Friday, July 11, 2014

50 Things to Do When You Are Bored This Summer

50 Things to Do When You Are Bored This Summer
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Alissa_E_Carter]Alissa E Carter

-Go berry picking at a local pick-your-own fruit farm, and then make a delicious summer pudding from all the goodies you collected
-Find a nearby village play park and go on the swings
-Share a bag of cherries with your best friend
-Visit a National Trust property, walk around the grounds and marvel at the architecture
-Check out local artists, stop to appreciate the beauty of their work and decide which is your favorite
-Fly a kite on a nearby green
-Spend a day reading all the books on your bookshelf, feel the pure satisfaction of completing a whole book in a day

Thursday, July 10, 2014

25 Fun, Cheap, And Easy Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer

25 Fun, Cheap, And Easy Things To Do With Your Kids This Summer
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jamie_Jefferson]Jamie Jefferson

Summer is a great time to finally squeeze in all of those activities that you don't have a chance to do during the school year. Here are 25 fun, cheap, and easy ideas for keeping your kids busy until the school bell rings again in the fall.

1. Map out all of the different parks in your county and hit each one (on a different day) with a picnic lunch.

2. Teach the kids some jump rope rhymes from your own childhood.

3. Find a new trail to hike.

4. Plan a scavenger hunt. All you need to do is list 20 or so items that are frequently found in nature. Then distribute the list to each of the kids. The first person or team to find everything and bring them back wins a small prize.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Outdoor Summer Activities - Do You Want to Enjoy Nature This Summer?

Outdoor Summer Activities - Do You Want to Enjoy Nature This Summer?
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jose_Perez]Jose Perez

Summer is the perfect time for many different activities. If you are looking for outdoor summer activities there are quite a few to choose from. If you have a state or national park local to you there are a lot of activities there for you to do. Hiking on the trails can be a great way to spend the day or even the weekend depending on the amount of trails that they have at the park. Your local park may also have caves to explore or interesting sights to enjoy. Some parks have naturally occurring entertainment like yellow stone national park and the geysers. When you pull into the park there should either be an information station there with someone you can speak to or there will be pamphlets to show you all of the trails and things to do in the park. Once you get to the park you may find that there are many more activities there than you were aware of. State and national parks can hide some of the best-kept secrets. Your local park may have played a huge part in national history.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Have Some Fun This Summer and Visit Your Local Water Parks

Have Some Fun This Summer and Visit Your Local Water Parks
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Anders_Abadie]Anders Abadie

If you feel that this summer is going to be one of the hottest you have experienced, then you need find some places you can go to help you and your children escape the heat. In addition to going to your local beaches, there are water parks you can go to. One great thing about aquatic centers is that you can enjoy more activities on the inside where the temperature is regulated. That means you don't have to worry about anyone getting sunburn or suffering from heat exhaustion.

Just because you feel the need to get away and have some fun, that doesn't mean that you have to spend a ton of money or travel. You can save money on fuel as well. You can still have a great time by vising some of the places around ton. There are plenty of things for you and your loved to do in order to keep busy. You don't have to get up early in order to get the best spots, you just need to know how to get to these places.

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Keeping the Kids Active This 4th of July Weekend

Author: Jennifer Gold
There is no way around it, summer is HOT! With temperatures reaching over 100 degrees, you may be having difficulties motivating your kids to go outside and stay active in addition to helping them maintain a healthy diet. However, it is important for children to go outside and play, regardless of the temperature!
It is important to remember, that there are lots of outdoor activities that children can participate in even if the weather outside is a little toasty.  4th of July celebrations are a great way to keep your children active for this three day weekend and to allow them the opportunity to eat healthy this Independence Day.
It may be fun to have a 3-legged race, or to toss the Frisbee around. If you have a pool, cool off in the refreshing water! The idea is to motivate your children to enjoy the fresh air instead of staying inside. In order to keep from heat exhaustion, try setting up a picnic under some shade. After a long hot day of exercise in the sun, treat your children (and yourself!) with delicious and refreshing Independence Day Gift Baskets from Edible Arrangements.

