning the next great American novel, it will doubtlessly deserve a cover. This final touch can be as exciting and easy a project as the rest of the book but gives it a "realness" that can't be matched.

Take two pieces of cardboard the same size as your books (or maybe just a little larger for effect), and decorate them exactly as you would expect the front and back cover of a New York Bestseller to look. You can even encourage your kid to write a short bio for the back of the book: "Billy Myers is six years old and likes frogs and castles. He lives in Maine next door to Stephen King and the two play sandbox games together on Tuesday evenings." Then add a barcode, price your book appropriately, and you're ready for binding.

Use a hole punch to perforate the pages of the book as well as the cover in approximately the same place along the spine-side of the book. Use something appropriate and personal to tie the whole book together, maybe some twine or a shoelace, and secure the knot with a little glue if you don't trust your knot-tying skills. For added effect, use something blunt to crease the cardboard right where it bends open.

Before you know it you'll have spent the whole afternoon making a priceless keepsake that you can file away and keep forever. Just be sure you negotiate ahead of time your percentage of the royalties for editing and representation.

Your Kid, the Artist

Crayons on a place mat at Denny's can only go so far when developing your child's artistic side. Spice up their creativity and imagination with a truly unique project on a truly impressive scale. A word to the wise, however, this is an exercise best executed outside, and you'll soon discover why...

You need a few supplies to begin this project, namely some paint, some brushes, a bed sheet, and some old clothes nearing retirement for you AND Junior. Especially Junior. Cheap bed sheets can be found in consignment shops or taken out of dusty cabinets at your sister's place. She'll never miss them.

The steps are simple. Take your old bed sheet/new canvas outside and lay it on the ground. Weigh down the corners with rocks or bricks, and start painting. It's a deceptively simple project, but put yourself in your kid's shoes (metaphorically). Those sheets are big enough for YOU to wrap up inside them, so they're absolutely monstrous to your child! The scale of the painting alone will be enough to change ho-hum art time into an exciting new adventure.

And be sure you and your kid really get into it (this is where the old clothes come in). Allow you child (and yourself) some real messy time. Long forgotten will be the days of finger painting once the joys of fist, elbow, nose, and feet painting are experienced. Outline yourselves on the sheet and color clothes and accessories onto your silhouettes. In the end if there isn't almost as much paint on your bodies as is on the bed sheet, you'll just have to try harder next time to truly immerse yourself in the adventure. Just be sure to plan ahead and have a hose/towels available so you don't leave pink and blue footprints through the house.

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