Would you like to shop on our site for free this summer? Here’s a great opportunity for you! Participate in our 50 Days of Summer and you’ll have a chance to win a gift certificate.

WonderBrains is hosting a contest in conjunction with our “50 Days Of Summer Fun” extravaganza on our weblog! One lucky winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to the WonderBrains store, to be awarded in August at the end of our “50 Days” journey. That’s $50 to use on gifts, back-to-school items, anything you want at the WonderBrains store! So, how can you enter?

• You must have a blog to enter. Don’t have a blog? Well, now is the time to get one!
• Copy the code below to add our “50 Days” button to your blog. Your button may be in your header or sidebar of your blog, but it must be there and must stay up for the duration of the contest.
• Write a post, advertising this awesome giveaway we’re having, and link back to this post. The more, the merrier!
• Leave a comment on this post, letting us know you’re done. And that’s it!

Winner will be announced August 15th here on our weblog. Check back each week for ideas and activities to keep you and your kids having fun this summer, and be sure to share your own ideas with us here as well!

Happy Summer!

Here’s the code. Just copy everything inside this box and paste it into the appropriate location on your weblog:

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Welcome to our Independence Day edition!  Fourth of July in the States will be celebrated this week, so we’re finding things around the house to get ready for it!  Join us!

MONDAY:  Time to decorate!  My kids are placing small flags along our driveway today, and we’ll have a few extra to share with our neighbors.  We are also making streamer holders for later in the week (see Friday).  We are covering empty paper towel rolls with construction paper, and we are taping several lengths of red, white and blue streamers to the inside of one end of the roll…viola!  A streamer holder!  My kids can decorate the rolls however they see fit.  We’re reusing our paper towel rolls, making something for an activity later on in the week, and spending some qualtiy time together – what could be better?

TUESDAY: We’re cooking today, getting ready for Friday’s celebration!  I’m putting my kids in charge of dessert, partly because they love to be in the kitchen with me and partly because I’ll be less likely to eat it all while I’m working on it with them around.  I’m doing something simple this year, simply for time’s sake.  I’m taking the pre-made roll of sugar cookie dough from the refrigerated section of my grocery store and rolling it out.  We’re cutting stars from our dough this year (I have about three different sized star cookie cutters).  Once we get the cookies baked and cooled, the kids are going to decorate them.  I am using premade frosting, although making your own would be nice (no time this year for me!), and we’re simply using sprinkles on those.  You can go all-out by using decorator bags and tips, different cutters, or even take it a bit further…why not teach your child how to make Great-Aunt Sally’s secret apple pie this year?  Or, how about making some cupcakes and decorating those?

WEDNESDAY: Strike up the band!  Yeah, yeah, I know I am asking for trouble, but what kid doesn’t like to make a bit of noise?  We’re making our own musical instruments today, from a shoe box guitar (rubber bands across an open shoe box), tin can drums and a plastic bottle pipe.  My older son loves to fill plastic bottles with varying amounts of water to get the different tones and then create his own melody.  Its fun, and it keeps him busy for a long, long time!

THURSDAY:  I scream, you scream – yes, its time for ICE CREAM!  We’re gearing up for the weekend by making our own ice cream sundaes today, complete with whipping cream, cherries, sprinkles and syrups.  Everyone gets to make his or her own.  Extra points to those that can create an object out of their sundae! 

FRIDAY:  Everyone loves a parade!  Find out if your community will host a parade today and be sure to join in!  If there isn’t a local parade, why not make your own?  Decorate wagons, bikes, scooters and trikes with balloons, streamers, flags and ribbons.  Invite the neighborhood kids to join in and have your own parade!  Be sure to use your streamer holders and wave them proudly!

Goodness knows that my older son is a schedule-kid.  He thrives on routine and repetitiveness.  He also has a tough time handling transitions or change, typically when he isn’t prepared for them.  Here are some tips we use to make transitions easier.

1. Time is on your side – I always prepare my son for a change by letting him know it is coming in a matter of time.  For instance, I may tell him that we are leaving the house in four minutes to go to school, and he knows that he needs to be getting ready.  I sometimes have to give him a countdown (three minutes, two minutes, etc), especially if he is really involved in something else.  However, he has enough sense of time to understand the concept.
2. Routines really work – by keeping our routine each morning and evening relatively the same, we eliminate many of the factors that could lead to a breakdown.  My son knows the “order” of the morning: breakfast, get dressed, brush teeth, comb hair, etc.  Even during the summer, we try to stick with the routine to simply make our day start out on a good note.
3. Put some fun in the task at hand – with my younger son, we hold lots of “races” – races to brush our teeth, races to pick up the trains, races to get dressed.  He loves to do anything that resembles a game, so making it something simple yet fun is so much better than simply putting the toys away.
4. No room for backtalk – arguing about a transition or a task is simply not allowed in our house, and that goes for adults as well as children.  When the arguing begins, I simply state, “You have two choices: do what I asked you to do or sit in that chair for three minutes to get ready to do what I asked you to do.  Which would you like to do?”  My child still has a choice, but in the end, he will complete the task!

