Today my friend and I sat down and planned activities for every Tuesday and Thursday during the summer. We did this last year too and really enjoyed having a schedule (she’s a teacher so she’s all about the schedule!) This year we’ll be meeting up with our mom friends and their little ones at the local zoo, a beach, the firehall, a wading pool, for bowling and for LOTS of nature walks. One of the activities I am most looking forward to is having the kids decorate their bikes and then go riding in their own parade. We’re lucky to have a great park with a paved trail that runs through it. If you have a neighborhood with a good spot to ride this could be a fun activity to get everyone on your street involved in. With Canada Day and Independence Day both coming up this week this would be a great addition to your holiday celebrations.

Our plan is to have all of the supplies out and give the kids half an hour to do the decorating. The supplies we’ll be using are:

• Paper triangles and poles so they can make their own flags
• Cardboard rectangles with holes that they can turn in to license plates
• Foam stickers (letters are fun so they can personalize their bikes or helmets with their names)
• Streamers and garland
• Playing cards with clothespins (to create an engine sound)
• Large artificial flowers
• Tinfoil (because you can create so many neat things with tinfoil)
• Small balloons
• Chenille straws (growing up we always called them pipe cleaners)

For some other ideas, I found these fun suggestions for bike decorations:

• Handle bar bling
• Instant engine (more advanced than the playing card and clothespin)
• Spirited bike spinner
• Personalized number plates

All of these items are available at the dollar store so it won’t be expensive.  If you’re going to do this don’t forget several rolls of tape (masking tape works best), kid friendly scissors and twist ties or zip ties to attach flags, license plates and tinfoil creations.

At then end of the parade route we will be putting up bunches of balloons so they know when it’s time to turn around.

This is a great summer time activity whether you’re entertaining just your own kids, or including their friends.

Hope you have fun with it!

Friday marked the end of nursery school for my kids and although at 2 1/2 and 4 they don’t yet whine “mommy I’m bored”, I want to make sure I have lots of activities to keep them busy this summer.

So I’m adding a new feature to Parents Only Zone. Every Sunday during the summer I’ll post a new activity we’ll be trying that week.

The first activity has me so excited. My new friend Janet who has an awesome parenting blog at JanetLansbury.com made this suggestion that I LOVE:

I knew my kids would have a great time with this idea so I got more details from Janet and drew up a set of cards for our scavenger hunt. You can get creative and draw your own or download and print these ones.

One word of warning from Janet, be prepared that their “something that smells bad” may be a little piece of dog poop!  Oh well, at least they’re having fun.

Be sure to visit Janet’s parenting resource blog for informative articles on how to elevate your children.

Thanks so much Janet for a great idea and for being the inspiration behind this post.

I love picnics, and since having kids I find every summer we seem to picnic more and more.  The kids love eating finger foods outside and I love not having a huge mess to clean up at home!

With the warm weather here I’ve been thinking of ways to make picnics even better.  Today’s list is of great ideas to make having a picnic easy, fun and safe.

1.   This is such a cute and clever idea, turn a six pack container into a convenient condiment holder for summer picnics.
2.  This is a great project to waterproof your picnic blanket.  Now, you can enjoy your picnic (even if it rained the night before) and not worry about getting your bottom wet.
3.  Add a little bit of extra fun and whimsy to your picnic by customizing the picnic plates.  This website offers templates for a beach themed picnic, but the possibilities are endless.  Personally, I like the idea of a teddy bear picnic.
4.  Sometimes food can get squished when you are trying to fit all your goodies into the picnic basket.  That’s why I love this pressed picnic sandwich, which actually tastes better when it is pressed.
5.  With the beautiful summer weather, it is nice to be able to spend more time outdoors.  But it can be difficult to indulge in a spontaneous picnic if you are not prepared.  Here is a list of all the non-food essentials that you can have ready to go in your picnic container of choice.
6.  Picnics are fun, getting sick afterwards isn’t.  Here is a great site to keep your picnic safe and sanitary.
7.  Space is usually a precious commodity in your picnic container.  Freeze some of your picnic drinks so they can also keep your food cool.
8.  As much as I love ice cream, it is not the ideal picnic food.  Fruit cones are a great dessert alternative that be assembled at a picnic with all your favourite fruits.  Ideal for kids and adults.
9.  Eating outside means fresh air, sunshine and bugs!  Keep uninvited guests off your food with these simple and ingenious food guards.
10.  These adorable bird sandwiches would be great at any meal, but I think they are perfect for picnics.  Have fun with your food and create some edible animals.
11.  I think kids will eat anything as long as it is on a stick.  This cool idea for a sandwich on a stick is a great way to add some veggies (that your kids will actually eat) to your picnic.
12.  You may remember this from your own childhood; using twizzlers as drinking straws.  This classic idea is a great way to have fun and reduce waste at your picnic.

