Canada Day

Canada Day is Canada's national holiday, marking the establishment of Canada as a Dominion on July 1, 1867. Canada Day is often referred to as "Canada's birthday," particularly in the popular press.  It is a day off from work, so is often a time for outdoor activities to welcome the beginning of summer.

Find out more about Canada and download a map and flag to color from http://www.aupairinamerica.com/kcc/kcc_canada.htm

We all look forward to the sunshine of the summer, but it is important to protect children with hats and sun block and perhaps even to stay indoors at midday. When you’re outside, sit under a shady tree to read a book or have a picnic.

Independence Day

Independence Day was first celebrated on July 8, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was read to the public. By the 1880's, the Fourth of July had become the most significant patriotic occasion in the United States. The holiday is presently celebrated with parades, fireworks, picnics, sporting events, and music.

Children can have fun making paintings of fireworks: Use a large piece of paper. Let children drop small amounts of paint. (Using different colors works well, or just use blue and red for a patriotic look. If you can, get black paper and use red, white and blue for fireworks in the night sky.) Have the children swirl the paint out with a spoon; let them keep swirling from the center in all directions around the drop of paint. Some of them may overlap, and that is fine, too. When it is finished it looks like fireworks bursting in the sky. Or give the child a straw and have them blow into the pools of paint to make their own free form painting of fireworks.

Lawn Bowling

Variations of this game exist in France, Italy, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.  You need a small ball to use as a target.  Each player has two larger balls, all the same size.  Stand about 8 feet or 2 meters away (closer for smaller children) from where you have placed the small ball.  Take turns throwing the larger balls.  The idea is to throw the larger ball as close to the smaller ball as possible.  When the larger balls are thrown, it is possible that they may move either the small ball or one of the larger balls that had been thrown earlier, but that is not the goal.  After all players have had a turn, collect the balls and start over. 

Plan to have lunch outside.  Spread out an old blanket or sheet on the ground and have a picnic!  Good picnic foods include sandwiches, cut up fruits and vegetables like carrots, peppers and berries, and chips.  Remember to bring plates and something to drink.  No picnic is complete without the ants!

Here’s a fun guessing game with a picnic theme: http://pbskids.org/zoom/games/gopicnic.html

National Sugar Cookie Day

Sugar cookies are perfect for cutting out shapes with cookie cutters.

Born in 1899, EB White wrote 3 well-known children’s classics: Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan.  These are wonderful books to read aloud to children ages 5 through 10.  You can also check the library for videos of Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web.  With school age children you can start a several day project of making a piggy bank.  Visit http://www.familyeducation.com/article/0,1120,2-14675,00.html for all the details.

National Pecan Pie Day 

Southern United States is famous for its pecans, but this pie can be enjoyed anywhere.

On July 14th the French celebrate Bastille Day. This day marks the end of monarchy and the beginning of the French Revolution. A favorite way to celebrate in France is with a picnic. You can plan a picnic with the children – it’s a simple adventure to eat outside on a blanket. Or try the Picnic Memory Game. A player names something they will pack for the picnic, then the next player names what he is bringing and what the other person is bringing. This continues with everyone taking a turn until the list is too long to remember or everyone is laughing too hard to play!

Fun with Bees!

Summer is a great time to observe and learn about the wonderful world of bees, but be careful not to get too close!

At the Library

Look for books about bees such as Berlioz the Bear by Jan Brett or Bumblebee, Bumblebee, Do You Know Me? : A Garden Guessing Game by Anne Rockwell

• Make a large “Bee Garden” poster. Use green paper and create a flower garden using markers or construction paper or crayons. Draw bees visiting the flowers.
  
  
• Make A Bee Headband: Use a 1-1/2” wide piece of construction paper measured to fit the circumference of the child’s head for the headband. You need chenille stems (pipe cleaners) if you want to make the flowers stand up. Make the flowers out of tissues or stiff paper.

Make pumpernickel (dark) bread with melted cheese stripes.

A Finger Play (use your fingers as the bees)

Six Buzzing Bumblebees
Six buzzing bumblebees
Flying ‘round the hive,
One buzzes off and then there are five.
Five buzzing bumblebees
Flying near my door,
One buzzes off and then there are four
Four buzzing bumblebees
Flying ’round a tree.
One buzzes off and then there are three.
Three buzzing bumblebees
In the sky so blue.
One buzzes off and then there are two.
Two buzzing bumblebees
Flying toward the sun.
One buzzes off and then there is one.
One buzzing bumblebee
Looking for some fun,
Oops! It stung me….off it buzzes.
Then there are none.

National Ice Cream Day

Eat some real ice cream or bake "ice cream" cones. Follow the instructions for cupcakes on a packaged cake mix but bake the little cakes in flat bottom ice cream cones. Top them off with frosting and chocolate sprinkles (also called shots or jimmies depending where in the U.S. you are). These won’t melt on a hot day!

