The Clifford website has some great activities for kids who love The Big Red Dog –and for parents who like saving money. Seriously! Check out Clifford’s Card Maker and your kid can make cards for upcoming birthdays, for thank-you-notes, to say “feel better” to a sick friend or family member, and more – and you can save the $2-$5 a greeting card would’ve cost. Plus, your kid gets to have fun, be creative, and tell someone they care in a thoughtful, personal way.
For more fun and learning with Clifford, click here for games and printables, and here for “Ideas to Grow On” activities.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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Don’t be fooled by the nonsensical title – kids can learn a lot from Pinky Dinky Doo. The Noggin website features dozens of printables related to all their great shows, but we’re extra fond of the set of Pinky Dinky Doo printables, which feature 19 coloring vocabulary pages. So take a look, print a few out, and help your kid learn about words like “ridiculous,” “duplicate,” “xylophone,” and “gargantuan” as they have fun coloring their favorite Pinky Dinky Doo characters.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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If you have any little dancers in your family – or anyone else who enjoys Angelina Ballerina – check out Angelina’s website for printable designs and detailed instructions for making very cute – and of course, very pretty – pop-up cards. Your kids may also enjoy the charming printable coloring pages featuring Angelina and her friends.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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Calling all Higglytown Heroes fans! Check out this Higgleytown Mixing Colors learning activity at the Playhouse Disney grown-ups’ and educators’ site. With this activity guide, help your child learn the basics about colors and mixing colors with a piece of white bread, food coloring, and some milk. For more Playhouse Disney learning activities, click here.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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If you and your family love Veggie Tales as much as we do, check out the Big Idea Activities on the Big Idea/Veggie Tales website. There is a list of “One Child-One Parent” activities and another list of “Large Group” activities – although most of the “One Child-One Parent” activities are good for large groups as well. Our favorites include High Tower, Picture That, and Mayday Message. So go on, try these great games with your kids!

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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You probably know that the PBS Kids show Arthur teaches kids important life lessons and is also just a lot of fun to watch. What you may not know about are the many activities on the show’s website that can reinforce and build on all that learning – and not just with life lessons. Check out Sign Design and have fun learning sign language basics – with Arthur himself. For more printable Arthur activities and games, click here.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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Don’t let “end of summer” talk bring you and your family down! Whether your kids have a few weeks or a few days left before school starts up again, make the most of it! Keep energy levels high by with recipes in the LazyTown Energy Cookbook. From Pixels’ Power Up Pinwheels to Stingy’s Zingy Zucchini Pie – yes, zucchini – all six of these healthy, high-energy recipes are written for early readers to follow and help make. As the website says, “If You Need Energy. . . Try Cooking By The Book!”

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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The Discovery Kids show Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls might technically be a reality show, but there are exceptions to every rule, and this show is great, period. During each fun, competitive half-hour of kids’ TV, four young friends work with professional carpenters and designers to create dream rooms to match their hobbies and interests. If you and your kids get a kick out of Trading Spaces: Boys vs. Girls, try some of the Get Crafty ideas at the show’s website. You can get your kid’s creative juices flowing making mobiles, glow-in-the-dark fabric curtains (how cool is that?!), or a number of other things, to turn their own room, or someone else’s, into a dream room.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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As we’ve been hinting at over the past week (hinting at… obsessing about… whatever), the Olympics offer countless opportunities for your kids to learn about different cultures, sports, all sorts of life lessons, and even math and science. And who can forget geography – possibly the easiest subject area to work on with your kids while you and your family are actually watching the games. A simple way to do this with littler ones is to ask them to point to athletes’ countries as you watch them compete. You can do this with whatever globe, atlas, or map you have at home, or print out a straightforward world map you find online – like this one. (If you have a computer in the room where you’re watching the Olympics, you can view the same map here and zoom in as much as you like.)

Over at Kids Educational Activities, Catherine Fortin detailed a number of other great ways to “Learn, Practice, and Sharpen Skills during the Beijing 2008 Games” in this article.

Make sure you don’t miss any of the Beijing Olympics fun – there are barely 11 days left! Check your local listings to out when your family’s favorite events are on.

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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STA reader Kimberly Keith, a professional family counselor and About.com Guide to Parenting blogger, sent us an Olympics-inspired Summer Tip – a double-tip, actually. She wrote, “Our family is watching hours of Olympic competitions and the kids are really getting into it. We wanted to learn how to play some of the sports such as water polo and handball; so of course, I had to go online to get the scoop…” Kimberly did just that, and detailed her findings on her blog:

Watching Olympic water polo made us think, ‘That looks fun; wonder how you play?’ The Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games might get the kids excited to try some new sports. But, how DO you play water polo?

(For the answer, plus info on team handball, see Kimberly’s post.)

Kimberly also shared her realization that “with just a few modifications,” the Beijing Olympics dinner party she’d recently hosted would make “a great kids’ party too.” She shared a number of ideas for making a Beijing Olympics family or kid party on her blog as well:

We were inspired for a birthday dinner party by the square red plates we purchased at a discount store. My daughter and I added a bamboo plant for the centerpiece and she printed Olympic medals for the placecards.

(check out Kimberly’s blog post for the rest of her Beijing Olympics party tips.)

Share your Tips with us too, and don’t forget to find out when your family’s favorite events are on and follow the excitement of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing!

The STA’s Summer Tips are ideas for projects and activities inspired by your kids’ favorite shows, to help them learn while the TV is on and after it’s off. Look for more tips all summer long, to OutSmart the 150% Summer Spike in childrens’ television viewing.

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