We all know that over the summer, kids lose, on average, 30% of what they learned in the previous school year. Keeping their minds active and engaged while they’re on vacation will help them start the new school year ready to learn (instead of having to spend the first few months reviewing old material). Here are some great activities, one academic, the rest less so, that will keep your children’s minds sharp.

The Beautiful Book of Exquisite Corpses (book, edited by Gavin Edwards)

With all the emphasis on science, technology, engineering, math these days, people forget about the A (for Art) in STEAM, which we prefer over the more traditional STEM. This book is designed to jump start those creative, artistic juices and it delivers, bit time. Each page is divided into thirds. The top third has a partial drawing or a provocative phrase (for example, “He pushed the truck’s accelerator down as far as it would go, but the angry kittens kept gaining on him.”). You and a partner, then tear a few pages out of the book, fold them (along the dotted lines so you can’t see the drawing or the text, shuffle them so you don’t know which one you’re getting, and then draw whatever you like. When you’re done, fold the page again so neither of you can see what the other has done, swap pages, and draw again. The result will be a wonderful artistic chimera (the mythical beast that had the head of a lion, body of a goat, and tail of a serpent). The book features art from famous illustrators, cartoonists, tattoo artists, and more, as well as text from just-as-famous rock stars, actors, TV writers, and others. Ages 10+. $17 on www.amazon.com


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