Kids + Summer = Fun
This is a fun story for kids. It's not filled with jokes and silly pictures -- its subject is fun: where to find it and how to have it. As schools were letting out in June, Weekend and KidsPost asked our young readers to tell us what they were doing this vacation for summer recreation. Today we share some of the correspondents' comments.
A lot of young letter writers described beach vacations, mostly on the Eastern Shore but also at leisure retreats from Fair Haven Beach on Lake Ontario to Kiawah Island, S.C. Favorite activities were swimming, taking a nap on the beach, crabbing, canoeing, building sand castles, going to lighthouses and small museums, shopping on the boardwalk, flying kites, playing volleyball and riding boogie boards.
  John Taylor (aka The Kinderman) gets young summer campers moving at Washington Hebrew Congregation. For some summer fun, he suggests children follow his example: Put on a show. (Mark Finkenstaedt Ftwp - Mark Finkenstaedt) |
Another summer activity favored by many children was traveling to see relatives (especially cousins, grandparents and relatives' pets!).
And we didn't stop with our young readers' feedback. We asked Weekend's critics, who are knowledgeable about music, movies, art and food, for hot kid tips. Then we contacted some local people in the know: a fun-loving school principal, children's entertainers, an art teacher, cooking teacher, even D.C. United soccer player Freddy Adu, who himself was a kid not long ago.
Here are the best suggestions, all in the Washington region and based on personal experience and preference. Use this feature for the next two months. Live it up. The start of the new school year always creeps onto the calendar too soon.
John Taylor
The Kinderman, Columbia
This 70-year-old children's entertainer, who sings, tells stories, dances and uses puppets, suggests that children do what he does: Put on a show. He's booked every day this summer, including a 10-stop tour of D.C. public libraries. Children can entertain in their own back yard by gathering a group of friends, rehearsing a story such as "The Three Little Bears" and performing it for adults, Taylor says.
If it's hot, have a "rain party" outside, he says, using a garden hose.
If they want to go somewhere, kids accompanied by an adult can ride a public bus to the end of a route and back. The suburban bus routes of Columbia are ideal for such an adventure.
No one has ever convinced the Kinderman that children need money to have fun.
JOHN "KINDERMAN" TAYLOR 410-730-7419. http:/
Valaida Wise
Principal, Henson Valley Montessori School, Temple Hills
