Uncommon Summer Activities For Kids In U.s.

Wikipedia Contributor: I knew that editing wikipedia pages is allowed and fairly straight-forward, but didn't realize each editable page has an Edit option at top right. Would make a nice activity to do in the summer in short spans of few minutes whenever interested. I just checked wikipedia page for biryani and it needs editing. While teachers do not let children cite wikipedia as a source in school projects, it remains a good resource and often read by children. Most would like to edit it, and see themselves as a contributor to such a great resource.

Wikipedia:WikiGnome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikipedia Pattern: the very young editor
Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

A big fat book.

A summer vacation is not complete without a big fat book that the child is not crazy about to begin with. We had Wren & Martin that used to gather dust, until one hot afternoon, we took it out and made some game with the sentences. There was also some essay book. Then, one house in the neighborhood had the Encyclopedia Britannica. We also had collections of mail magazines like Sputnik, German News. These remain a vivid contrast in mind to the more pleasurable reading of Amar Chitra Katha comics, Wodehouse, Agatha Christie, Enid Blyton's and more. OK this is becoming a snippet, back to the 'big fat book' for current times.

College Board publishes an annual thick book called "College Board Book of Majors." It has list of practically all majors that can be pursued, along with info about the education required, job prospects and more. Can be surprisingly fascinating to discover careers and jobs one would never think of. Get an older one, like 2013 issue, for cheap, and have it on the table. Read it now and then. Open a random page and discover. Or, from the library.

Also, interesting to watch the play of expressions across face of desi friends who drop by, as they espy the book on the table.

 

The Gift of Boredom

Seriously. We live in a time where if a child is bored or not happy with current activity, we immediately, in an almost Pavlovian manner, offer choices of do this, that, that or that... LOL child ends up offered more palatable choices than adults contemplating the ballot in an election booth.

Let the child be bored. Even, make for time for the child to feel bored. A lot of discovery and self discovery and conversations happen when a child is sufficiently (but not overly) bored.