Things to do this Summer

I am signed up for MANY email newsletter on a variety of subjects, parenting, mothering, photography, scrapbooking and of course homeschooling. Many I signed up for a long time ago and rarely every really read, but one that came into my inbox today caught my eye "101 Things To Do This Summer" from Homeschool.com (I am in no way endorsing this newsletter, it if far too schooly for this unschool chick, but for once it contained something I found incredibly interesting!)......I think what I liked was that everything had a link with more info in it, although I will admit that MANY of the links I clicked into looked rather DRY and COMPLICATED but you still have to give credit to anyone who would spend time finding sites to support each of their ideas.....

It contained some INCREDIBLY COOL ideas for summer like:
Make a scrapbook of everything you do this summer The Basics of Scrapbooking www.betterphoto.com/photography-for-kids.asp

Compare a book to a movie Compare and Contrast Essay (PDF) www.csudh.edu

Write a poem 30 Days of Poetry www.msrogers.com/English2/poetry/30_days_of_poetry.htm

Sketch a picture of your house from the outside Perspective Drawing www.artyfactory.com/perspective_drawing/perspective_1.htm NOTE FROM ME: COOL IDEA, not so cool link!

Learn how to make a movie Digital Movie Making for Kids http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/intro_video/making_of_movie.html NOTE FROM ME: COOL IDEA, horrible link, far too complicated for any kid in my house!

Create a web site Lissa Explains HTML for Kids www.lissaexplains.com/

Make an obstacle course in your back yardHow To Set Up An Obstacle Course www.ehow.com/how_3113_set-obstacle-course.html

Build a tree house The Tree House Guide www.thetreehouseguide.com/

Have family game nightsWhat Game Should We Play?http://www.hasbro.com/familygamenight/en_US/

Make a collage from magazine words and pictures Collage http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/do/collage.html

Make up bubble solution and have a contest Casey Carle's "Secret" Bubble Solutions www.bubblemania.com/faq/solution.html

Host a yard sale How to Plan a Yard Sale www.ehow.com/how_137461_yard-garage-sale.html

Invent your own board game Design Your Own Board Game http://www.essortment.com/all/boardgamedesig_rxcu.htm

Make your own comic book Comic Creator http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/

Tie-dye some t-shirts How to Tie-Dye http://www.essortment.com/all/tiedyedyefa_rmel.htm

Learn some new outdoor games Games Kids Play www.gameskidsplay.net/

Make something from recyclables Crafts from Recycled Products www.makingfriends.com/recycle.htm

Organize a scavenger hunt Outdoor Scavenger Hunts www.lovetheoutdoors.com/camping/kids/scavengerhunt.htm

Write a fairy tale Fractured Fairy Tales http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/fairytales/

Create your own holiday A Month With No Holidays? Make Up Your Own!www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson018.shtml


And some REALLY LAME ideas:
Blow up balloons, put notes inside and hand themout to friendsMessage in a Balloonwww.nmhct.nhs.uk/pharmacy/nmha-activities.html HAVE YOU NEVER HEARD OF LATEX ALLERGIES?????

Make a fire planHome Fire Safetywww.usfa.fema.gov/kids/flash.shtm PLEASE TELL ME YOU ALREADY HAVE ONE? I am surprised they didn't tell us to make sure we had changed our smoke detector batteries too!

Get a magazine subscription (parent permission) Magazine Listing www.magsonthenet.com/chilmag.html This just seems like a LAME thing to put on a list with so many COOL ideas.....come on now...maybe something like CREATE your own magazine, or COMPILE a newsletter with your friends, but encouraging magazine subscriptions????

Donate some of the toys and clothes you no longer use How To Donate Toys www.ehow..com/how_10124_donate-toys-children.html COME ON? You really need to put this on a list, especially a list geared to homeschoolers? Most homeschoolers I know are frugal and pass items on on an ongoing basis. And that there is a WEBSITE telling you HOW to donate items? Well someone had WAY TOO MUCH TIME on their hands!

Spend time with your grandparents 10 Great Activities www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson136.shtml OK? Obviously the author doesn't know the ONE grandparent my children have! But seriously, someone needs to TELL YOU to spend time with your grandparents????

Rent a video of a ballet Easy to Read Profiles of the Histories of Ballets classicalmusic.about.com/od/historyofballet/ Hey GRANT, JACOB AND CADE...wanna watch a DVD of some guys in tights? If you are going to SUGGEST a BALLET, at least encourage families to GO TO A REAL BALLET...even small towns have local ballet companies, why stick kids in front of a TV when they can experience first hand????

Adopt a pet (parent permission) http://www.petfinder.com/ NEED I EXPLAIN THIS ONE???

