Home for the Summer: Ten Happy, Healthy Ideas for Kids

(ARA) - That last school bell has rung and the kids are back home, enjoying all the pleasures that summer vacation offers. But there’s got to be more to life than sleeping until noon and sipping lemonade by the pool. Here are some more ideas to make sure your kids stay happy and healthy this summer.

1. Block the sun. Sunlight is great; but too much exposure can be dangerous. Cover the kids with generous amounts of waterproof sunscreen -- SPF of 30 or greater -- 30 minutes prior to any sun exposure. Be sure to reapply it every 30 minutes for maximum protection.

2. Take a hometown vacation. With gas prices soaring, summer vacations may need to be spent a little closer to home. Check out your hometown’s restaurants, museums or parks together as a family and pretend you’re tourists for a few days.

3. Keep active. Keep the kids up and moving with some fun games such as badminton, swimming or soccer. And, of course, never underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned game of hide and seek or catching fireflies at dusk.

4. Pick some produce. Fresh fruits and vegetables are aplenty during the summer months. Gather the kids to visit a local farm or check out the local farmers market. With so many delicious choices this summer, your kids may actually eat their vegetables!

5. Stay hydrated. Enjoying the summer heat can sometimes lead to dehydration. Be sure to keep plenty of filtered water on tap and instead of letting the kids grab for sodas, enjoy some healthier treats such as juice spritzers or frozen fruit juice popsicles.

6. Start a reading club. Don’t let those brain cells get lazy during the summer. Reading is a great way to keep your kids’ minds active. Gather some of your children’s friends for meetings to discuss fun summer reads. If food is involved, turnout will be much higher -- guaranteed.

7. Record some memories. Make this a summer to remember. Arm the kids with a video camera to make family movies. Or, take still pictures and create an online scrapbook that you can share with friends and family.

8. Breathe easy. Hot, summer weather forces us to keep our doors and windows shut tight, trapping allergens and airborne molecules in our homes and in our lungs. Keep your home’s indoor air healthy by installing a whole-home air filtration system, such as AccuClean from American Standard Heating & Air Conditioning.

9. Go around the world. Take a trip around the world without leaving your own home. Pick a different country or culture each week. Read books and create maps of the area. Wrap up your week of study by creating and enjoying a traditional meal from the region.

10. Have fun. Don’t over schedule your summer. Instead, use summer vacation to lighten your family’s load, kick back, and enjoy these long, golden days. Memories are created, not scheduled, so start creating some today.

Courtesy of ARAcontent



Crafty Ways to Keep the Kids Busy This Summer


(ARA) – While all children eagerly anticipate the lazy days of summer, most parents know that early anticipation can quickly turn into the dreaded “there’s nothing to do” attitude. While keeping boredom at bay for up to three months can be a challenge, a little advance planning and a handy list of projects and activities can inspire a summer that’s educational and entertaining.

Keeping kids busy not only makes the summer special, it makes educational sense. Activities encourage imagination and exploration, while keeping kids’ brains working and ready to learn during the next school year.

The experts at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores offer the following ideas for activities and crafts to keep kids of all ages busy over the summer:

Activities
* Start a family garden. Let young children make holes for seeds—or plants for more immediate results--and pull weeds. Older kids can plant, prune and harvest. Holey Soles shoes are perfect for gardening. Kids can personalize them with paint, and mud and dirt rinse off with a garden hose.

* Have a picnic at the local park or pool. Kids can help prepare the food, pack the basket and can even make and decorate placemats to bring along.

* Plan a show or play. Consider a puppet show. Choose a favorite story, or help kids write one of their own. Follow the simple directions for Fun Stick Puppets from Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores to make foam puppet characters, and then invite neighbors and friends to the show.

Crafts
* String beads to form necklaces and bracelets. Add wooden hearts personalized and painted, or found objects like small shells, sea glass or stones. Homemade jewelry is a favorite gift of grandmothers, babysitters and teachers.

* Create a scrapbook to highlight the school year or a summer family vacation. Glue in mementos such as tickets, trinkets and photos.

* Use colored chalk to create art on sidewalks and driveways, the rain will do the clean up for you. Very small children will enjoy “painting” the driveway with water. This is a long-term project because the water keeps drying.

* Make bookmarks for library books.

* Create and decorate stepping stones for the yard and garden.

* Embellish tank tops, t-shirts and flip flops in summer colors and designs.

* Make your own games, like a glow-in-the-dark toss for hours of evening enjoyment.

* Plan for the inevitable end of summer by picking up a canvas messenger bag. Kids of all ages will enjoy personalizing their bags with iron-on appliqués, studs, and jewels, and they’ll proudly use them throughout the school year.  

For more instructions and to spark ideas for kids of all ages, visit www.joann.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent



Pledge to Make Time for Outdoor Play


(ARA) - Tag, jump-rope and swinging on the jungle gym used to be the staples of kids’ afternoons and weekends. While the benefits of free play are well-documented, luring kids away from online gaming, instant messaging and TV is easier said than done.

