We are having a wonderfully sunny and warm few days here in the South
East of England - perfect timing for the Wimbledon tennis fortnight,
where the switch for the new glass roof over Centre Court has not had to
be pressed once! The children are enjoying a rare childish moment,
watering the flower beds for me as I type this, and I'll be taking a cup
of tea outside as soon as I have finished writing, to enjoy the summer
evening. We are all looking forward to the children's long summer
holidays, which will be starting soon.
I hope you are taking advantage of all that the summer brings, and
have many long lazy days and evenings planned in which you can enjoy
your children. Try not to worry about the mess, the washing, the work -
just go find your kids, make some memories and enjoy your family!
With apologies to those of you in the southern hemisphere!
One of our visitors, Ana, was inspired by our
monster colouring pages to
embroider some gorgeous patches for the knees of her child's jeans! Have
a closer look here, on
Ana's blog.
If your child has made use of our craft ideas or printables, we'd
love to share the results here! Drop me a line by emailing editor-at-activityvillage.co.uk
(replace -at- with @)
What's New At Activity Village?
We are thrilled with these new Princess paper dolls - and their beautiful wardrobes!
They are available in colour, as shown, and also in black and white
so that your little girls can enjoying colouring in and designing those
pretty outfits themselves! Princess Paper Dolls
Our American visitors have got Fourth of July coming up, and we've
got 10 fabulous new craft ideas for them to get their teeth into
including this gorgeous Uncle Sam! We also have wands to wave at
parades, patriotic pen pots and snack pots and plant pots, and lots
more! And of course lots of these patriotic craft ideas can be adapted
for Canada Day and other national holidays... Fourth of July crafts for kids
We think you'll like these new posters, designed to help your child remember
those tricky things that they like to forget, like brushing their teeth! Reminder posters
The same cheerful illustrations can be found on these new school posters -
useful for classrooms, hallways and washrooms! School posters
We've also been continuing to update our popular
colouring Page Database, and the
following pages have been checked, added to and otherwise refreshed:
"A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is
blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken." James Dent
A Video To Enjoy With The Kids..
A fascinating video showing the 44 Presidents of the United States "morphing"
into one another...
NB Please do not allow children to browse video sharing sites unsupervised.
Something To Think About..
"In summer, the song sings itself". William Carlos Williams
"Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability." Sam Keen
"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day
listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across
the sky, is hardly a waste of time." John Lubbock
"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the
two most beautiful words in the English language." Henry James
Subscriber Special
I confess to being completely addicted to our
origami booklets, and I've heard from
quite a few of you who love them as much as I do! I never go anywhere
these days without one of these tucked in my handbag or pocket for
jotting down notes and reminders and brainstorming sessions. Here are
three with cheerful summery images which could also be used by the
children for story-writing...