But it got me thinking.......and I decided to come up with a list of my own!
Letterboxing: http://www.letterboxing.org/ or http://www.atlasquest.com/

Geocaching: Wanna go a little more high tech? http://www.geocaching.com/

Explore a local creek, pond, stream or river: We are lucky, the Little Miami River is just blocks from our house http://www.littlemiamiriver.org/ but there are plenty of creeks, streams and waterways ripe for exploring. For a free guide we really like a copy of Stream Insects and Crustaceans located on pages 9 &10 of this pdf http://www.mostreamteam.org/activity_guide/ST%20Act.%20Guide%20activities/ST%20Act%20Guide%20p%20119-128%20aqua%20stream.pdf I printed it off and lamenated a couple of copies! If you are more the already made/ full color kind of person, our favorite guide is a lamenated trifold entitled PondWatchers: Guide to Ponds and Vernal Pools of Eastern North America ISBN 0-932691-14-5

Go for a bike ride : We are lucky, we live blocks from the Loveland Bike Trail http://www.lovelandbiketrail.com/ but there are plenty of other great places to ride bikes. Do you remember being a kid and riding your bike EVERYWHERE? Recapture that feeling of freedom with your children!

Take in a local youth, highschool or college BASEBALL game: don't live in a city with a major league team or live in a city with a team but can't afford the big league prices? I find youth, highschool and college baseball to be just as exciting (if not moreso since the players tend to be passionate about the game and aren't there for a paycheck) and the admission fee (if there is one at all) if far more reasonable than the MAJORS....you can get in the whole family (and I am talking a family the size of mine) for less than one ticket to a professional game. We are fortunate to live close enough to a WONDERFUL youth baseball complex http://www.tealtownballpark.org/ and just about any day you can find exciting action on at least one field. OK I would avoid the T-BALL games on Friday nights!

Bowling: Many bowling alleys participate in FREE BOWLING in the summer http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/. If you aren't near one of these bowling alleys, check out your local alley for great summer deals. Our favorite alley, Cherry Grove Lanes (http://cglanes.com/) doesn't do the free bowling, but has great summer deals..
Rollback Days Monday - Saturday
May 4th to Aug 22nd Noon - 5 pm
$1.75 Game Open Bowling
$1 Shoe Rental, Hot Dog & Soft Drink

Free Movies: This was by far one of my favorite summer activities, I can't afford to take my gang to the movies, so this is a real treat! Last year both local theater chains that participated also offered specials on popcorn/pop during these shows.

Rave Motion Pictures: http://www.ravemotionpictures.com/ffff.asp
All Rave Motion Pictures locations nationwide will host the Free Family Film Festival 2009. All locations will play these movies on the dates listed:
June 9 & 10 Kung Fu Panda PG 92 minutes
June 16 & 17 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa PG 89 minutes
June 23 & 24 Surf's Up PG 85 minutes
June 30 & July 1 The Tale of Despereaux G 90 minutes
July 7 & 8 Horton Hears A Who! G 86 minutes
July 14 & 15 Space Chimps G 81 minutes
July 21 & 22 Igor PG 87 minutes
July 28 & 29 Shrek the Third PG 93 minutes
ALL MOVIES START AT 10AM

Regal Theater Group: http://www.regmovies.com/nowshowing/familyfilmfestivalschedule.aspx you have to check the website for your local theater, here is the listing for the one we attend, they offer 2 choices most week!:

Deerfield Stadium 16 5500 Deerfield Blvd Mason ,OH 45040 513-770-3186
06/16/2009-06/17/2009 Kit Kittredge: American Girl (G) AND Star Wars: Clone Wars (PG)
06/23/2009-06/24/2009 Everyone's Hero (G) AND Inkheart (PG)
06/30/2009-07/01/2009 Space Chimps (G) AND Kung Fu Panda (PG)
07/07/2009-07/08/2009 Charlotte's Web (G) AND Journey To The Center Of The Earth (PG)
07/14/2009-07/15/2009 Horton Hears A Who (G) AND Firehouse Dog (PG)
07/21/2009-07/22/2009 Wallace And Gromit (G) AND Evan Almighty (PG)
07/28/2009-07/29/2009 Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Veggie Tale Movie (G) AND Alvin And The Chipmunks (PG)
08/04/2009-08/05/2009 Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (G)
08/11/2009-08/12/2009 March Of The Penguins (G) AND Igor (PG)
Selected G & PG movies start at 10AM each Tuesday and Wednesday during the festival. First-come, first-served seating is limited to theatre capacity. The Free Family Film Festival is safe, lots of fun and a great way for kids to spend a weekday morning in the summer.

OK....enough for now....I will add more later!