Suggested Family Activity • Picnic 🧺 Before the summer ends, make sure you go on a picnic one day. You can pack a traditional picnic in a wicker basket or just grab some snacks and sandwiches and head outside with a blanket to enjoy your food. Take time to sit and really enjoy nature, whether you stay at home in your backyard or go to a nearby park. Make sure to spend at least part Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • Shark 🦈 Shapes For a combination craft project and learning activity, try out this fun idea: On a piece of paper or cardboard, draw a picture of a shark’s head with its mouth spread wide open (or find an image online to print out). Cut out the mouth area from the center of the picture. Don’t forget to draw some shark teeth around the whole mouth! Use tape, such as painter’s Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • Painting 🐟 Fish The website education.com has a really great idea for how you and your family can paint fish with your fingerprints. Check out a sample picture and instructions here. Did you check out a NERL Story Walk at a walking trail near you this summer? Unfortunately, we have had to take some of our Story Walks down because of damage and theft but you still have another week to Read more…
Suggested Family Activities • Summer ☀ Reading Packets Have you picked up your Summer Reading Program packets yet? They are filled with lots of fun activities – coloring sheets; activity sheets such as mazes, color by number, hide and seek, crossword puzzles, and connect the dots; craft projects; and more. Additional special sheets this week include a recommended reading list for “Water Tales,” a color your own ocean scene that can be cut apart to Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • Aquarium 🎥 Cams Even if you can’t visit an aquarium in person this summer, you can always check out some of the great Aquarium Cams located at many facilities. The Monterey Bay, California aquarium has webcams so you can see live views of sea nettles, moon jellyfish, sardines and leopard sharks swimming through a kelp forest, as well as sharks and many other fish inside their aquarium. They even have live Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • Hand ✋ Imprints If you like to turn your child’s handprint into fun pieces of art, this week’s Summer Reading Theme of “Water Tales” will give you lots of ideas! If you take an imprint of their hand with the fingers facing down, you can turn it into a cute octopus by painting on a face in the palm area. Let them decorate an underwater scene around it – and don’t Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • National Pet 🐕 Fire 🔥 Safety Day Today is National Pet Fire Safety Day, a day set aside each year to help us to remember a few safety tips concerning our pets and the hazards of fire. Our pets are treasured members of our families and we would do anything to keep them safe. The ASPCA offers the following tips (additional information can be found on their website at https://www.aspca.org/news/fire-safety-and-your-pets-keeping-them-safe-unexpected): Keep Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • Cow 🐄 Appreciation Day Two different national days this week fit perfectly into our animal theme this summer – Cow Appreciation Day today and National I Love Horses Day tomorrow! So, take this time to appreciate the gently mooing creatures that give us great products such as milk and cheese. And in the case of horses, we honor how they have helped clear fields, worked on farms, served as reliable transportation, Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • National 🛍 Paper Bag Day Today is Paper Bag Day, a day set aside to remember all the various ways a paper bag can be used. We love using paper bags as a craft supply during arts and crafts projects. You can turn them into puppets, masks, windsocks, and many other items. You can also decorate plain paper bags with crayons, markers, paint, stickers, glitter, or any craft supply you have on Read more…
Suggested Family Activity • National 🐈 Kitten Day Tomorrow, July 10th, is National Kitten Day, the perfect time to celebrate our cute and cuddly kitten friends. Send us pictures of your best kitty friends at summerreading@nereg.lib.ms.us. If you do not have a kitty right now but would like one, call or visit your local animal shelter to find the perfect new member of your family. Many shelters have rules for their adoption process, so check with Read more…
