Back to School Show & Tell

One thing you can count on during the first day of school
is the inevitable question of "What did you do over the
summer?" Here are a few creative ways to describe your
summer experiences for the first edition of Show and Tell.

1. Flip Books
Create a moving picture of your summer fun with a flip
book. Start out with a Post-It pad or a pocket-sized spiral
notebook. Draw the first picture on the last sheet of paper
and work your way to the first page by changing the picture
little by little. For instance, if you learned how to surf
over the summer, you might start with a picture of you
lying on a surfboard in calm waters. The next picture could
show the waters growing a little choppier. The following
drawings could be of you slowly turning, then standing on
the board as the wave grows larger, and so on.

2. Summer Collage
Illustrate your summer happenings with one of my favorite
forms: collages. Simply use glue to cover a poster board or
even several small postcard-sized papers with magazine
cutouts, sections of road maps, photographs, movie and
concert ticket stubs, restaurant menus, train schedules,
and any other mementos from your summer.

3. Map It
Instead of just telling the class where you went and what
you did, pinpoint our summer destinations and activities on
a map. If you stayed close to home, use a local road map.
If you were able to travel to several cities and states,
use a countrywide map. Glue magazine cutouts of activities,
or actual photos of your fun onto the map. For example, if
you went to a dude ranch in Dallas, glue a picture of a
horse onto the map in Dallas. If you visited Mount
Rushmore, glue a photo of your family onto the map in South
Dakota. The same goes for rock climbing, swimming,
snorkeling, and anything else you had a chance to enjoy
over the summer months.

4. Seashell Memories
Capture every fun moment of summer vacation on seashells.
If you didn't get a chance to go to the beach, don't worry-
most craft and hobby stores sell bags of seashells. Use
acrylic paint and a clean paintbrush to paint pictures
inside the shells. My son's summer shells feature an
octopus in the ocean (from snorkeling-we didn't actually
see an octopus, but he wishes he had), a colorful clown
from a friend's birthday party, an airplane in the clouds,
and the night sky filled with stars and a bright crescent
moon.