August 15, 2007
 Play Mates
Running out of afternoon jaunts, at-home games and play date companions? Counting down until September starts and the regular schedule resumes?
Use this time to bond with your children while developing their natural talents. Below are some suggestions from California's Bay Area Discovery Museum on how to fully explore summer:
Tell a cloud story. Lie on your backs and look up at the clouds. Take turns identifying shapes in the clouds and make up a story about the shapes. When you get home see if you can retell the story – it will get better and better over time.
Why? Listening, creating and telling stories increases children's comprehension and helps develop language and concepts. It also helps them learn to sequence ideas and develops both imagination and an appreciation of literature.
Get wet. Children love to play with water. Water can be splashed or poured, used to sink or float objects; it can be routed into fast-moving streams or dammed to form ponds.
Why? Playing with water helps children develop respect for nature as well as for basic safety rules and procedures. It also teaches social skills and cooperation, experimentation and problem solving.
Go outside. Go on a nature hike, which can be as simple as a walk around the block. Let your child lead the way. Do not have a planned destination. Stop as often as your child would like to examine the local flora and fauna. Immerse yourself in the experience by letting them get dirty and wet. Bring along a set of binoculars, a magnifying glass or bug box, and a natural history guide.
Why? Letting children explore and discover the wonders surrounding them is a good way to ensure they will learn to care for and protect the world they will inherit.
Build a fort. Cover an old card table with a blanket, use an old box from a refrigerator, or find a natural spot. Children relish the opportunity to create a space of their own where they are in charge. Let them set the standards for admission and participation in their fort.
Sometimes children crave a private space where they can be alone and still within eyesight of an adult.
Why? Children can use this experience to test their own ideas and learn to recognize the consequences that result from their decisions.
For more information, visit baykidsmuseum.org.
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