SPANISH FORT, Ala. — With school out, crickets chirping, warm summer breezes, and thoughts of summer time freedom, I have pulled some important resources together to share helpful tips and ideas in hope that your family will have a good old summer time! 

Going on vacation, fun field day trips, or even driving to the ice cream shop, pool, store, or library allows for some wonderful teaching time in the car with your child or children. 

What young child can resist a familiar favorite tune.  Cut off the radio and share singing time with your children. Everyone knows “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star”, “London Bridge”, “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Itsy-Bitsy Spider”.  Hum a familiar tune and let your children guess what you are humming. Also make up new songs by using new words to familiar tunes.  Be creative. Your child will love it! 

Open-ended stories are another big favorite with young children during the summer you are keeping up their language and reading skills. You can begin the story then have another person add to the story until everyone agrees on a suitable ending. 

In the classroom we call these experiences stories. You can tape record the stories or even write them down. What a nap or bedtime treat your child will enjoy in listening to their own stories.  Another good language art activity with young preschoolers is to identify the letters of the alphabet on road signs or car license plates. Point out a letter and ask your child what word begins like this. 

Another old time and all time favorite is counting the cars. For younger children it is better to assign colors of cars. This can be done with parent/child or divide up into teams if there are several children. 

As you travel to your destination simply count the cars that are a certain color. Keep a record of how many cars say are blue or red. The team that wins is the one that has the most cars at the end of the trip. You could vary this game by using different kinds of vehicles like trucks, buses, or different brands of cars. You can use this counting game for animals like cows, horses or sheep that you whiz many farms and ranches on country roads. 

Car charades is another favorite that passes the time away. Describe a person whether it be family, friend or famous person, and let your children guess what you have in mind. This can go for animals or objects too. 

One neat geography lesson that can include the whole family and be played in the car is simply looking at a map and discussing where you are going. Talk about the different symbols on the map. Include your child on following their destination. Your older children can be your navigator in letting you know what the next town is or how many more miles to go. 

Recorded books on tape or CDs, printed books, music tapes provide hours of learning and fun on a trip. Our local librarians are more than willing to help families to check these DVDs can keep your child entertained for hours.

I know that many of we families are going to be celebrating the summer by sticking close to home, due to the rising costs of gas. 

As I use to tell my son when he wanted to go far away somewhere and we just didn’t have the money, “Son, we live in vacation land on the Eastern Shore” and we do. 

Look in your local newspaper to see what is being offered in our community at different times.  Call our local churches to see when their Vacation Bible Schools are scheduled. Vacation Bible Schools have neat themes for the whole family. Some churches provide Vacation Bible School in the morning and some in the evening. 

Loving volunteers serve in these outreaches to the communities. When my son was young we used to attend them all, met new friends and had good old wholesome learning and fun.

Volunteers at the churches welcome parents bringing in snacks, serving a day or so as you send your children to Vacation Bible School each day.

Check with the library to see when story hours are and different activities they are offering during the summer months. 

One can travel the whole wide world over with books!

Plan little field trips that you and your child have not seen. My best little field trip one summer with my little crew of four children I was keeping at the time was to see how newspapers were printed at the Gulf Coast Newspapers main office in Robertsdale.

Everyone welcomed us and taught us so very much. It was FREE, too.

If you call and make appointments ahead of time you and your child can learn so very much about all the community services such as the fire department, police department and post office in our area. 

This provides lessons you can teach your child right up to the time they go on the field trip.  A summer full of learning and fun!

Beth Pinyerd serves as director of young children at Faith Family Fellowship in Spanish Fort, Ala.