Free Movies!

Regal Cinema has a Free Family Film Festival with free admission for the entire family! Every Tuesday and Wednesday they run two different movies (one rated G and one PG). Click here to see if you have a theater near you.

Father's Day Craft

Play Equipment:

Tie template
Party streamers (in various colors)
Scissors
Glue stick
Ribbon or yarn










Every dad needs a new tie for Father's Day. Why buy when you can make your own? My 3 year old had lots of fun making this one (fun, easy, and helps with pattern recognition). I'm thinking she may have a future in clothes design. Snazzy tie, right?

1. Print out tie template.

2. Cut streamers in half width wise and into 3-4" strips.

3. Use a glue stick to paste strips to the template.


4. Cut out tie.

5. Punch holes and tie on ribbon or yarn.

6. Find one lucky dad to wear it!

Strawberry Harvest

My favorite time of year - berry picking season. We spent two mornings picking strawberries and came home with over 13 pounds! I hope my kids have fond memories of running through the berry rows, finding the biggest and brightest strawberries. I know I do! Each year (this is only our second year) we celebrate strawberry harvest, with a strawberry dinner. On the menu:

Strawberry Soup served with graham crackers

Strawberry Muffins

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Looking for a U Pick Farm in your area? Click here.

Homemade Ice Cream

Interested in making your kids work for their dessert? Try this recipe for Ice cream in a bag. After just 5 minutes of shaking, we had homemade ice cream! Lots of possibilities with this recipe, next time we will try chopped fruit or cookies. If you want to make the activity educational, read this article for the scientific explanation.

This activity was for the unplugged project from the Unplug Your Kids blog. Head on over for more slippery ideas.

Summer Worksheets

Here's a scary thought: kids lose more than two months of learning over the summer (read here)! This statistic promptly lead me to search around for some printable worksheets, and this is what I found: Family Education's Summer Learning Guide. You can download a packet for every grade level (K-6).

Summer Loot

Just doing my part to stimulate the economy by purchasing a few summer items at the dollar store (The Dollar Tree to be exact). What did I find?

1. A bug kit

2. Badminton rackets

3. Splash balls

4. Bubbles

5. Beach balls

6. Water blaster tubes

7. Swim Ring and arm floats

Did I forget anything? Perhaps a hula hoop. I plan on handing them out one day at a time, just spreading the joy a bit.

Bubble Fish

Play Equipment:

Paint
Bubble Wrap
Paper
Scissors
Mini Pom Poms
Glue

1. Paint ocean on one piece of paper.

2. Draw outline of fish on another piece of paper.
3. Cut out pieces of bubble wrap, dip in paint, and use to paint scales on fish.

4. Let dry.
5. Cut out fish and glue to ocean. Glue on pom poms for eyes. Done!

Head on over to Ramblings of a Crazy Woman for more crafty ideas.

Summer Reading Programs

Nothing's better than reading a good summer book, except perhaps when your child is reading a good summer book. Summer reading programs are a great way to keep those pages turning. Here are a few I found online:

Scholastic Summer Challenge

Barnes and Noble Summer Reading

H.E. Buddy Reading Club

Borders Kids Reading Challenge

Don't forget to check your local library!

Need a few ideas for fun books to read? Try the Amazon Reading Zoo, with favorite titles for every grade level.