News You Can Use
Finding responses to 'Mommy, I'm bored!'
University Relations
News Bureau (662) 325-3442
Contact: Kenneth Billings
June 19, 2009
Finding enriching ways to compete with video games, television and computers are among the great challenges parents of younger children face as school ends.
Nancy Verhoek-Miller at Mississippi State University suggests starting a family book club to engage children in interesting, imaginative and fun alternatives.
"Reading is a great way to spend the summer with your children while helping them learn and explore their imagination," says the professor of curriculum, instruction and special education. "You can discover a new story, rediscover a timeless folktale or create your own."
Starting a family book club is simple, she says. The most important components: being creative and employing everyone's imagination.
The steps include:
- Choosing a book that everyone in the family will read.
- Creating interactive activities, such as theatrical presentations or puppet shows, to help illustrate what is being read. Sets and puppets may be made cheaply by using available items found around the house.
- After reading a published story, encourage children to write one of their own to be shared with the family.
- Above all, keep the memories by making a "memory book" in which all participants record happy thoughts of their readings, discussions, writings, and art projects.