Play Is the Thing

School's been out for a few weeks. You might have been to the pool a dozen times. How many fights have you had with your brother, sister or best friend? How many times have you beaten "the boss" on your new video game? How long is it until you go to the beach for a week in August? Have you uttered the most dreaded words of summer -- "Mom, I'm SOOOO bored" -- yet?

Well, there's no reason to be bored, because there are two great books out that offer tons of ideas for fun -- and easy -- things to do this summer. "Camp Out!" by Lynn Brunnelle lists fun activities you can do "from the back yard to the back woods." The only thing not to like about the other book, "The Dangerous Book for Boys," is the title, because there are plenty of "dangerous" things for girls to do, too, in this book by Conn and Hal Iggulden. KidsPost's Tracy Grant has gone through these books and pulled out some ideas, but this is just a starting point. There's no reason to be bored -- there's a whole wide world to be explored.

Do some or all of the things on our list and then come up with your own ideas, and you won't be complaining about boredom this summer.

· Make your own bow and arrow. (Tree branches, a flat rock, some twine.)

· Make s'mores. (Chocolate, graham crackers, marshmallows -- yum!)

· Count stars in the sky.

· Practice tying different kinds of knots (but don't use them to tie your little brother to a tree).