30 Things To Do Before Summer Ends

From About.com's Guide for Single Parents -

Making the Most of Your Summer
Are you growing tired of hearing, "I'm bored?" I bet there are a lot of things you and the kids had hoped to do this summer. Well, there's still plenty of time!

Print out a copy of this list, talk it over with the kids, and add anything else you want to accomplish before school begins. Then get to it! Make the most of the summer while you can.

And remember, the idea is to have fun! Whatever you don't get to, you can aim for next year.

More Great Ideas for Having Fun Together:

Top 10 Ways to Have Fun with Your Kids this Summer

Renewing Your Passion for Board Games

Frugal Ideas for Keeping the Kids Busy

50 Ideas For Filling Your Water Bin (51 if you count Water

Like much of the country, Connecticut is experiencing a heat wave. We've been playing with the water bin a lot - filling it with ice cubes or water and large blocks of ice "iceburgs". We've added jungle animals and dollhouse people, plastic fish or dinosaurs, small boats. We've given the dolls a bath and washed clothes and dishes.
Other than early morning, it's too hot to play outside. We get bored with water, so I've been pulling out all those old sensory bin ideas and putting them to good use.

The bin doesn't have to be anything fancy - it can range from a container as simple as a shallow dishpan all the way up to a pre-constructed sand and water table


I'm using a clear rubbermaid storage container – one of the shallow ones – about 18” wide, 36” long and 4” high – set on the floor with a plastic tablecloth underneath.
I do want to offer a caution before I get started with the list of fillers –
Young children must be closely supervised when playing in the bin.
The water should be shallow (even then, if the child is younger than three, you must sit beside him while he plays. A young child can fall face first into a very small amount of water and be unable to stand up )
Choose the fillers for the bin according to the age and ability of your child.
If there is any danger of the child putting small objects into her mouth and choking – avoid small objects.

With those less than cheerful images out of the way, Let’s get on with the fun!

50 Fun Fillers
1. Sand
2. Uncooked pasta shapes
3. Rice
4. Pine cones
5. Corn meal
6. Dry cereal
7. Oatmeal
8. Beads
9. Playdoh
10. Feathers
11. Goop
( a mixture of ½ cornstarch, ½ water)
12. Fresh clipped grass
13. Dried peas, beans, lentils
14. Different scraps of cloth
15. Cotton balls
16. Colorful yarn scraps
17. Birdseed
18. Coffee grounds
19. Hay
20. Colored aquarium rocks
21. Bubble wrap
22. Pine shavings
23. Shredded paper
24. Valentines or Christmas cards
25. Potting soil
26. Seashells
27. Instant mashed potato flakes
with or without water
28. Cooked spaghetti
29. Shaving cream
30. Plastic drinking straws
cut to different lengths
31. Knox gelatin
32. Aluminum foil
33. Ice cubes
34. Cornstarch packing peanuts
(not styrofoam)
35. Buttons
36. Magazine pages
37. Plastic Easter grass
38. Frozen peas and carrots
39. Snow
40. Dog biscuit bones
in different sizes and colors
41. Unpopped popcorn
42. Bubbles
43. Dried corn cobs and corn husks
44. Small lengths of curled curling ribbon
45. Dry autumn leaves
46. Sunflower seeds
47. Flower heads and petals
or old potpourri
48. 6” or less lengths of cut
Mardi Gras beads
49. Construction paper scraps
in lots of different colors
50. Clean Mud

Clean Mud Recipe
1 roll white toilet tissue
1 cup soap flakes
1 ½ cups water

Mix soap flakes and water in the bin
until soap is dissolved.
Help your child to tear the toilet tissue
into small pieces and toss them into the bin.
Mix with your hands to make mud –
the more you mix,
the softer and squishier
your mixture will be.

The mud can be stored
in a covered container
in the refrigerator
for reuse.



30 Tools and Toys to Use with Your Bin
1. Scoops
2. Tongs
3. Sieves
4. Pitchers
5. Spoons
6. Ladles
7. Small dinosaurs,
farm and jungle animals,
insects, etc.
8. Toy cars, trucks , tractors
9. Plastic flowers or aquarium plants
10. Squeeze bottles
11. Tub toys, ducks, fish
12. Watering cans
13. Whisks
14. Basters
15. Old fashioned egg beaters
16. Rocks
17. Eyedroppers
18. Children’s scissors
19. Plastic knives
20. Empty plastic jars and bottles with lids
21. Muffin tins
22. Egg cartons
23. Aquarium nets
24. Net sponges
25. Spray bottles
26. Plastic berry baskets
27. Shovels and pails
28. Small pots and pans
29. Foil candy cups
30. Sand molds

100 Field Trip Ideas - Simple, Inexpensive And Close To Home

By making field trips a part of your summer plans, you are giving your child the opportunity to learn first hand about the world around her – a hands on, real world exploration involving the whole child.
Use the suggestions below as a springboard for trips of your own, adapting the ideas to your neighborhood or region.

