Summer is a great time of year — the sun shines, days get longer and our schedules loosen. This is a list of our favorite activities for kids and 
families to do this summer.
Rain or shine, keep your family busy with these 10 activities:
This video is for every parent and teacher that – does much – gives much – loves much. We may often feel unappreciated, overlooked – even invisible. But we do what we do because we’re ‘building cathedrals’.
Please take a few minutes and know that what you’re building matters.
At Young Rembrandts, an after school enrichment program that teaches kids how to draw. The more kids we teach, the more parents ask – when are we going to teach them. So we’ve recorded a few, 2 minute, easy to follow, step by step “How To Draw” videos. Get out your pencil and paper and learn to draw a monster.
impact the arts has made on the lives of kids.
For Mother’s Day I sat with my grandson and together we made a present for mom. Knowing mom loves his art, I taught Brayden how to draw a pot of flowers. After drawing we talked about colors and coloring until ‘all the white parts of the paper were covered’. Four-year-old Brayden sat still, used his fine motor skills, was quiet, intentional and focused for at least forty minutes. His satisfaction and finished drawing was a reminder of how much impact forty minutes of focused activity means to a developing preschooler.
Imagine being a kindergarten teacher, tasked with teaching 25 sweet young students how to write. It’s a pretty daunting task and not for the faint of heart. Now imagine how much harder it is if these young ones can’t sit still, use a pencil, follow directions or spend much time in any focused task. Now imagine the enormity of the task for your kindergartener. There’s a lot riding on being able to write – and write legibly. From now on school is going to be about writing. The physical act of writing, even the speed of one’s writing,
It was a rainy Saturday morning and four year old Brayden was looking for something to get busy with. He got out his crayons and drawing paper and came to find grandma. He thinks that because I can draw – I am his personal illustrator and coloring book. But instead of me doing all the drawing – we drew and colored together.
First I drew the rocket ship he wanted. Together we drew lots of circles that made the planets and far away stars in space. Then Brayden colored the rocket ship and all the planets – leaving me the dark, dark sky. He knew he left me the ‘big’ job, and was very complimentary about how well I colored. Good to know I can still impress a four year old!
As parents, we can look forward to summer as a time with lighter schedules, less structure and no homework. Let’s face it — we all need a break, 
and these warm, carefree days give us the perfect opportunity. However, too many lazy days can result in the well-worn phrase “I’m bored.” Today’s kids have so much technology at their fingertips — TV, movies, video games, the internet — that it can take some special effort to get them engaged in a wider variety of activities, activities that are important to keeping them “mentally fit”.
If you’re looking for ideas to keep your kids busy this summer check out www.YoungRembrandts.com for information on our current workshops and camps!
Although this drawing lesson was written with kids in mind, it’s fun for adults, too. This how to draw video series is the result of teaching children how to draw in Young Rembrandts for over twenty years!
Learning how to draw a rocketship has never been easier with my “How To Draw” video. Each of my how to draw videos are easy to follow, step by step directions. Today let’s learn how to draw a rocketship.