Friday, July 4, 2014

A DIY Fourth of July Party

A DIY Fourth of July Party

Author: nickyjarvis
Planning parties of any kind can be very difficult and tiresome especially when working with a tight budget, but a smart DIY-er would know how to stretch that budget and still pull off a fun and festive party with a little help from friends and family.
With the Fourth of July celebrations just around the corner, have you gotten ready with your party plans? Let us give you some DIY suggestions that\'ll help you mazimize your resources.
The Decor
Here\'s a basic truth: Colored craft paper or tissue and a pair of scissors are your best friends! Cut up some red, white and blue craft paper and create pinwheels of different sizes that you could use to decorate your walls, windows and tables. Smaller pinwheels could be used as pretty cake/cupcake toppers too.
If pinwheels are too complicated for you, try cutting up stars and flaglets and breathe life into them by putting some glitter on them. String them together with a piece of twine or ribbon, and you already have a sparkly garland to adorn your table or garden plants. Meanwhile, use the tissue to make pretty pompoms and hang them around your house or porch along with white running lights (perhaps you kept the ones from last Christmas?) and you\'ve got yourself an eye-catching set of decors.
To jazz up your dining table, choose a bright red table runner or placemats and scatter some of your cut up, glittered stars around. A vase with red, white and blue flowers in it could serve as your simple centerpiece, or you could add small balloons and flags to make it look more cheerful and festive. It\'s up to you if you want to light up some candles on the dinner table, just look out for the kids who might want to play with them.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Amusement And Theme Parks - Favorite Summer Destinations

Amusement And Theme Parks - Favorite Summer Destinations
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Frederick_Hail]Frederick Hail

With all the summer vacation destination choices online, it is so hard to choose one. All of them are so alluring. The task would be easier if the choice will be based on your need or even whatever you have dreamed about for so long. If you are an outdoor person, you will need some thrill and excitement. Go camping or fishing, mountain climbing or skiing. You can even go to amusement parks with so many special events and activities always ready for visitors.

Throughout the years, there have been innovations and development when it comes to amusement parks. They have thought of something more exciting for all ages. From the general amusement park, they have come up with a more specific park called theme parks. This is also an amusement park but is presented with a specific theme. It may be a zoo or animal theme, safari theme, cartoons theme for children or historical theme for adults and teens.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

How to Build a Summer Reading Program for Your School

How to Build a Summer Reading Program for Your School
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jane_Thursday,_Ed.D.]Jane Thursday, Ed.D.

Building a summer reading program for your school can be a fun way to engage young minds in reading. Don't let your students go the whole summer without reading! This article is chocked full of ideas for what your reading program shouldn't be, how to connect with the public library, how to get parents to document time, appropriate reading material, and incentives.

What the Reading Program Shouldn't Be

1. Difficult for parents to use: Parents should spend way more time reading with their kids and not trying to write down every book and author.

2. Focused only on fiction-heavy reading lists: As an adult you read lots of types of reading materials, and if you force your child to focus on fiction then you limit him or her from the magazines, websites, newspapers, and information texts with which he or she could be connecting.

3. Inflexible: The successful reading program gives parents lots of options. Let books students listen to on audio and books read to them by an adult count. Encourage day cares and children's' summer programs to complete parts of the documentation.

Connecting with the Public Library

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Great Free Summer Activities For Kids

Great Free Summer Activities For Kids
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Jose_Perez]Jose Perez

There are many great free summer activities that are planned for kids. You can keep your children entertained and out of trouble without breaking the bank. If you check with your local library they may have many fun free kids summer activities planned. Many of these activities include snacks and drinks for the kids. Some libraries even have summer clubs that include things such as Lego's and kinetics. Libraries will also host ice cream socials and book readings during the summer. All of these activities make your local library a great place to check out. If you have a community pool or a Y in your area they run great summer activities as well. A lot of times they will host free activities for children.

There are many movie theatres such as Regal Cinemas and some AMC's host children's film festivals in the summer with free admission. They play movies that are orientated towards children usually rated G or PG. Some theatres have once a week showings that are free and some do them every morning. It is a great way to entertain your children. If you have a state or local metro park in your area they usually have free kids summer activities as well. They host everything from lunch with a ranger to nature walks and animal meet and greets. The lunch with a ranger program is very informative and fun for the kids. They get to ask questions and learn a lot about their local environment.