It’s too hot to send the kids outside these days. What a good time to make memories inside-together. Here are some ideas from Going It Alone by Michele Howe. This book can be purchased in our Online store [www.smoreforwomen.org ] or wherever books are sold.

• Have a chess or checkers marathon.
• Gather all the loose family photos and place them in photo albums. Decorate the albums with silly stickers and funny captions under individual photos.
• Place charade ideas inside balloons, then inflate the balloons.  Each person selects a balloon, pops it, and then acts of the charade for the rest of the family.
• Read bedtime stories by flashlight under the covers.
• Sponsor a family film fest.  Rent or borrow several movies.  Set up a kitchen concession stand complete with beverages, popcorn, and candy.
• Give each other facials using commercial mud masks.  Do manicures and pedicures using glittery nail polish.
• Make an indoor tent city.  Use tables, chairs, furniture, and sheets for covering.
• Sponsor a silly sports night.  Each person makes up the silliest game possible and teaches the rest of the family to play.
• Do face painting on the entire family (including mom).  Take pictures and send them to distant friends and family.
• String buttons on thread and make necklaces
• Design a family motto T-shirt using puff paints, glitter, buttons, and old broken jewelry.
• Take turns reading the funny papers aloud at dinner time.
• Have a jigsaw puzzle contest.  Distribute to teams or individuals puzzles having the same number of pieces, then race to see who completes their puzzle first. 
• Buy a goldfish.  Give it a sophisticated name.  Keep it in a glass jar on your kitchen counter
• Bring sleeping bags into the living room.  Turn off the lights and take turns telling stories until bedtime.
• Have a topsy-turvy day.  Do everything in backward order.  Brush teeth before eating.  Turn clothes inside out.  Eat dinner for breakfast. 
• Play Bingo.  Purchase prizes at a local dollar store.
• Just for fun, set back all the clocks in your house two hours.  Give the kids the extra time to play before bedtime.
• Rearrange bedroom furniture.  Add posters or simply change decorations around to create a new look.
• Teach your children how to short-sheet a bed.
• Have a musical smorgasbord.  For the entire day, put on a different type of music every hour. 

Enjoy your summer. It-like childhood- will be over before you know what happened.