10 At-Home Vacation Ideas

In most parts of the United States, summer nights are long and warm --perfect for trying out that great summer tradition storytelling. You don't need a campfire to plan a time when the whole family can be together outdoors in the evening. Decide how long each story should be. Should it be 10 minutes each? Five minutes each? Have each person in the family think of his or her own story idea. Give everyone time to think of their story and then take turns telling your stories. For inspiration read a book by one of the country's regional storytellers. Try The Day it Snowed Tortillas: Folktales told in Spanish and English by New Mexico storyteller Joe Hayes, The Jack Tales by North Carolina storyteller, Ray Hicks, or listen to a CD by Vermont storyteller Odds Bodkin.

To some people, summer vacation means sitting outdoors in the evening and looking at the stars. If you live in a place where you can sleep outdoors in the backyard, then pitch a tent in your backyard, look up at the stars, and tell stories late into the night. Even if you live in the city, you could visit a local planetarium, see the full moon, or see a few stars on a clear moonless night. And of course, you can get away from it all and take a trip to the stars with your family with the help of a good book about the planets and the stars. Try Find the Constellations by H. A Rey; Destination Space by Seymour Simon (about the discoveries of the Hubble Telescope); and the DK Space Encyclopedia by Nigel Henbest.

8. Read aloud tales from around the world.

Summer nights offer a great opportunity to read aloud together as a family. If you have younger children then you'll be doing most of the actual reading. If you have older children then everyone in the whole family can take turns. What better way to experience new places than to choose a selection of folktales from around the world? Read from your family's favorite folktale collection or try one of these suggestions: Maid of the North: Feminist Folk Tales from Around the World by Ethel J. Phelps and Lloyd Bloom; Nelson Mandela's Favorite African Folktales by Nelson Mandela; and One Grain of Rice: A Mathematical Folktale by Demi.

Leave your day-to-day routines behind by reading about time travel and then making a time capsule. Suggest your child read or listen to A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L Engel, Moon Window by Jane L. Curry, or another book about time travel. To make the time capsule, first, select the container for the capsule itself. Have your child pick the items to put in the capsule. Ideas include: a newspaper; drawings; a list of favorite music, movies, or books; and some photographs. Talk about whom the time capsule is for. (It could be for your child to open in ten years, for some unknown person in the distant future). Your child could write a letter to his or her future self or to someone else in the future to include in the capsule. Make a label for the outside of the capsule -- Not to be opened until 2014. When finished, put the time capsule someplace no one goes, like the attic or the top of an out of the way closet.

10. See a play or a movie based on a book.

There are many plays and movies appropriate for children based on children's classics. Check your local listings for children's theater and movies in your area. Some choices currently on DVD or in theaters include: James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, The Voyages of Dr Doolittle by Hugh Lofting, and Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine. First have your child select the book. Your child can read it himself or you can read it aloud over a week or so. When you are finished with the book, go to see the play or watch the movie. Talk about the differences between the book and the movie with your child.