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For teenagers, summer means being kids again

By KATHERINE SNOW SMITH
Published June 25, 2006

A friend of mine with two teenage daughters makes it a tradition every summer to check out a tall stack of good picture books, the ones with wonderful pictures and a few sentences on each page.

Many are favorites her girls have known since childhood, but she also finds new ones with great colors or a neat story.

Her daughters read chapter books as well in the summer, but they like rolling out of bed and looking at a few picture books while they eat breakfast or watch TV. Summer is their time to be a kid again or at least reminisce about being a kid.

Here are some more ideas for things to do with your kids this summer that cost little or no money.

Hug a pup: Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, just over the Sunshine Skyway bridge, is a facility for training guide dogs. Children and adults are invited for "puppy hugging" sessions Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. Children can also accompany an adult for walking older dogs on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Hours are subject to change depending on the heat so call ahead to 1-800-944-3647.

Cardboard craft: Stop by a liquor store and get a stack of free boxes with the dividers in them. Children love using them to make doll houses, horse stables or a garage for all those little cars. They can also decorate them and use them as a display box for shells, rocks or anything that comes to mind. When the boxes lose their intrigue and start to clutter up your house, just throw them away.

Baking: With a little help from mom or dad, kids can make muffins with fresh fruit, cookies or cake from a mix or scratch. Package your goods in plastic bags and set up a booth out front to sell them or just go hand some out to the neighbors.

Cleanup: Make an outing to your neighborhood park or the beach a little more interesting. Have each child take a trash bag, then scour the ground for litter .

Play cards: Declare one day, or even just one hour, as time for building card houses. Teach your kids how to slant cards against each other to build houses or towers. If it's hard stacking them, have them construct a town of multiple one-story homes and buildings. Remember, cards slide less on carpet and bending them a little can help, too.

After they're done building, teach them how to play War, Go Fish, Solitaire, Gin, Hearts or any game that suits their age. Stop by the "dollar store" or a drugstore for a few extra packs of cards. Buy some dominoes, too, and teach your kids to play the game and make rows of dominos to knock down.

CHEAP THRILLS: The "dollar store" is also a great place to pick up water guns, Hula Hoops, jump ropes, sidewalk chalk and bubbles with blowers of all sizes. Spend $5 and you have a bag full of stuff that will offer easy fun for your kids and get them outside and moving.

BOOK CLUB: Kids who like to read can stage an impromptu book club with their friends. Have them decide on one book by voting or drawing titles out of a hat, then they can each check a copy out of the library. Keep it somewhat short so they will all finish it within a couple of weeks or so. Let them meet at someone's house to talk about what they liked and didn't like, favorite and least favorite characters and other possible endings.

Build a fort: Pull out some sheets one day and a pack of rubber bands and your kids can build tents around the house. Drape the corners of the sheets over doorknobs, or the posts that stick up on the backs of chairs and secure them with a rubber band. Or simply tie them around the chairs or to a table leg or window lock.

You're not aiming for sleek architectural lines here. Once they've built their tents, they can furnish them with pillows and blankets, toys and books. You could try a snack or full-fledged picnic inside as well.

Creature hunt: Go out to North Beach at Fort De Soto Park armed with nets and buckets. Before - or instead of - hitting the beach, wade through the knee-deep water at the end of the island and back through the creeks under the mangrove trees to look for live creatures.

Spot them or just catch and release. In one outing you might spy tiny sea horses, blue crabs, jellyfish eggs, puffer fish, sand dollars, tree crabs and much more. There are also plenty of birds to watch as well.

The faithful standby: The library, of course, is a wonderful, and cool (as in not hot) place to take children in the summer to find books. But libraries also have a lot of free activities and events for children in the summers.

The main library at 3745 Ninth Ave. N in St. Petersburg shows free movies every Tuesday. Children's shows begin at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and include titles such as Sky High, Madagascar, Chicken Little and March of the Penguins.

Teen movies will air at 6:30 p.m. and include Corpse Bride, Herbie Fully Loaded, The Skeleton Key and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Visit www.splibraries.org for a complete schedule.

Special summer events also are being held at many libraries.

A live reptile show will tour the libraries June 26-30. Ronald McDonald will make appearances July 17-20. And there will be magic shows July 24-28.

There are also book discussion groups for kids, craft sessions, magic classes, and story times in the mornings and evenings.

Call your local library to find out what's going on near you.

See fish free: The Pier aquarium at 800 Second Ave. NE is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. The charge for adults and children over 12 is $2. Kids under 12 are free. But on Sundays, everyone is free. There are no sharks or dolphins, but the aquarium has several tanks with small creatures such as clown fish, sea cucumbers and jellyfish.

More free movies: The Largo Mall 8 theater, 10500 Ulmerton Road, shows two free movies, one rated G and one rated PG, at 10 a.m. every Tuesday and Wednesday. This week features Babe on Tuesday and Robots on Wednesday. Call 581-7389 to confirm times and schedules. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.

[Last modified June 25, 2006, 03:02:43]