I have several friends who will tell me over and over that their child simply does not respond to time-outs.  I always ask about their time-out when they tell me this, and more often than not, I find that the concept of “time-out” is simply misunderstood and not used effectively.  Follow these steps in order to provide a positive learning experience for your child through time-outs.

• Make sure the spot for Time Out is the same spot each time.  If that is not possible, at least be sure that it is removed from activity and other people.
• A good rule of thumb is to allow one minute in time out for each year of your child’s life.  For my three year-old, that’s three minutes, but for my eight year-old, who rarely gets a time-out, that would be eight minutes.
• Use an egg timer or a digital timer.  That way, the child can see how much time remains.  As a mom, I’m totally unreliable to keep track of the time myself without the aid of a timer.  I have too many other things going on!  Using a “third party” timer is a great way to make it a neutral issue.  If the child chooses to leave time-out before the timer goes off, simply put them back in time-out and reset the timer.  If leaving time-out becomes an issue, put them back in time-out and sit with them until it is over.  Do not interact with them, though.  Simply be a presence.
• Sometimes children will test the limits and refuse to go to time-out.  Give your child a choice: sit in time out on his or her own or have time added to their time-out.  Give them about 30 seconds to think it out and make a choice.  If they still refuse, guide them into time-out and stand by the commitment to add time to their tenure there.
• Time-out will not eliminate tantrums.  Many children will throw a tantrum in time-out.  It is a way to get attention, albeit in a negative way.  Do not give in to the drama.  Simply ignore it and it will pass.  Threatening them to stop or lecturing them on their behavior is what they want (negative attention), so do not reward their behavior in such a way. 
• The main goal of time-out is to give children a chance to regain control of themselves.  If they are not in control of their emotions at the end of their time-out, simply tell them that the timer has gone off and once they calm down, they may come out of time-out, but not before then.
• Always talk about the event that put them in time-out AFTER they are finished with serving their time.  It is important for children to understand why they were put there and how to avoid going back in the future.

Here’s to another week of fun stuff for you and your family!  We hope this week’s slate of activities inspire your own creativity and ideas…enjoy!

MONDAY: It is blazing hot here in the South (and pretty much everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere), so let’s make some homemade popsicles!  Use paper cups for the popsicle part, and fill them about 2/3 full with your favorite juice – orange juice works really well, and kids even get into simply freezing water as well.  Cover each cup with foil, and stick a popsicle stick in it (if you don’t have popsicle sticks, you can use plastic spoons, but slip them through the foil from the bottom first before putting them in the cup!).  Set them in the freezer for a few hours to harden, then peel off the paper cups for a yummy summer snack!  Want something a bit different?  Mix up some Jell-0 and freeze it for popsicles!  You can add chopped fruit as well for a bit of nutrition!

TUESDAY: It’s Bubble Day!  We’re going out on the back patio to blow some bubbles.  And, we’re making our own solution!  Here’s my favorite bubble recipe:  3 parts Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent, 2 parts corn syrup (yes, corn syrup!), 16 parts water.  Using this recipe, you can make enough for a small container or plenty to fill a small plastic wading pool!  And yes, I’ve done that!  The key is to make this solution ahead of time and let it sit overnight for the best bubbles.  Find all sorts of objects for your bubble-blowing.  Our favorites include strainers, coat hangers (plastic work best), funnels, and even a small, plastic harmonica!  When we filled the wading pool with solution, we used a hula hoop to create MASSIVE bubbles.  You can even place a child in the middle and pull the hula hoop over them to create a kid in a bubble!  Older kids LOVE this, too!

WEDNESDAY:  Don’t forget to visit your local library today!  We’re going to take our favorite book today and make a movie of it.  My kids LOVE using my digital camera to make movies.  Or, simply film your child reading or retelling their favorite.  Once they get the chance to watch themselves, they’ll want to do it again and again!  Can they tell the story in a funny voice?  Want to dress up in costume?  Invite some friends to help out as well.

THURSDAY: Time to do some exploring outdoors!  Today, we’re going on a nature hunt in our own yard.  We’re finding interesting leaves and other objects that are good for making rubbings.  I’m also including coins and a couple of shape cut-outs I have from my scrapbooking stuff.  Then, we’re going to make rubbings of our objects.  Simply place the objects flat on a table, place a piece of paper over it, then rub the side of a crayon across the paper to create a rubbing of the objects!  Experiment with different sides of leaves to find out which “side” makes the best rubbing!

FRIDAY: We’re going to the zoo today!  My kids love the zoo, even in the heat.  No zoo close to your house?  Why not visit a pet store instead?  Or, call your local animal shelter or humane society and find out if they have a special visitation time.  Get out and visit our furry (and scaly) friends!