Even though the calendar disagrees, parents, teachers, and children insist that “summer” has arrived! Pretend along with your kids that summer is really here and make the most of every warm day in June. Enjoy fun in the sun, playing at the park, trips to the pool or beach, picking fresh vegetables, sleeping late, chasing fireflies – make it a summer that your children will long remember!
Great Outdoors Week – Celebrate this event all summer-long. Teach your children to enjoy and appreciate the beautiful outdoors. If your children complain about the heat, squeeze in outdoor time in the mornings and late afternoons. Get your kids involved in the outdoors so they won’t sit in front of the television all summer. Go for a photo scavenger hunt. Walk as a family, or divide into teams. Take digital cameras (or cell phones with cameras) and see who can find all the items on the list. (Prepare a list ahead of time of outdoor-kinds of things to look for, like, an insect, someone watering the lawn, a tree with green leaves, a tomato plant.)
World Juggling Day – Now here’s a holiday for the coordinated ones in the family! Practice juggling with two tennis balls, then try your hand at three. Make it a family juggling activity with several inflated beach balls. Stand in a circle. One person should have three or four beach balls nearby. Start one ball by tossing it clockwise to the next person. As quickly as that person tosses it to the next family member, the leader tosses the second ball to the same person, then the third and fourth. Keep the balls moving quickly from person to person. See if you can keep the balls going around the circle without dropping any. (With younger children in the family, use only two to three balls and slow down the tossing.)
Father’s Day – Treat Dad or Granddad to a special holiday with homemade cards and special gifts. In addition to the new tool dad requested or the fishing rod he’d been eyeing, give a gift that the family can enjoy together, like a new board game or a badminton or a horseshoes set. Spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the new gifts and dad’s presence. Invite someone else’s grandpa over to enjoy the fun, if his family doesn’t live nearby.
Eat Cereal Day and Fork Day – Combine these two holidays for morning giggles. Eat cereal with a fork, then slurp up the leftover milk from the bowl.
Chase fireflies with family members this month – let them go after a brief observation, but keep the memories forever!
Statesboro native Julie Bland Lavender is married to David Lavender and enjoys celebrating with children Jeremy, Jenifer, Jeb Daniel, and Jessica.
Great Outdoors Week – Celebrate this event all summer-long. Teach your children to enjoy and appreciate the beautiful outdoors. If your children complain about the heat, squeeze in outdoor time in the mornings and late afternoons. Get your kids involved in the outdoors so they won’t sit in front of the television all summer. Go for a photo scavenger hunt. Walk as a family, or divide into teams. Take digital cameras (or cell phones with cameras) and see who can find all the items on the list. (Prepare a list ahead of time of outdoor-kinds of things to look for, like, an insect, someone watering the lawn, a tree with green leaves, a tomato plant.)
World Juggling Day – Now here’s a holiday for the coordinated ones in the family! Practice juggling with two tennis balls, then try your hand at three. Make it a family juggling activity with several inflated beach balls. Stand in a circle. One person should have three or four beach balls nearby. Start one ball by tossing it clockwise to the next person. As quickly as that person tosses it to the next family member, the leader tosses the second ball to the same person, then the third and fourth. Keep the balls moving quickly from person to person. See if you can keep the balls going around the circle without dropping any. (With younger children in the family, use only two to three balls and slow down the tossing.)
Father’s Day – Treat Dad or Granddad to a special holiday with homemade cards and special gifts. In addition to the new tool dad requested or the fishing rod he’d been eyeing, give a gift that the family can enjoy together, like a new board game or a badminton or a horseshoes set. Spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the new gifts and dad’s presence. Invite someone else’s grandpa over to enjoy the fun, if his family doesn’t live nearby.
Eat Cereal Day and Fork Day – Combine these two holidays for morning giggles. Eat cereal with a fork, then slurp up the leftover milk from the bowl.
Chase fireflies with family members this month – let them go after a brief observation, but keep the memories forever!
Statesboro native Julie Bland Lavender is married to David Lavender and enjoys celebrating with children Jeremy, Jenifer, Jeb Daniel, and Jessica.