In April I wrote Cool Site Alert: KneeBouncers.com, and since then I have been thinking about other great sites for kids.  This list has something for children of all ages and is full of educational, informative ways they can use the Internet.

1. It is so exciting to make something that actually flies.  Discover the magic of flight with this great website that provides easy to follow instructions for making different kinds of paper airplanes.  You and your kids will be amazed with the cool ways these planes can move through the air.
2.  Help your kids understand the natural world and how they can take care of it with these two great environmental websites for kids from EcoKids and the EPA.
3. Learn all about oral health and what goes on inside your mouth.  This fun website will teach kids about the importance of brushing and taking care of their teeth.
4. Space!  Help your kids explore the final frontier and discover strange new worlds.  Boldly go to these websites from the Canadian Space Agency and NASA.
5. Your kids can learn about music, different instruments and the people who make it with this interactive website from the National Arts Centre.
6. Discover the story behind the story.  This website explains how a children’s story book is created, from the idea, to illustration, to publishing.
7.  Uncover the fun at the Discovery Kids website with lots of games and activities, including Tutenstein – make your own mummy!
8. Dig up the past and find out about the age of the dinosaurs at this website for younger kids and at this one for slightly older kids.
9. A young Leonardo da Vinci guides kids through interactive games and activities that teach the basic principles of art.  Most kids are so creative and this is a great way for them to explore and learn more.
10. Your chldren will love this cool, kid friendly website that talks about books, comics, movies and has fun and educational games.
11.  This whole website is fun, but I especially love these science experiments for kids.  Just a quick warning, this website contains ads.
12.  This website is definitely for older kids, or maybe something to look at together if you have younger kids.  Explore this informative website and find out how stuff works.
13. If your kids are old enough to watch tv and go on the internet on their own, it is important to teach them to be media savvy.  This wonderful website uses interactive games to teach media literacy and critical thinking to kids.
14. Even though it is now called snail mail, it is still fun to get something personal in the mail, especially for kids.  This website helps kids safely find penpals and build friendships.  It also helps them practice letter writing and literacy skills.

We’re looking forward to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics starting tonight and have been thinking of ways we can get our kids excited about the games. Here’s a list of some of our favorites… we hope you’ll add some of your own ideas in the comments!

1. Learn all about the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Mascots and print off foldable cutouts to create your own cute little creatures.
2. Keep track of the medal standings on your own medals chart.  This is a fun way to keep kids involved daily as they check for new medals awarded and update the chart.
3.  The Olympic Rings flag has been the universal symbol for the Olympics since it was first flown at the Antwerp games in 1920. The white background symbolizes peace. The five interlocking rings represent the continents of Africa, Australia, Europe, The Americas, and Asia. The five colors of the rings are blue, yellow, black, green, and red. At least one of these colors appears in the flag of every nation. Teach the kids the importance of this historic flag by working with them to create their own Olympic Rings.
4.  The torch relay may be over, but kids will love recreating the fun with their own Olympic Torch.
5.  Watching the Olympics together as a family is great – but participating is even better!  Get the whole family involved and hold your own silly olympics.  These ideas for games to play are a great place to start.  Then get creative and make up your own.
6.  A great addition to your silly olympics (or just to burn some energy) is indoor skating right at home.  All you need is paper plates! See how it’s done.
7.  If you’re holding your own silly olympics, you’ll need medals to award.  Creating your own olympic medals is a great craft for kids of all ages.  If you’re not holding your own olympics, you can use these as rewards for doing extra jobs around the house, finishing homework or doing nice things for others.
8.  For older children, have them set their creativity loose on Olympic window clings. The theme can be to choose your favorite sport or recreate a favorite olympics moment.

9. Have a favorite event? Here are great crafts for the major Olympic events:

• Luge - Younger children will love creating their own luge course and sending an athelete down. Older children can create a popsicle stick luge keepsake.

• Skating - Decorating their own ice skate is a great craft for little ones. Or they’ll love working with mom or dad to create their own little critter who really skates.

• Curling – Create a 3D curling rink complete with curlers.

• Skiing - We love this craft for a pinecone skiier. So cute!

• Ski Jumping – The techniques used to create this 3D ski jumper would work well for other sports too.

• Snow Boarding – This fun chenille snowboarder lets kids be as creative as they want when decorating him.

• Hockey – Creating your own table top hockey game is definitely a very involved creaft, but could be a great project to work on as a family.