play Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero; she encourages kids to play these and other games on consoles like Xbox, PlayStation and Wii. Games that engage the body, while demanding mental concentration, not only help kids learn new skills, they may also improve their ability to be able to focus when they need to sit still for lessons later, she says. “[Games that entail] cross-lateral
3
movement, which means doing some- thing crossover, like jumping rope or playing ball, are good, too, because they’re using one side of the body that engages the other side of the brain, so both body and mind are moving,” explains Wright. “It helps kids compre- hend, and then settle down and learn.” More traditional games provide another type of learning experience, especially when kids make up rules they invent and agree upon as they go along.
4 Cooking
Preparing meals is another forum for engaging kids’ minds
during the summer. To enjoy the fruits of their culinary labors, youngsters must first master reading, measuring and following directions—lessons that are much easier to swallow when they are followed by a tasty dish they’ve made themselves, notes Wright. It may take patience on the part of parents, who see cooking as another household chore to complete as quickly as possible, but taking the time to teach kids cooking skills makes us slow down and realize there’s joy to be found in the kitchen when we have someone to share the work. Parry’s daughter Grace loves to
help in the kitchen, and children gen- erally enjoy the tangible sense of ac- complishment when they put a meal they’ve helped create on the table. “She’s old enough now where she can measure and scoop,” Parry says. “It’s fun for both of us.”
create to his heart’s content. The art 5 PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT June 2011 35 Art
Gould set up a place at home where Jackson can go and
Games During Wright’s summer school program, kids come in early to
room has just about anything a child needs to create his own works of art, she says. Jackson also recently learned to embroider; quite an ac- complishment, given the complete focus such an art demands. Susan Aust’s tween, Tucker, is
into art of a different kind, having developed a love of all things theat- rical and voraciously reading books
about famous actors and actresses, she says. The Austs started a weekly home family film festival, where they all watch a movie together and af- terwards, “We talk about the actors’ lives and work.”
Janet Forgrieve is a regular contribu- tor to
GaiamLife.com, from which this article was adapted.
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