Play, Learn and Connect this July!

Summer is that time of year when our schedules relax a bit and there is more time to play and be together. Has everyone adjusted to the new routine and found the flow of summer? For some of us, this is our favorite time of year and endless hours are spent at the pool or with friends at the park or in your backyard. For others, this is a stressful time of year with a constant chorus of “I’m bored” and “Mom, I have nothing to do”. It is okay for children to experience boredom – it helps them to become creative and good problem solvers. However, they may need some help getting started if they are used to having full schedules with little downtime.

Create opportunities for your children to play without needing you. Even very young children can benefit from entertaining themselves for short periods of time. Make sure your children can reach some toys or activities without needing assistance. Have a recycle bin where clean boxes, jars, cardboard boxes, and toilet paper rolls get tossed for creative use. Outdoor sidewalk chalk, water and paintbrushes can keep children entertained for a long time. Can they recreate a drawing of their house in your driveway? What about a map of the United States? You will be amazed at what your children can draw. Trace younger children and let them fill in the features. Have them create a cow costume and go to Chick-fil-a for a free meal in July – for more details, check out www.chick-fil-a.com. You may need to get them started a few times and will have to stay around to supervise but simple crafts and toys can be the answer to “I’m bored”.

Do you have the opposite problem in that your children just want to play all day long and you rarely see them? Once again, you may need to get involved initially to get them started but you can set up opportunities where they continue to learn. This is easiest with the preschool crowd where they can practice their letters and numbers with chalk or crayons. For the older children, turn off the electronics and encourage some reading. Go to your local library and enroll the children in the summer reading program, visit www.richmondpubliclibrary.org for more details. Or, read a book together as a family. Everyone needs to come inside and cool down – maybe 20 minutes of reading Harry Potter or Charlotte’s Web will help the time go by faster! Check out school.familyeducation.com for some great family reads.

For some families, summer means spending more time together than ever – mom or dad may be off from work; children are home from school; a long car ride for family vacations may be on the calendar. After you have found the balance of independent playtime and creative learning time, take advantage of the opportunities to grow as a family. Talk about your values and expectations. Listen to your children and learn something about them. Let them pick a CD to listen to in the car instead of everyone having their own iPod. What do they like about the music? Create family memories by taking pictures, making a scrapbook or journal or creating a video. How about planting a time capsule to be opened up next summer? For some ideas on time capsules, check out http://crafts.kaboose.com or kidsactivities.suite101.com. July is National Blueberry Month, Hot Dog Month and Ice Cream Month. Have a friendly competition to see who can make the tastiest meal celebrating these “holidays”. Whatever you do, make sure you do it together and keep talking and connecting with each other. And as always, check out www.richmondparents.com and www.completelykidsrichmond.com for some daily activities your family can enjoy.