Let the Games Begin

August . . . the hot . . . sticky . . . dog days of summer. Time for your kids to pick your brain like a seagull picks a beach at low tide, searching for answers to the question, "Mom . . . what can we do?" Here are a few ideas, ready for recycling:

• Blow bubbles


• Play ‘Dress Up’


• Catch bugs in a jar and then let them go


• Play ‘Tag,’ ‘Backyard Baseball’ or ‘Dodge Ball’


• Make a lemonade stand


• Collect pretty rocks


• Make paper chains


• Play ‘Garbage Can Basketball,’ ‘H-O-R-S-E,’ and ‘21’


• Find a four-leaf clover in the grass


• Play ‘Kick the Can’ or ‘Hide and Seek’


• Play jump rope or marbles


• Run through the sprinklers


• Play ‘Leap Frog’


• Draw pictures with sidewalk chalk and play ‘Hopscotch’


• Play ‘Follow the Leader’


• Paint the house with water


• Play ‘Duck, Duck, Goose’ or ‘Rock, Paper, Scissors’


• Make mud pies


• Have a tea party


• Play ‘Mother May I’ or ‘Simon Says’


• Play ‘One Potato, Two Potato’

And, my personal favorite, load the kids into the car and make a

• Trip to the air-conditioned library.