AUGUST 2010 - SAY GOOD-BYE TO SUMMER!

We'll soon be entering a new season, and many children will be reluctantly saying good-bye to summer. Kids seem to relish the season as a time to explore, read, play, or just daydream. What comes to mind when you recall summers as a carefree youngster? Some of summer's simple pleasures (through kids' eyes) are highlighted below. Share them with your group of senior adults to evoke memories of the season about to come to an end. Enhance your reminiscing session with some old props, like a wooden picnic basket, comic books, baseball cards, or a fishing rod.

REMEMBER . . .

Catching "lightning" bugs and putting them in an old Mason jar
Playing pick-up baseball games in a rough field and using wood for bases
Trading "bubblegum" cards (baseball cards)
Going barefoot for most of the summer - through dirt, mud, water, and sand
Learning to whistle a favorite tune
Tasting hand-churned ice cream
Reading comics by flashlight and trading them with friends
Looking through mail-order catalogs for school clothes
Playing Hide and Go Seek and Kick the Can until dark
Braiding a cousin's hair into pigtails
Digging for fishin' worms in a damp garden or under logs for late afternoon fishing at the local creek
Stargazing on a warm summer night and counting the millions of stars in the sky
Going for a swim in a favorite "hole" and being old enough to use the rope swing
Picking blueberries, blackberries, and huckleberries for Grandma's special berry pie
Earning a few pennies taking pop bottles to the local store and buying penny candy
Spitting watermelon seeds in the front yard with a best buddy
Feasting on fried chicken at a church picnic
Enjoying a Saturday matinee with singing cowboys at the local theatre
Reading a Nancy Drew mystery book on the porch swing and sipping homemade lemonade
Playing Cowboys and Indians with cap guns

For more end-of-summer activities, check out the resources highlighted below.

Continue to look for upcoming editions of this newsletter the last week of the month. Our newsletter contains useful information to make your job working with older adults more fulfilling. In this issue, you'll find the following:

RESOURCES FOR SAY GOOD-BYE TO SUMMER

Celebrate the end of summer with some fun-filled sessions. Old photographs of summer activities are useful for reminiscing about the season. You can use the ElderSong resource Everyday Life Photos: Children & Family Life. The set is designed to help participants recall memories of everyday routines and occasions at home, work, or play. These photos (from the Library of Congress collection) highlight activities during the mid-20th century. (Sample topics: Car Trip, Family Games, School Days, Suppertime, Marbles, Mother's Helper) The set includes the following items:

20 black-and-white vintage photographs on 8-1/2" x 11" card stock

Companion book with detailed description of each photo (Things to Notice) and discussion questions on each topic (Questions to Ask)

Simply pass around the photograph in your group and ask some questions from the companion book. Here's a sample:

"Swimming" photograph (taken August 1943, Southfields, New York).Questions to Ask Where did you go swimming when you were young? Do you like to swim? How did you learn? Did boys and girls swim together or separately when you were young? What did you usually wear when you went swimming? Did you attend summer camp? Where did you swim when you went there?

Other photographs related to summertime include Dolls, Baseball, Beach Vacation, Car Trip, Family Games, Monkey Bars, and Soap Box Derby.

Also available: Everyday Life Photos: A Grown-Up's World. (Sample topics related to summer: Picnic in the Park, Front Porch, Canning Food, Victory Gardeners, Ice Cream in the Park)

Favorite summertime foods are another topic for the season. Get the conversations rolling with Tasty Talk Conversation Cards. The deck of 52 illustrated cards focuses on the topic of food and cooking. Each card presents an interesting fact, and then poses an intriguing question for participants to answer. There are no right or wrong answers. (Example: If you were in a food-eating contest, what food would you choose? Why?) Just pick a card and talk - no rules! Cards with food topics related to summer include watermelons, ice cream cones, Coca-Cola, tomatoes, hot dogs, and hamburgers.

Here's the perfect indoor activity for a hot summer day: a colorful fabric project. Share memories as you work on a seasonal item, like a wall quilt, banner, wall hanging, soft sculpture, or wearable art. You'll find plenty of creative and versatile ideas in the book, The Fabric of Our Lives: The Use of Textiles to Enhance Creative Programs. The resource is a practical guide to a fabric arts program for seniors - and features all "no- sew" projects. Over 40 detailed lesson plans include planning tips, patterns, illustrations, and adaptations. The projects are simple and ideal for participants of varying ability levels. Display the finished projects, or use them for decorations or a community service project. Here are some summer fabric projects your group might enjoy: Sculpted Melons, Stuffed Butterflies, Garden Words Banner, Stars and Bars Wall Quilt, Fabric Covered Visors, and Fireworks Quilt. Your group might also like to get started on a decorative item for the fall season, like Stuffed Pumpkins, Autumn Leaves Banner, or a Harvest Quilt.

KIDS' SUMMER TRIVIA QUIZ

What do boys use "night crawlers" for? Fishing (fishing worms)
Which children's playground game involves hops and jumps in squares? Hopscotch
What's the name of the popular kids' sweet drink made from flavored powder? Kool-Aid or Tang
Complete the first verse of the popular old camp song "Oh! Susanna": "I come from Alabama with a ... Banjo on my knee"
If you took your family on a trip to Steeplechase Park at Coney Island, which state did you visit? New York
If you trade "bubblegum" cards, what are you exchanging? Baseball cards
What was the name of the ice cream bar on a stick, sold from a white truck with bells? Good Humor
What's the name of the county fair treat that looks like blue or pink clouds on a stick? Cotton candy
Which comic book hero was called "The Man of Steel"? Superman
Which child-actress, who sang "On the Good Ship Lollipop," was portrayed in a celebrity doll in the 1930s? Shirley Temple

FEATURED PRODUCTS FOR AUGUST

Everyday Life Photos: Children & Family Life - 20 photos & 22-page activity book - Regularly $24.95.

Everyday Life Photos: A Grown-Up's World - 20 photos & 22-page activity book - Regularly $24.95.

Tasty Talk Conversation Cards - 52 cards about food and cooking - Regularly $5.95.

The Fabric of Our Lives: The Use of Textiles to Enhance Creative Programs - 128-page book - Regularly $25.00.

THOUGHT FOR THE MONTH

"Do what we can, summer will have its flies." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

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