Earlier we talked about creating educational, language learning cards for your child. Pull out your cards and sort through all the rhyming images: “dog, hog, frog, log” and match them up into sets. Review one particular rhyming series your child showing them all the images except one. “Dog. D-og” “Frog. Fr-og”

Then ask them which card goes with the rest. “Look - here are two cards. One of these sounds like this group. L-ad or L-og. Which one goes with Dog and Frog?” Start simple - with only two options and increase the difficulty as your child progresses.

Ways to make the game more challenging would include:

• Adding more than one set of rhyming words: ‘Hat, Mat Bat’ and ‘Ham, Sam, Jam’
• Use the rhyming sets to play “Go Fish” - include several different groups of rhyming words.
• Give the child one card from each rhyming group and have them match up pairs as they draw a new card from your hand.

•  Take Your Kids to the Library - An afternoon trip to the library is a great way to get indoors and beat the summer heat without having to run your OWN air conditioner. And with many libraries offering summer reading activities your kids will not only have fun, but perhaps learn something as well.
• Visiting the City or Community Pool - OK, so this idea is not exactly free. It is still very cheap family fun that can be a fun memory for the kids. Didn’t you just love going to the pool when you were little? Just remember to pack the sunscreen so your summer fun doesn’t become a time of torture. And bring some  snacks from home since most pools have very expensive concession stands.
• Consider Family Passes to a Local Zoo or Aquarium - Many nature centers, zoos, and aquariums have family or season passes. My family got passes to the nearby zoo for the cost of two visits and we now go almost every week or two. And now that we don’t feel the pressure to “get our money’s worth” we are able to go at a leisurely pace, leave when the kids get tired and ready for a nap, or just pop over for an hour or two in order to see a specific exhibit or show.

Supplies you’ll need:

• Magazines or Newspaper Clippings
• 3×5 size index cards.  

You’ll want to cut out several different types of pictures out of the magazines, greeting cards or newspapers.

• Get pictures of animals. Include common household pets, zoo animals, farm animals and ocean animals. Try to also find animals as adults and babies both.
• Clip pictures of household items that ryhme: cat, bat, hat, mat, etc. Mop, top, pop, etc. These will be used later for learning activities.
• Find pictures of various jobs and occupations: a doctor, a teacher, a fireman, etc.
• Make sure you have pictures that illustrate opposites: big and small, above and below, over and underneath, etc.

 As you work with your child, playing fun learning games, these language cards will come in handy and be a fun, visual way for your toddler or preschooler to begin laying the foundation for reading.

 Baby Development and Activities - You have your little one in your arms at last and are eager to play and interact with your baby. What games can you play together? Here are some “Baby Game” ideas covering different ages and developmental milestones of your baby.

Baby Games for Newborns - Playing with a one to three month old baby. Many new parents wonder, “What does the baby want to play?” The answer is, most of the time, your baby wants to play games with YOU!

Baby Games After Three Months - For months Four through Six. With visual and language improvements your baby is ready to interact with the world on a wider level. What baby games can you play to encourage these new developments?

Baby Games for Seven through Nine Months - Your baby is becoming more independent - less on your lap and more in the world around him. What games are appropriate for your baby’s growing curiosity?

Baby Games for Up to One Year - Your baby will quickly be transitioning from crawling to cruising and wants to explore more of the world around him. Here are some game ideas for your growing baby.

Print out coloring pages of several different ocean animals and fish or have each child draw their favorite ocean animal. Educational stores will sometimes have coloring books with sea creatures already collected in one book making it easy to let each child color their favorite animals.

How in-depth you go talking about each ocean animal is up to you and will depend on the child’s age. Preschoolers can learn the names and a quick, fun fact: “Sea stars can grow new legs”. A high-school aged child might be required to write a brief paragraph about each animal talking about where it is found in wild and what it likes to eat.

As each child finishes their coloring and fun fact they can glue the picture to the background paper. Once everything has dried hang the paper on the wall where the children can show off their hard efforts! What a great way to decorate a kitchen wall or classroom bulletin board.

If you use this activity as well as the Beach Footprint Craft put the Ocean Creatures Collage right above it to recreate an actual seashore situation - people walking on the beach while sea creatures swim in the ocean water.

Take a large piece of butcher paper, or unroll a section a few feet long if you have a roll of butcher type paper, and lay it out on the floor. It would be a good idea to lay newspaper down underneath to protect the floor from accidental paint spills.

Fill a shallow cake pan with a thin layer of washable paint. You can use just one color or use several pans for more than one different color. Let each child, or member of the family, step with clean, bare feet into the paint pan so the bottom of their feet are completely coated with the paint. Be sure the paper is positioned where the toddler can just step out of the paint pan and onto the seashore butcher paper strip. The kids will love leaving their footprints behind them as they walk down the butcher paper.

Have a parent, or teacher with soapy water at the end so the child can step into the soapy water and wash their feet. Once each person has left their footprints on the beach let the paper dry.

You can use this craft as part of a full beach or ocean unit study, or combine with the “Ocean Creature’s Collage” to create an Ocean Wall Mural.

One of the great ways to help children make the most of the summer months is to get them outdoors and into nature as much as possible. Take the kids for a walk around the block, through an empty lot, to the park, a public garden or - if you live in a rural area - an open pasture or woodland area. Let them collect leaves, flowers, bark samples, etc.

When everyone gets back to the house let them create a nature memory collage with their collected materials. They can either make rubbings of the leaves and flowers or glue their nature collections directly onto a large poster board.

Depending on the child’s age you can have them look up and identify the plants, discuss habitats and how different plants and animals live in different habitats, etc. How complicated and in-depth you choose to go can depend entirely on your child’s age and learning level.

Other Resources: See More Summer Children’s Activities

Recycled and Inexpensive Office Decor - make a personalized and creative set of book ends or a pencil holder for an office desk.

Plaster of Paris Handprints - This article has directions for making a plaster of paris handprint and other fun ideas. While this article is geared towards making Mom feel special the ideas can be adapted for a birthday celebration, Father’s Day or Grandparents Day.

Handprint, Footprint and Silhouette Cards - Beautiful personalized cards with special meaning because they are handmade by the kids.

The price of basic GPS units has gone down tremendously, making it an easy-to-swallow investment for many families who want to begin sharing more active hobbies together.

 For more information about getting started with Geocaching as a hobby visit the official geocaching website.

And of course, here is more tips and tricks about Geocaching With Kids.