Make play day even more special

Summer fun can be as simple as finding humor and adventure in everyday routines. Here are two family favorites:

Indoor Play

Wake up and play “All Mixed Up.”

Arrive at breakfast with slippers on the wrong feet and bathrobes or pajamas worn inside out. At the table, set spoons in bowls first, followed by banana slices, milk and a heaping serving of cereal last. If right-handed, eat with your left hand, or vice-versa.

For the news of the day, read headlines aloud from the newspaper but mix up the content of familiar locations, names and teams. For example, on the sports page read, “New York Yankees scored 6 touchdowns to beat the Seattle Angels 6-3.”

See who can first identify the errors of touchdowns instead of runs and Angels instead of Mariners!

As brains get in gear, read a front-page story as, “Yesterday in Washington, B.C., the four senators from Tennessee voted for the bill.” Or, “Environmentalists call for a ban on whale hunting at Lake Tahoe.”

For your preschooler, turn to the entertainment section. Mix up a favorite TV show and make nonsense words. Say “Dora the Dynamo” instead of “Dora the Explorer,” or “Mr. Roger’s Space Adventure” for “Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.” Whatever you dream up, have fun creating and identifying the errors!

Outside Play

Pack picnic lunches and take a walk with your younger kids and their friends to a neighborhood park. When you arrive, sit under a tree and have them all cover their eyes with their hands or a scarf. Try to identify all the sounds and smells around you.

After you eat your lunch, get in touch with your surroundings. Ask each person to secretly find and conceal in his or her lunch bag an object such as a dandelion, flower, twig, rock or even a leftover piece of crust from his or her sandwich! Sit in a circle and pass each bag around one at a time.

Each person should put his or her hand in the bag, feel the object and then pass the bag to the next person without saying anything. When the bag has gone all around, say the guesses aloud and reveal the object. Practice descriptive words by encouraging one another to say how the pinecone or banana peels felt.