Activities to Keep You and Your Elementary School Child Busy During the Summer

WooHoo, School is out for the year. Summer is the best time of the year for children--no homework, no teachers, and pretty much an easy laid out time. Sometimes parents do find it difficult to keep their children occupied and happy during the summer time. This article will give you a few ideas of what you can do with your elementary aged and younger children to make the summer pass a little easier and faster all while having fun.

First off, as a parent you should think of what your child likes to do. Some children are more artsy than others, some children love to sing, and even other children don't like to do either of these things and they would rather stay in the house all day and watch the television and movies. Whatever you child likes as a parent you should be able to find some sort of activity that your child will enjoy. These activities can range from going outside for a walk or bike ride to staying at home and writing a pen pal that they have become friend with. Whatever you child enjoys, this article will give you a few ideas of things that you can do to make the summer become a little more tolerable to both of you.

One of the best ideas for a summertime activity that I have ever seen was preparing a summertime scrapbook that the children could compile all summer. A parent can purchase a notebook, crayons, pens, pencils, glue or tape, and construction paper to give to the children at the beginning of the summer. During the summer the children can use the notebook to place memories of what they have done in the book. The children can use crayons, construction paper, household items (of course they should check with the parents first), and pictures that were taken of the activity. At the end of the summer have each child look threw the book that they have created and the memories will be as fresh as the day they happened. This memory scrapbook will also be a good show and tell item for school so they can tell all their friends what they did this summer.

Another idea to keep you child occupied during the summer is to find a pen pal that the children can correspond with. A parent would want to find another child around the same age, however you would be able to decide where the pen pal is from. For children, writing a pen pal can be a great opportunity for them to learn a couple things from different states or even different counties if they desire. Parents can locate a pen pal at one of the many free pen pal sites that are listed on the internet today. A few that I found will searching were: http://penpalsnow.com/ and http://www.penpalworld.com/. These sites have other children/adults that are interested in becoming pen pals just like you are.

A great summer idea that does not take too much planning on your part would be to visit the local library. The library offers many great things that children can do to pass time. Not only is there great books that the children can check out, many libraries have a summer reading time or summer activity groups that are set up for certain age groups. During the time that your children are visiting with the group, you have a little time look around and get to know the library yourself and maybe find that book that you have always wanted to read but never got around to buying.

The best idea that I have came across yet has to be one that most parents would never even think of. Many children would love to volunteer their time at some worthy organization. Not only will volunteering help out someone in need, it will also teach your children some very important lessons in life, make them feel more responsible, and probably make some new friends along the way. There are many organizations that would be willing to accept volunteers to help out with everyday activities. If you need help in locating somewhere, check your local newspaper, city hall, or even call the YMCA to see if they have any opportunities.

While summer can be a long and dragged out time of the year, if you put in a little effort and find something to keep your children occupied, you will find that you have a much nicer and even faster moving summer than ever before. These suggestions are just a few ideas of what you can do with your kids. Check out your newspaper for more great ideas and planned summer activities that will be going on around your neighborhood.