CINCINNATI (July 8, 2009)–Has mid-summer boredom set in with your children? What can parents do with young children to keep activities fun, yet educational? 4C for Children offers a variety of fun around-the-house activity ideas to help pre-school children prepare for school, even during summer break.  

Karen Middendorf, 4C parent services director, suggests these activity ideas to parents:

• Exploring community: Look through magazines to cut out “community helpers,” such as doctors, nurses, firefighters, police officers, city workers, bus drivers or teachers to make a collage. Children can also look for words or objects related to the helper’s profession.
• Fun with numbers: Use measuring cups, tape measures or rulers to measure items around the house. Children can also play matching games with number cards or count out toys to match the number on each card.
• Language/literacy: Create large ABC’s out of cardboard, choose a letter and have children track down items beginning with that letter in an “ABC” scavenger hunt around the house. Also, children can use magnetic letters and arrange in alphabetical order or spell words.
• Science adventures: Collect leaves outside and use crayons to trace or make leaf rubbings. Children can also collect rocks to paint, use a large magnet to pick up magnetic items or investigate objects with a magnifying glass.
• Arts and crafts: Color uncooked hollow pasta and string them to make necklaces or bracelets.
• Sensory experiences: Create a “sensory bin” using a plastic container filled with a material such as shaving cream, sand, rice, water, oatmeal, flour or other products that can be poured, sifted and scooped. Use household kitchen items such as paper towel rolls, sifters, measuring cups or spoons a child can use to play in the bin.
• Outdoor activities: Use chalk to draw a four-square game. To add an educational element, choose categories that a person must give an example of before the ball bounces such as colors, animals or other objects. Also, fill a bucket of water, add a little food coloring and use big paint brushes to paint the sidewalk.
• Daily living/social skills: Set up an indoor teddy bear picnic with toy dishes and silverware and invite friends over with their teddy bears to encourage dramatic play and build social skills.
• Cultural learning: Buy or create a calendar featuring a different culture each month or try a food from different cultures each month.

More summer activities are available on 4C’s Web site, www.4cforchildren.org. 4C parent counselors are available to talk with parents about finding and choosing quality child care for the summer or when school begins. They can also answer questions about fun, educational summer activities at home. Call 513-221-0033 ext. 1351.

4C for Children, the pioneering leader, advocate and resource for early childhood education and care in this region since 1972, serves 23 counties from offices in Cincinnati, Dayton (Ohio) and Newport (Kentucky). Each year this not-for-profit agency assists over 8,000 families of all incomes levels in finding and choosing quality child care; educates over 20,000 child care providers in its workshops and trainings; works to increase the supply of high-quality early education and care in the region; and advocates for children and families at the local, state and federal levels. For more information, visit www.4cforchildren.org.

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