Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince, 1943, translated from French
Museums
What better way to spend time with your family than appreciating fine art? Most museums are free, but you would really need to check with your local area museum to be sure. Some museums may have summertime family oriented activities planned as well. Yet still, there may be discounted “family” days for specialized educational museums.
While some may not be free, you can find out which days of the month, week, or year, have been designated as “family” days that offer discounts. Many museums have websites that list most of their information including pricing and hours of operation.
It’s never too late, or too soon, to begin the learning process. So keep this in mind when heading off to your local museum. While your children may think this activity will be boring, there are always “battle plans” to make it fun for everyone. You could always visit the museum’s website to see what is on display as many museums have time limited exhibits to research first what may be of interest to your child(ren) beforehand. Then make up some list printouts to take along with you that have checklists to be sure that you view everything on the printouts.
You could even put in some random questions to ask your child(ren) while at the museum. Or you could even do a sort of scavenger hunt to see who can find the items on your checklist first.