Will you be traveling this summer?  Here are a few math activities that you can do with your child…

1. Discuss directions (north, south, east, and west) to give your child a sense of coordinates.  Use street maps to find travel routes and addresses.  Have your child estimate the time of your arrival and compare that to the actual time it took to arrive at a given destination.
2. Have competitions when traveling.  Count red cars or see who can find the largest number formed by the numerals on a license plate.
3. Have your child practice record and read the large number on license plates viewed.  Find the largest number in a given time period of travel.
4. Estimate, then time how long before a street light changes.  Estimate, then count how many stores are in a block.
5. Point out speed limits and distances between towns.  Talk about the time it takes to get from one town to another when you drive at different speeds.
6. Have your child check the odometer in the car to determine distances on a trip….starting point and ending destination.
7. Find the differences between certain distances traveled.  Find out how much farther you traveled on the first day than you did on the second day.
8. Practice reading the numbers on the odometer.
   
   

Have you ever noticed that all young children are artists?  Creative geniuses ready to bloom and be discovered.  Children can teach us so much about creativity…just watch them when they paint a picture.  They become completely absorbed in the drawing and put their complete attention, concentration, and love into that one picture.  They don’t worry about what others think…they give it their all.

Creativity takes many forms.  A four-year-old boy I know can take a watch apart and put it back together almost exactly the way it was.  When his father discovered this curiosity, he recognized his son’s mechanical ability.  He buys old watches and clocks at garage sales;  the little boy loves them better than toys.

With art children learn to solve problems.  When your child is angry, frustrated, or scared, drawing a picture and telling a story can help him work it through.  Always encourage creativity, for you never know where it might lead.  A top Seattle department store carries jewelry designed with the drawings of a twelve-year-old girl.  One mother used her son’s pictures to make greeting cards; he now works on movies.  A father designed his business cards using a logo that his daughter had scribbled on paper.  It gave her quit a boost…today she is a graphic designer.

When a child explores her creativity she discovers her potential.  When her potential is recognized and acknowledged, her future is secured.  Frame their art and suddenly it looks suitable for any gallery.  Hang it on the walls and they are ready to fly.

Symbols of action hero favorites decorate shirts and pajamas, wallpaper and sheets. Heroes are huge with kids…both small and of the grown-up variety. A “hero” is anyone worthy of being respected and honored for his or her courage, noble exploits or outstanding qualities. On a TV screen or through a child at play cartoon characters and fictional action-figure heroes routinely exhibit great courage. But the contrived and scripted stages on which they act are so artificial their actions are usually of little value in guiding the real world behavior of kids. Children, though, don’t always draw this distinction clearly. So, it is a wise parent who builds “thought bridges” across which these heroic actions of fantasy champions can be translated into real life principles and acts a child can imitate on the stages of their own family, school, community and social relationships.

Use questions like these to help you and your children notice and value everyday heroes and heroics:

After you have watched a hero perform in a game, a movie, on a TV show, or in a newspaper or news report, ask:

• What do you think he/she was thinking at that moment?
• What is the lesson to be learned from what happened?
• What would prevent me from doing the same thing?

When a friend, neighbor or family member does something “heroic” (selfless, of true value and worthy of emulation), ask:

• How can I/we best applaud and truly appreciate what this person has done? (Imitation is the highest form of flattery.)
• Is jealousy or rivalry coloring the value of this act?

When your “hero” fails to perform, ask:

• Should this failure or mistake change my “hero’s” status?
• Did my hero have the character to express regret/apologize?