It’s that time of year when children are allowed to gleefully take on their summer adventures and where parents bite their nails hoping to take on the challenge in keeping their kids’ physically active and mentally alert. Yes, it’s summertime.
We’ve teamed up with the Sacramento Children’s Home (SCH) to bring you some great ideas for mental sharpening activities for your kids. The SCH is dedicated to helping children through early intervention, strengthening families and mental health treatments, to name a few. They are most worthy of your support through car donations in Sacramento.
Make the most of lazy summer days and tackle your child’s boredom with these ideas:
- Make Paper Airplanes. Tell your child to follow the directions to Building the Best Paper Airplane on Earth. Then, see if they can create their own original paper airplane and outline the steps for building it to see if their friends or siblings can recreate it.
- Rock Collection. Have your child begin a rock collection and use the US Geological Survey Collecting Rocks website to identify and label cool rocks.
- Create a Calendar. Write in your summer events on this Coloring Calendar for or help your kids make a decorate their own summer calendars.
- Make Musical Instruments. Using materials around the house, create Musical Instruments. Have your kids make a rain stick, box guitar, maraca, or a rattle.
- Observe Insects. Try hanging a white bed sheet in your backyard after it gets dark and shine a bright light on it. Then check out the variety of insects that are drawn to it. You can use the Insect Identification or other sources to identify your night time visitors.
- Teach Them Cooking. Check your local bookstore or library for a children’s cook book or use the recipes and step-by-step instructions at Cooking With Kids to involve your children in the cooking process.
- National Parks. Discover the national parks from your own home and show your kids how then can become a Web Ranger by completing the online activities. They can accomplish things by age and receive a membership card and cool awards.
- Create a Crystal Garden. With a few common ingredients, you can help your child grow a magic crystal garden from bits of coal. You can find the instructions in the Ultimate Mad Scientist Handbook.
- Make Bubbles. Make a DIY Bubble Solution and test different Tools for Bubble Blowing like milk containers, strings, or hangers.
- Cartoon Flip Book. Use a notebook or unlined paper stapled together to assist your child in making a cartoon flip book. Have your child draw a sequence of cartoons to imitate an action as they flip through the pages. Remember that the first image should start at the bottom or end of the book. Learn How to Draw Cartoons online of buy the Complete Cartooning Course book.
While most of these activities have online links, most of them can be done without access to the internet. These ideas help reinforce skills that your kids were taught during the school year while also providing entertainment and family enjoyment.
We hope you also remember when it’s time to get rid of your old vehicle, to donate your car to a charity in Sacramento. The Sacramento Children’s Home has made a difference in thousands of children’s lives and so can you. Give us a call today at 1-800-237-5714.