Most field trips for children will be more successful if let your destination know ahead of time when you’ll be visiting. I have found that a mailing a brief note works better than making a phone call –almost always someone "in charge" will get back to you and offer a time that is good for you to visit. Remember to bring your camera and a notebook to record your child's ideas and impressions while on your trip. You can add them to your project memory book when you return home.
Make it a safe trip and Have Fun!

1. Grocery Store – make it a "non –shopping" trip this time and spend time in different areas of the store : produce, fish, bakery
2. Pet Store
3. Garden Center
4. Sporting Goods Store
5. State and National Parks
6. Herb Farm
7. Apple Orchard
8. Dairy Farm
9. Library
10. Petting Zoo
11. Art Museum
12. Children’s Museum
13. Aquarium
14. Playgrounds
15. Indoor Playscapes
16. Home Improvement Center
17. Hardware Store – the smaller stores have owners that may be more willing to spend time talking with your child
18. Pharmacy – same here, try to avoid the big "chain’ pharmacies; try to find a small local drugstore if you can
19. Walking Trails
20. Police Station
21. Pizza Shop
22. Nature Centers
23. Video Arcade
24. Movie Theater
25. Nature Reserve
26. Radio Station
27. Ice Skating
28. Roller Skating
29. Swimming
30. Sledding
31. Theme Park
32. Dentist
33. Pumpkin Patch
34. Ice Cream Shop
35. Dairy Farm
36. Planetarium
37. Local Artist’s Studio
38. Ponds, Lakes, Rivers
39. Airport
40. Local Cable TV Station
41. Food Warehouse
42. Hospital
43. Health Club or Gym
44. Bakery
45. Ride a City Bus
46. Recycling Center
47. Veterinarian
48. Fishing
49. Christmas Tree Farm
50. Bank
51. Animal Shelter
52. Car Wash
53. Retirement Community
54. Flea Market
55. Town Hall
56. Post Office
57. Local College or University Campus
58. Strawberry Patch
59. School Bus Lot
60. Elementary School
61. Barber or Hairdresser
62. Bus Station
63. Train Station
64. Bridge
65. Laundromat
66. Road Construction Site
67. Building Site
68. Church
69. School Cafeteria
70. Duck Pond
71. Farmer’s Market
72. Vegetable Garden
73. Flower Garden
74. School or Community Concert
75. Senior Center - many have lunch programs that welcome guests – call ahead for reservations
76. Fishing Pier
77. Marina
78. Jeweler
79. Stable or Horse Farm
80. Office Supply Store
81. Craft Supply Store
82. Craft Consignment Shop
83. Optometrist
84. Nail Salon
85. Tractor/Farm Store
86. Garage/Auto Repair Shop
87. Parking Garage
88. Trucking Company
89. Food Warehouse
90. Computer Store
91. Dog Groomer
92. Cemetery
93. Neighborhood Unlike the one you live in
94. Ethnic Market
95. Garbage Truck
96. Take a Taxi
97. Or the Ferry
98. Row Boat
99. Paddle Boat
100. Your Own Backyard – day/night; wind/rain/sun; camping

Jean Warren's June Calendar

In the world of early childhood education, Jean Warren is my hero.
I have many of her books and I visit her website - Preschool Express - often.
Jean creates wonderful calendars for preschool classrooms or for "home schooling" your little one.
Get a copy of her calendar page for June Here and then wander through the rest of her site for more great ideas.

The Beginning

We began our summer together today - Miss Maya and her Grammy.
It seemed fitting that we begin by making a calendar, both to record and anticipate the wonder filled summer ahead.
Our calendar is made from a large sheet of poster board. Half of it is the traditional calendar part, with little boxes for each of the days of June, July and August.
The other half has big boxes left for pictures to illustrate each month - pictures from magazines or the newspaper, pictures we take with the digital camera and then print, pictures we draw.
The calendar boxes have room for small pictures too. We may want to leave a drawing of a special day.

Beginning tomorrow, and for each day of the summer, we will start our morning together by going out on the deck to see what the weather will be.
We'll come back inside and Maya will color in that day's box with an appropriate color marker - yellow or orange for a bright, sunny day; gray for clouds; blue for rain.
We might add more detail by drawing a melting ice cube if it's very hot, or a kite if the day is windy.

We have already illustrated some special days - Great Grammy's birthday in June and Maya's birthday in August...
A Splendid Summer lies ahead.