It’s summertime, which means, in our part of the country, that kids have a few months off from school. But that doesn’t mean their brains have to rot.
Well, at least in my family it doesn’t.
Can I tell you how much I hate “the B word”? You know what I’m talking about… the one that starts with B and ends with D and implies that a child has nothing to do.
Here’s a passage from one of my favorite novels, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, by Maria Semple:
Bernadette and I were driving Bee and a friend, both preschoolers, to a birthday party. There was traffic. Grace said, “I’m bored.”
“Yeah,” Bee mimicked. “I’m bored.”
Bernadette pulled the car over, took off her seatbelt, and turned around. “That’s right,” she told the girls. “You’re bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.
Go Bernadette! Nailed it!
To prevent “the B word” from contaminating my house this summer, I just ordered several books and activities from Mindware.com, a site with “brainy toys for kids of all ages”. The stuff at Mindware encourages kids to think logically and problem solve, something that, unfortunately, they don’t always do even within the school year. (I could rant about standardized tests and regurgitation here, but I won’t. Or did I?)
I don’t want busy work; I’m looking for things to keep their minds sharp. At Mindware, I can find games and puzzles to challenge each of my kids, aged 8 to 15. We’ve used Mindware products for years, and here are some of our favorites:
-
Snap Circuits Snap Circuits – kids build electric circuits with child friendly parts. Teaches physics basics. Can be noisy-watch out for the alarm project!
- Zoob Building Sets– an alternative to the ever-present Lego blocks. Zoob pieces fit together as ball and socket joints, which encourages a different approach to building.
- Make Your Own Mask Kit– comes with mask forms and art supplies to create 10 masks. Promotes creativity, imagination, and drama. My daughter loved this during her “mustache phase”.
- Wind Power Kit- Two of my boys used this kit to build their own wind turbine and learn about wind power. One turbine entered the science fair!
- Tin Can Robot Kit – Turn an old soda can into a robot!
- Q-Bitz – a game that works on pattern recognition and memory.
- Puzzle books, leveled for various abilities. Myfavs:
- Analogy Challenges
- Word Roots
- Perplexors
- Venn Diagram Perplexors
- Multiplication Mosaics
- Addition Adventures
Coin Clues: Making Change – because my kids shouldn’t need a calculator or cash register to do basic arithmetic
Do any of these sound fun to you? Hope so!
The weather forecast for our vacation looks a bit damp. Better pack up some puzzles and workbooks.
Word Nerd Note: Mindware didn’t pay me to write this post. I genuinely enjoy their products and wanted to share a nerdy tip. You can find a lot of these items at Amazon or other sites at cheaper prices, but I like using the catalog and the site to get ideas.
Where do you go to find books and activities to stimulate your brain and the brains of those you love?
Thanks for sharing!
Julia
I’m going to check some of these out…my older kid has plenty to do with summer reading and college applications, but my younger one needs some prodding! I used to love to do logic puzzles when I was a kid; I could do them for hours!
These sound fabulous~ thanks for the tip! And yes, I despise the B word as well. My mom used to say, “If you’re bored, you’re boring.”