1. Books, books, books, books!! Help your kids make a reading list. Use the Newbury Medal Award Winners, or the Caldecott Medal & Honor winner list, or something like this, or this, or this. Get some on audio, read some out loud (yes, I still read aloud to my 12 year old and will continue to) and set aside time for them to read by themselves. Our library has a great kids reading incentive program – sign up or make your own.

2. Make a list of places to visit – like The Grounds for Sculpture, NJ Botanical Gardens, and definitely take them to New York City. Local, day trips, or plan big – but make a list and check them off. I have hot day, rainy day, and ‘just right’ days planned.

3. Make a list of things to do – fish, paddleboat, river stomp (yes, just like it sounds), milk a cow, pick strawberries, geocache, or ride the Staten Island Ferry.

4. Puzzles and more puzzles. Sodoku, word finds, mazes, crosswords, or 1,000 number dot-to-dots.

5. Play LOTS of board/card games. Othello, Blockus, Qwirkle, Cathedral and Gubs are a few of our favs. Pick some classics or look for new stuff – and play with them. Teach them to play card games.

6. Pick a theme. Rivers, lakes, old houses, old trees, hikes, waterfalls, or whatever strikes your fancy. Research, list them and go!

7. Pick great movies and documentaries. Make a list (I am fond of lists) of classics movies to work through on rainy or super-hot afternoons – or when everyone is shot from too many hikes 😉 We’ve seen many of these, and the rest are on our list. Netflix is packed with them, and so is your local library.

8. Pick a kit – or two. The projects and activities from Thames and Kosmos and Snap Circuits are fun and can keep kids busy for long periods of time as they work through them.

9. Visit Nature Centers and Environmental Education Centers like this, this, this, and this. Free!

I am conscious of costs for all of these things. We use the library and Netflix. I call ahead to venues we would like to visit to find out if they have free or discounted days or times of day – many do! You can buy a NJ State Park Pass and use it all summer for hiking and swimming and it is very cost effective. I ask family and friends at Christmas for games and kits that the kids will use this time of year – now we have a stash to pick from.

Now – get out and get going and learn something have fun! Don’t forget to bowl for free 🙂

“The love of learning, the sequestered nooks,
And all the sweet serenity of books”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow