Question: I can't afford to send my children to summer camp or to costly local programs. Beyond swimming, biking and playing, what activities can I have them do that they will enjoy and might be a bit educational? -- Seeking Activities
Answer: There are so many activities nowadays that can add to summer fun. Here's our list of ones that will have some educational element. Talk all of these ideas over with your children, and encourage them to select ones that interest them. Together you can then make a calendar listing all appealing activities.
- Select one day a week and call it your family's adventure day. Make it a point to visit some place of interest in your community -- a historical home or site, a tour of a business, a zoo, an unusual museum, a wildlife park or reserve, or a farm to harvest fruits or vegetables.
- Visit two great online summer camps: Camp Wonderopolis and Google+ Maker Camp. Both have great ideas for things that your children can do. Camp Wonderopolis lets children explore different tracks of science, and the Google camp lets them make all kinds of things. They will need to register for both free camps.
- For activities that are primarily educational but still are fun, visit our DearTeacher.com website and look at all the activities that we have for math, reading, language arts, science and social studies. They will truly keep your children learning.
- Check with your local library and parks and recreation departments about camps and other activities.
- Your children probably like scavenger hunts. There now are what is known as high-tech scavenger hunts to find objects using handheld GPS tools or the GPS app on a smartphone. You can search for them online.