Summer Activities
Despite the beautiful weather outdoors it can be easy to stick with your usual indoor screen routine. With a little planning you can fill your summer with fun and active activities for the whole family.

• "What do we do in the summertime jar": Fill a jar with fifty activity ideas (ideas included but you may want to adjust for your family). Pick an idea from the jar each night and do it the following day.
  • A similar idea but color coded by activity length. Yellow is an all day activity, blue is a half day activity, and orange is less than a 2 hour activity. Tell the kids what color slip they can choose based on your other plans for the day.
    
• Bucket list: Sit down with your kids and make a summer bucket list.
• Summer Passport: Create a passport filled with things you want to do this summer. Put a stamp or sticker on each page after you have done it.
  
  More Summer Fun Ideas
  • Twenty Fun Summer Activities
  • Feeling ambitious? Check out Martha Stewart's summer activity ideas
  • Forty free or nearly free ideas for summer
  

Screen-Free Week
Whether consuming “good” or “bad” programming media dominates the lives of too many children leaving little time for other activities that are an integral part of childhood. Are you up for the challenge of turning off screen media April 29-May 5?

Make Screen-Fee Week successful in your home by following these tips

• Define screen-free for your family. Does it include email and text messaging? Are you still going to video chat with family members in another state or country? Can the computer be used for homework and work?
• Have activities and outings planned so you are ready on April 29. Give everyone responsibilities and an equal vote.
• You’ll be more successful if extended family members and friends are involved. Get together at a park, play or­ganized games, or just hang out.
• Discuss your successes and failures. Decide how you can cut down on screen-time all year long and what you can do to Screen-Free Week even better next year.