Encourage Your Child to Volunteer This Summer

Now that school is out, parents will likely find themselves asking Now what?

You might travel as a family, or sign your child up for a summer camp, but you will want to consider how to make summer educational and meaningful as well as fun for your child.

As far as enriching summer options, the choices are endless. If you really want to bring meaning and growth to your child’s summer, encourage your child to volunteer.

Giving Back to the Community

Volunteering is all about giving your time and talents. For kids, the act of giving is vital for developing strong character qualities, including the ability to recognize and empathize with the needs of others and to give freely and without expecting anything in return. By developing these qualities, kids actually experience more personal success and do better in school – as well as build greater confidence and stronger friendships.

Growing as a Person

While some students may find comfort in the stable predictability of the school day, others may experience the burnout that comes from too much repetition. A summer volunteering experience is a perfect way for your children to break the routine and explore something out of the ordinary. Some students simply don’t learn best while confined indoors for long stretches. Volunteering will give students the opportunity to learn and explore while standing up, moving around and interacting more freely than is often the case at school.

In addition to getting out and about, students will grow from interacting with people from different generations, socio-economic backgrounds, and general life circumstances. They are likely to cross paths with people they otherwise wouldn’t have met if it hadn’t been for volunteering. They might learn about what life was like a long time ago from an elderly person they are helping, or perhaps, about customs and culture in another part of a world from an immigrant in the community.

Learn New Skills or Perfect Existing Ones

Although volunteering is about giving, you often receive more than you give in the end. This receiving may come in the form of new friendships, new-found inner strength, and in learning new skills. Some such skills will be tangible like learning or improving a musical talent, while others will be a little more abstract, like a stronger sense of self, better communication skills, and the ability to work better in a group setting order to achieve a common goal.


Help your kids get the most out of their summer break by giving back. Volunteering is the perfect way to grow, learn, and - yes - have fun. Not only that, but they’ll get plenty of practice for their school fundraisers!

Family Fun on the Fourth

Along with celebrating our nation’s independence, the Fourth of July is a great time to bring the community together to create fun memories with friends and family. Among the fireworks and parades, the fourth is full of excitement- especially for the kids. Activities such as creating fun crafts, making festive treats and playing outdoor games are always popular among children.

Creating crafts is always a hit with kids, no matter the age. For the younger children, try something as easy and fun as creating a Fourth of July wand, a red, white & blue wreath or simply having them decorate individual napkin holders for your Fourth of July get together. For the middle-aged children in the family, try crafts such as creating a Fourth-inspired word find or patriotic firecracker favors. These crafts are guaranteed to get your kids excited about the festive holiday.

Although kids love crafts, they also love sweets! Making fun holiday treats is always a great way to get the kids ready for the Fourth. Putting together something as simple as red, white & blue cupcakes or attempting more of a challenge with festive sugar cookie bars will light the little ones up like fireworks. Along with being fun and tasty, making treats with the kids is a great way to gain valuable family bonding time over the holiday weekend.

Playing outdoor activities is always a great way to get your kids excited about the Fourth of July.  When it comes to outdoor activities the opportunities are endless. Some hits among children are the bean bag toss, polish golf, and of course potato sack races. These games are great for getting your kids involved with the other children in the community as well as making memories for years to come.

The Fourth of July is a great summer holiday that the family will be sure to enjoy. Whether you choose to create a craft, make treats, play outdoor games or all of the above, your kids will enjoy the fourth in ways they never did before! Check out our Facebook page for even more ideas for family fun on the Fourth.

How to Keep Your Kids Entertained and Happy on Road Trips

Summertime is the perfect time for a family vacation. You can show your kids natural wonders or enlighten them with cultural and historic points of interest. However, whether you are traveling to the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, Yellowstone, or your family cabin up north, your memories can depend on how fun or how big of a headache the journey was. Below are some tips to keep your kids entertained and happy on road trips.

Help Them Visualize
Provide your kids with a map of your trip, pit stops included. It will help dampen the incessant “Are we there yet?” questions if your child can visualize where they are and where they are headed. Plus, being able to read a map is a useful life tip that they can learn. In addition to providing a map, give your child a briefing of the itinerary, such as how long the trip will be and how much time there will be between stops.

Set Expectations and Reward Good Behavior
Kids are never too young to learn a lesson. In addition to practicing patience, setting expectations on how to behave on a long trip can help your child practice good behavior especially if they are awarded. No complaining from “point A” to “point B” can be rewarded with an ice cream cone or control over the radio. Being helpful with siblings could be rewarded with getting first pick on which sight to see or pool time at the hotel. Remember that a little incentive never hurts.

Eat Well, Take Rests
For everyone’s sanity, make sure to make somewhat frequent pit stops. While trying to reach a destination as quickly as possible may be tempting, getting out of a stale car to stretch your legs will go a long way in maintaining a positive outlook for you and your kids. Think about eating healthy and non-messy foods—not just McDonald’s or gas station goods—to stay refreshed. Pack your own small snacks, maybe even meals, to satisfy your appetite and prevent overtiredness and crankiness. Nuts and dried fruit are portable snacks that provided a great pack of nutrients and energy. Also, remember the importance of water and staying hydrated. Stick with healthy habits on your trip because healthy kids are happy kids.

Be Prepared
Parents probably can’t stress this enough: be prepared for every situation. Prepare yourself for bored kids, tired kids, temper-tantrum-throwing kids, and sick kids. Have enough healthy snacks and a variety of medicine and vitamins in case you find a drugstore unavailable. Have each child bring a favorite toy, book, or blanket for some comfort away from home. This will go a long in helping everyone have the best time they possible can.

No, Really. Be Prepared
Pack activity kits for each child. App games and DVD players can be nice to distract your kids, but have a small variety of toys, paper activities, crafts, books, and games so your child can flex their creative minds. You can give them a new activity after every stop so they have something new to look forward to as well.

Simple tips and habits will help you and your kids have an excellent time on your family travels and will help to ensure exciting and hopefully, fantastic memories.