To urge parents to take a new look at old-fashioned play and its numerous benefits, child advocates are asking parents to commit to carving out time to play on behalf of their kids by signing the “Play Pledge.” The pledge, developed by the Voice of Play, a play advocacy outreach initiative, asks parents to find time for unstructured play in their kids’ busy schedules.

“Play is serious business and essential for healthy child development,” says Joe Frost, professor of child development and member of the Board of Advisors for the Voice of Play initiative. “Without play, we are running the risk of raising a generation of children who are lacking in the intellectual, social and physical skills that play builds.”  

“Parents want to make sure their children have the best opportunities, and it seems that those opportunities start earlier and can be time-consuming,” Frost adds. “Ironically, the enrichment activities parents choose can be at the expense of free play -- which in a single activity nurtures emotional, physical and social development.”  

Formal education can begin earlier than age five, with the advent of pre-kindergarten programs and extracurricular activities that children become involved in before beginning schooling. Between these activities, and the decrease in time for recess for school children, good, old-fashioned playtime is in danger of becoming a thing of the past.  

Play Fosters Social Learning

Playgrounds are microcosms of adult social networks, teaching kids valuable lessons about group interaction and social norms, while providing a platform for relationship-building skills. Kids learn by playing alone and in groups: solitary play encourages creativity, reflection and the ability to solve problems and alleviate boredom while group play promotes social roles and helps kids develop cooperation skills, verbal and body language.  

Play Fosters Intellectual Learning

When playing games, kids learn skills such as planning, decision-making and creating and understanding strategy, rules and objectives. Through free play, children develop language and reasoning skills, autonomous thinking and problem solving, and improve their ability to focus and control behavior.

“Kids are literally learning how to be adults through play,” adds Frost. “These aren’t skills that are necessarily learned in the classroom, yet they have an enormous impact on a child’s growing process.”  

Play Has Physical Benefits

There have been numerous alarming statistics reported in recent years about the rise of childhood obesity. Many causes factor into this problem, including genetics, lifestyle, and the younger ages at which kids become computer-savvy. The wealth of video games and television programming for children are also big contributors to kids staying indoors instead of playing outside. In addition to burning calories while playing, various types of playground equipment, such as swings, overhead apparatus and climbing equipment help kids build strong leg, arm and core muscles.  

Making a Pledge to Make Time for Play

Frost advocates that parents and children talk about the importance of making time for outdoor play. Parents need to make a commitment to ensure that children have the environment, time and materials for play. Kids need supportive involvement of adults during their play. It can be hard to find the time, but it’s an invaluable part of your children’s intellectual, social and physical development. Talk with your children about reasonably safe places to play, join them in exploring these places and assist them in creating back yard and neighborhood playgrounds, gardens and natural areas and places for organized games. Encourage the formation of play groups and reprioritize conflicting activities to ensure daily opportunities for children to be outdoors.  

Visit voiceofplay.org/playPledge.asp to download and sign the free pledge certificate that reinforces why play is so important in kids’ lives. As Friedrich Froebel, the inventor of Kindergarten, once said, “Play is the work of children.”  

To learn more about why play is vital for child development, visit www.voiceofplay.com.

Courtesy of ARAcontent
 

Don’t Let Summertime Stop Learning

(ARA) – Perhaps it’s an idea carried from elementary school that leads us to believe that summer is a time when school and learning should be put on the back burner. The excitement of being outside, of course, can squash the desire to pursue educational activities, but do we have to choose physical exercise over exercising our brains?

Summer education offers the opportunity to keep the brain as active as the rest of our body, but it doesn’t have to mean sitting inside watching the world go by. There are many options available to students of all ages that allow for the combination of fun and learning.

“Summer learning should be fun. It’s a great time to check out the neighborhood library and help your child make a Read and Watch program,” says Ronald Kar, Ph.D., program chair of Instructional Leadership for Argosy University, Sarasota Campus.  

Neighborhood libraries are filled with books children love and movies based on those books. Children can go to the library, check out the book and then, when they have read the book, watch the movie version. Librarians are parents’ best friends and will help children and parents identify age appropriate books and movies. Parents can then talk to the child about the surprises and differences from book to movie and spend quality time reading, watching and talking with their child.  

“It’s important to understand the relationship between reading and talking. And the best way to get children talking is to begin a conversation with ‘Tell me about...’” says Kar.

Dr. Kar emphasizes the importance of physical activity during the day, with long breaks for reading. He encourages children and parents to watch the book-based movie together in the evening.  

He also recommends visiting museums and talking with children about the exhibits. “It is important for parents to encourage their children to talk about what they see and experience. One of my favorite suggestions to parents is turn off the car radio and engage their children in conversation about the world around them.”

For older students or professionals seeking to expand their knowledge, online and blended learning offers students the option of spending less time in the classroom while still gaining a quality education.

“Those taking courses online have the option of completing coursework anywhere, any time -- even while sitting on the beach in the summer sun,” says Marcy Trew, Department of Education chair at Brown Mackie College -- Akron.

During the summer, many schools offer traditional courses in more condensed versions, giving students the opportunity to complete a full course in half the time.

No matter what your age, learning can, and should, be fun any time of the year. Many opportunities for learning that summer provides -- both formal and informal -- could be missed if people save education for the fall.  

Courtesy of ARAcontent


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