Ten Things to Do With Big Kids

July brings with it the promise of family reunions, visits from cousins, and days when it is almost too hot to go outside. School is still a few weeks away, and until then we all want to enjoy any unscheduled time we have together.
So, here are some ideas to make happy moments with the big kids in your life.
-Buy glow-in-the-dark craft paint and let them paint their own pillow cases. This makes a great slumber party activity.
This is as easy as it gets and kids love paint; in direct proportion, so it would seem, to how much trouble it is. We use squeeze bottles with pointy tips for painting. Forget the brushes! Or paint black t-shirts with glow-in-the-dark paint, then give them all flashlights for after-dark tag in the back yard.
-Make a map collage. Subscribe to National Geographic or pick up some old copies at a used book store or garage sale. Get maps off the internet or clean out the glove compartment of your car for old maps. Glue the maps onto butcher paper and tack it to the ceiling. Soon your ceiling will be one huge mural and your kids will be dreaming of all the places they plan to visit some day.
-Start a post card collection, for more geography. Give everyone you know who will be traveling this summer a couple of dollars and your child’s address on mailing labels.
-Play wiffle ball or croquette or badminton. We know college kids who play a sport they dubbed “Ultimate Croquette” in the spirit of the extreme sports. They post their pegs along creek beds and under bridges for extra challenge.
-Build a secret fort. Let them choose a spot and camouflage it so it can’t be seen from the house. Send them outside with hammers, nails and scrap wood. Tarps can be strung above their creation for a rain-proof roof or laid on the ground to minimize the mud that will probably find its way onto your kitchen floor. One other suggestion: count your hammers when the kids come back in.
-Give the big kids the video camera and see what happens. Get out the dress-up clothes and they will be busy for hours, interrupting adult conversation only long enough for each “act.” This is great for family reunions and, best of all, you will have videos to black mail them with at their rehearsal dinners someday.
-Act out a Greek tragedy in togas. Do not let the kids have the video camera, if you are wearing a toga.
-Read a book out loud together, and then watch the movie version.
-Personalize a book bag as a gift for your favorite librarian. Deliver it with a hug. Oh, and be sure to check out some more books.
-Start a neighborhood newspaper.
-My personal favorite: order a dump truck load of sand for a huge sand pile. It is a great time to relive happy moments from your own childhood. Why not retell funny stories about their aunts and uncles?
Of course, once they turn fifteen, the kids will be out the door with their friends as they all begin to get their driver’s licenses. With that in mind, now is the perfect time to turn boredom into a blessing.

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, grew up in East Texas, the perfect place to raise the current generation. Comments are invited at CaeKrafve2@aol.com.