Activity Ideas: Summer in a Foreign Land
While we are soliciting ideas…
I was supposed to be headed home to the states for part of our summer vacation, but with the impending birth of our third child it wasn’t prudent to leave until fall when the baby is due. This is also my first experience with a school aged child (5) living in a foreign land with no Micheal’s nearby for scrap booking and craft making supplies. The majority of our friends and acquaintances here are leaving for the summer which leaves few children to play with and even fewer moms to relate to. I’m terrified of resorting to the television as our main source of entertainment in a city that becomes too hot, polluted, and dusty to play outside. (Also, the power goes out frequently which kicks on a very noisy smelly generator in the middle of the yard that makes it unbearable to play out there).
We’ll go to the pool and take a vacation here and there, but there will be down time in the afternoons in July and August. So I need some in-home activity ideas to do to keep us busy and happy and sane. Any ideas?
June 19th, 2006 00:00
Is there any sort of part-time day camp? Or can you organize one? I’ve only visited Tirana (and enjoyed it, surprisingly!) but in my other sojourns there’s usually a group of parents, or the international school, that organizes something.
June 19th, 2006 16:38
If you have a digital camera, Katy and I had endless hours of fun making books. We made an alphabet book by finding an object in the house that started with A, taking a digital photo of it, calling it up in the computer, and then adding the letter and and the word in our photo editing program. You could do one of your own. It doesn’t even have to be the alphabet–maybe just his/her favorite toys. Maybe your family. No glue or paper needed (well, unless you want to spring for enough photo paper to print it all out! Whoa!
Are you guys air conditioned in there? Is physical stuff ok? I have a good hearty handfull of books full of activities. I can start leafing through them for you, but I’d want to know more about what the environment’s like inside there. (Don’t want to have you guys happing around and passing out form heat exhaustion!!)
June 19th, 2006 19:38
I’ve discovered some fun web sites that have paper activities, activity ideas, etc. Familyfun.com is a good place for ideas. Also, you can Google on your kids’ ages (”preschool activities” for example”). Also, crafts are always a winner around here. You could probably Google for some simple craft ideas as well.
Good luck!
June 19th, 2006 19:49
A few weeks ago on some board, people were posting ideas (maybe on MMW?). I tried the shaving cream on the kitchen table finger painting. The kids LOVED it.
When my son was 5 he moved into really building things. K-nex, Tinker toys, legos, etc. He tends to build spaceships, airplanes, submarines, etc. So, sit down with your son and start building. Once he sees what you are doing, his imagination may just zoom.
Water in the sink. Plastic cup with a hole in it. Tupperware that floats.
June 21st, 2006 22:08
I did a mini-class on summer fun activities tonite for Enrichment. We spent the whole night talking about family reunions, so we didn’t get to brainstorm any fun activity ideas. But following are a few websites I shared with the sisters and thought I would pass them along for what it is worth. There are a couple that have TONS of great ideas!
Educational Activities
Http://www.eduplace.com/monthlytheme/june/summer_activities.html
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/profdev073.shtml (list of 25 activities, including bubble solution, cooking activities, ice cream in a bag, homemade musical instruments and much more!)
http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr244.shtml (summer reading lists!)
http://www.kidsdomain.com/craft/_summer.html (craft ideas)
Outdoor etc. Activities
http://www.funattic.com/game_list.htm (a treasure trove of ideas, includes many outdoor games and activities, as well as family activity ideas, shower ideas, homemade supplies, general summer fun ideas and much, much more!)
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/summer/summer-backyard-games.html (seven outdoor game ideas)
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/summer-crafts-outdoors/ (outdoor summer crafts)
Patriotic Holiday Ideas
Recipes: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/bl4thjuly.htm (Red, white and blue recipes!) http://www.recipegoldmine.com/fourthdess/fourthdess.html (it is what it says – a gold mine of recipes!), http://www.butlerwebs.com/recipes/patriotic.htm
Crafts: http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/4th/4thcrafts.html, www.allcrafts.net/patriotic.htm, www.dltk-kids.com/usa/index.html, www.patrioticon.org/patriotic-crafts.htm, http://theparentsite.com/family/patriotic.asp
History (+ ideas): http://www.fabulousfoods.com/holidays/4th/
July 12th, 2006 08:30
Cool sites Michelle! I also just read this really cool idea in Family Fun. Collect rocks, put them in the oven and warm them for fifteen minutes, t hen color on them with crayons. The crayons will melt on the (beware) hot rocks and you can make cool designs by pooling the melted wax and drawing through it with another color.