So much of summer can be about keeping kids busy. I know they have lots of electronic choices these days, but let's face it, they need to be both out and about, and interacting with others live. Life is, after all, about relationships with people, not with CPUs. And you can't read all the connotations of speech if you can't see things like facial movements, hand gestures, and body language, nor can you hear intonation. Using words only means you'd better choose the correct word or things could go...well, pick a direction. 

Very small children won't have the kinds of options with electronics that the older ones have discovered. They also don't have the need (most of the time) to be perfect. Drawing is a great way to express creativity, so having drawing tools available, along with lots of newsprint, can mean an afternoon of drawing favorite shapes and filling in with multiple colors. Story telling can be part of that kind of play, and prompting story telling helps with both vocabulary and logic function, since stories need to make sense. Pencils and markers, paint sets, and sometimes even pens provide hours of fun.

The next older set can be doing similar things, but you can also add letter writing to friends who are away or relatives they haven't seen in a while. Writing on paper is good practice, especially since life doesn't run on texting. It's also good language practice. We can't abbreviate and use slang forever, so self expression with all the linguistic tools is great for staying fresh all summer long. 

If they now have small phones with cameras, all kinds of great creative projects can come to life. Scrapbooking and storytelling comes to mind as a couple of fun ways to spend an afternoon. Get some construction paper, some simple stencils, a good, erasable pencil, crayons or markers, and some colored pencils. We also have white pens and  metallics for beautiful pages. After taking pictures, decide what story you want to tell, and begin to arrange the photos on the pages. Write simple sentences about the photos and even do some drawings to go with the words or photos. It becomes either a keepsake or a great gift for grandparents. One fun idea is to make up a story with each child as the hero and take pictures of them acting out the scenes. 

Prismacolor Scholar line is for beginning artists. It has a super line of 20 brush tip and 20 bullet tip markers along with art pencils, erasers and sharpeners. I can tell you that young artists enjoy working with this fine line of art products. We keep them on sale so you can use and enjoy. Lazy afternoons can be filled with enjoyment, especially if you can find some very large heavy weight paper so kids can do their own wall murals. You'd be amazed at what can be done with some brush tip markers and (possibly) the family dog for a model.

Can't get your kids to read? Have them read fun books, pausing to draw some of the scenes. Getting involved with imagination brings the story to life and stirs interest. 

What if they won't even pick up a pencil? Get a soccer ball and send them out to the back yard to use up all the wonderful energy they have as kids. That way, you can get something done, or you can sit with that cup of coffee you promised yourself and read a good book!