I have a lot to be excited about right now. A – It’s summer vacation! Today is our last day of school and I look forward to spending time unhurried and unplanned. B – I found a great character building activity book that I love and the kids love, so we’re going to add those activities into our days when we’re hanging out at home with nothing to do. C – I’ve got a giveaway going on for some of the fun activity books I sell as an Usborne Books & More Independent Consultant. I wanted to be sure to tell you about the giveaway with plenty of time to enter. If you win, you’ll get 3 activity books – Optical Illusions Activity Book, What Shall I Draw?, Awesome Doodle Pad – and a set of Brain Games wipe-clean reusable flash cards. The books are super fun and perfect for introducing to the kids when they start complaining that they have nothing to do. To enter the giveaway visit Dandelion Moms here.

Yes, I am excited about not having to plan for lessons every day, but we are a learning house and we will continue to add educational elements to our days. One thing we will be doing is continuing with our character building activity book. Daily Character Education Activities (affiliate link) has 180 lessons that focus on citizenship, compassion, fairness, honesty, respect, responsibility, self-discipline, integrity, trustworthiness, and perseverance. This week we talked about how being a good citizen means respecting all creatures – including animals. We talked about how we can help the animals around us, and how we can respect their space. We are also learning a song that is included in the book about character and the kids really enjoy learning the new verses every week.

The book gives several ideas for making bird feeders including pretzel hangers, pine cone feeders, and apple treats, but we decided to try the cereal feeder. We took a long piece of yarn and strung it with Cheerios and hung it on our tree that is frequented by bird friends in the morning hours. This activity was great for both of my kids. My first grader still enjoys activities of this nature and it’s a good fine motor skill workout for both of them (ages 7 and 3). We didn’t spot any birds feeding from our cereal but both strings were empty the following day – I’m guessing from the opossum or rats that hide quietly in the tree. Either way, the kids were excited to see that their feeders had fed something.

Happy summer! How do you plan to pass the time?