Welcome, June! Temperatures and empty classrooms scream summer here in the Boro, even though a few remaining spring days linger on the calendar. Be intentional to make cool memories with the family that will warm your heart and the hearts of all you hold dear. Line up fun in the summer sun and create lasting memories. Make every day a holiday with unique family celebrations and incorporate the weird, but wacky holidays below into the family festivities.
National Iced Tea Month – Work together in the kitchen to make a pitcher of tea. Start with four cups of water. Bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove pan from heat and add seven tea bags. Cover the pan to allow tea to steep for four minutes. Toss tea bags; add three tablespoons sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Pour tea into a pitcher and allow to chill for two to three hours. Just before the tea is completely chilled, prepare a tea party buffet. Gather these optional tea add-ins for each person to choose from: pineapple juice, lemon juice, lime juice, orange juice, lemonade, a selection of sliced berries or fruit wedges like lemons, pineapples, strawberries, blueberries, peaches, or raspberries and various syrups, like lavender, vanilla, almond, or strawberry. Pour each person a cup of tea, encourage an add-in selection, and gather around the dining room table for a tea party.
International Mud Month – After a rainy day this month, play outside in puddles and mud. Make mud pies, mud castles, mud shakes and mud cakes. Play with washable toys in the mud and use a hose to clean up the mess afterwards. Read some of these books for fun, after you’ve cleaned up, of course. Read Mud Puddle by Robert Munsch, Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner, Mud! by Annie Bailey, The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle, Dirt + Water = Mud by Katherine Hannigan, Worm Weather by Jean Taft and The Piggy in the Puddle by Charlotte Pomerantz.
Lane Courtesy Month – Couldn’t we adults use this celebration every time we venture out in the family automobile? Use kindness when traveling throughout the month of June and make it a habit to continue courteous lane adventures each time you travel here or there. Celebrate the day additionally with playtime in the den or family room. Use painter’s tape to create a roadway on the den floor. Gather toy cars and trucks and create imaginary adventures, complete with kind lane exchanges!
National Camping Month – Pick a time this month to camp in the back yard with the family. And if that’s not do-able, camp out inside by draping sheets between two pieces of furniture and snuggle up together inside the inside-tent! Turn the celebration into a crafty gathering and make a campground of tents. Give each person three wooden craft sticks. Using a piece of cardboard as a base, place three blobs of modeling clay in a tight triangle shape. Place one end of each craft stick in the blobs of clay and lean the other ends together to form tent poles. Cut triangle-shapes of construction paper to use as tent sides. Decorate the triangles with markers before gluing them in place. Attach the tent sides by gluing pieces in place onto the wooden craft sticks.
National Safety Month – Take time to discuss summer safety rules at dinner as a family. Talk about such topics as water safety, sun exposure safety, stranger-danger at the park, playground or neighborhood, kitchen safety, and more. Cover topics with the kids to make it a safe, healthy summer of fun and adventure!
Plan to enjoy every minute of the few remaining days of spring and jump right into official summer days at the end of the month. Find unique ways to make a memory and revisit familiar memory-making, warm weather events, too. Collect a treasury of fun times and celebrations this month that will make this the best summer ever for those you love.
Statesboro native Julie Lavender loves making memories with her family. She is the author of books for adults and children, like of “Strength for All Seasons: A Mom’s Devotional of Powerful Verses” and “Prayers and Children’s Bible Stories for Bedtime.”