Check the newspaper to find the time the moon will rise and look for it in the sky. Read toddlers or preschoolers one of the classic picture books that mention the moon like Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown or Happy Birthday Moon by Frank Asch. With preschool or school age children you can use your imagination to plan a pretend trip to the moon – make a spaceship out of a large cardboard box and space helmets from large plastic milk containers.

An American artist born in 1898, he is very famous for making mobiles out of geometric forms.  Make your own mobile with the children.  Click here for simple ideas to use for children ages 3 and up: http://www.cooldinos.com/crafts/mobiles/

In 1800, the American West was still wild country – no cities, no railroads and no cattle ranches yet existed. It was quiet and untouched. People in the eastern U.S. had heard stories about the western mountains and the desert, but only the Native Americans had been there. Learn more about this period in American history at http://www.isu.edu/~trinmich/Discoverers.html.

There are many children’s books that take place during this time period. Little House on the Prairie or any of the other books by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a favorite read-aloud book for school age children. Check the library for stories about Davey Crockett and tall tales about Paul Bunyan.

Fishing is a great summer activity! Watch out for little fish when you are at the pond, lake or beach with the kids this summer. Also visiting an aquarium or even looking at the fish in a pet store can be fun. Here are some “fishy” activities for summer days.

Fish at the library!

Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
A Fish Out of Water by Helen Palmer
The Fish Who Could Wish by John Bush – Use this to encourage children to think up their own “wishes” – draw them on big sheets of paper.
How Many Fish? By Caron Lee Cohen
McElligot’s Pool by Dr. Seuss – Read this and then create your own way-out fish to add to the collection. Use lots of different craft supplies and have lots of fun.
One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister
Swimmy by Leo Lionni – Use this book to start a conversation about safety rules.

You will need colored paper strips, a stapler, glue and a pencil.

• Cut 2 1”x12” strips from the same colored paper. Staple the strips together to make the fish head and tail.
• Curl the strips of the tail around a pencil.
• Choose several different colored strips for curling to fill in the inside of the fish shape. Wind each one around a pencil to make the curls.
• Lay the fish outline on a table and arrange the paper curls inside the outline. Glue in place.
• You can use string or yarn to hang these fish.

Aquarium Cups

You will need:
4 clear plastic cups
3/4 cup boiling water 
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Brand Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin 
Ice cubes 
1/2 cup cold water 
1/2 cup chopped strawberries 
4 bite-size fish-shaped chewy fruit snacks 

• STIR boiling water into gelatin in medium bowl at least 2 minutes until completely dissolved. Add enough ice cubes to cold water to measure 1-1/4 cups. Add to gelatin; stir until slightly thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. If mixture is still thin, refrigerate until slightly thickened.
  
  
• PLACE fruit on bottom of each of the 4 clear plastic cups. Pour thickened gelatin evenly over fruit. Suspend fruit snacks in gelatin.
  
  
• REFRIGERATE about 1 hour or until firm. 

Recipe taken from www.kraftfoods.com

Fish Jokes to Share!

• What part of a fish weighs the most? 
  The scales!
  
  
• What kind of fish is good on toast?
  A jellyfish!
  
  
• What’s the difference between a piano and fish?
  You can’t tuna fish!
  
  
• Why are some fish at the bottom of the ocean?
  Because they dropped out of a school!
  
  
• Where does a fish keep its money?
  In a river bank!
  
  
• How do you keep a fish from smelling?
  Cut off its nose!
  
  
• What do you call a fish without an eye?
  A fsh!

Here are two simple games to play with young children when it is too hot out to be very active.

 I Spy – To play this game, simply choose an object within eyeshot and state the color of the object (or with older children say the first letter that the name of the object begins with). For example, if your object is a banana you say "I spy with my little eye, something yellow (or beginning with 'B')." Each person takes turns guessing what object you spied. Whoever guesses the object gets to go next.

Hide It – Hide an object in an obvious place. For example, place your portable telephone on top of the television. The first person to find the telephone gets to pick the next object and hide it. The only rule is that the object cannot actually be "hidden," it must be in a visible place and not hidden from view.

Water!

On a hot day nothing is more refreshing than water, for both drinking and playing. Toddlers and pre-schoolers might enjoy a wading pool (never be more than an arm’s length away from a child in a wading pool); children of any age can enjoy running through a sprinkler. School age children would enjoy shooting targets with a water gun, or a water gun fight. For children up to about age six, a large paintbrush and a pail of water can keep them happy and busy as they "repaint" the house. If you have a sandbox, adding some water to it creates new options for pre-schoolers.

Born in 1965, this British writer is the creator of the Harry Potter books, a wonderful series of books to read aloud to children ages 6 and up.  If you have Harry Potter fans in your house, they may enjoy playing the on-line games at http://www.harrypotterfans.com/links/On_this_site/Games/.