Submitted by Allan Gillis, Education Advisor for MCPEI

There are lot of activities and creative things that youth can do in summers and especially during summer vacations. They can enhance their imagination skills by painting and drawing things.  Youth can also play some indoor games, board games and card games. They can also play with a camera and develop the hobby of photography.
You may ask your kid to write something about your community or a family member. They can even learn more about the culture and then make a project on it. They could just write down a few things and add some photographs about the same or use the pictures to make a collage. 
In all, there are many things and topics in which youth may find interesting and making a project around the topic is a great way for them to express themselves and keep their thinking skills sharp.  So go and ask your little champ to make a project on some interesting topic.
 If you have a hobby like playing guitar or any musical instrument, dancing, then you can teach that activity to your child. And if one can go out, then there are even more things to do, like go swimming, play sports, learn a new sport, or hit the powwow trail. This will help your child remain fit and strong even during lazy summer vacations.
 If your child likes reading, fantastic!  Reading novels that are of interest to the youth, or comics, magazines, a newspaper.....it doesn’t matter what is read, reading is a great activity to keep the mind sharp. 
Bottom line, pick activities that are of interest to your child.  Talk with your child and come up with a “game plan” and get involved.  The interest you show will be a great motivator to your child.  So ask them about some projects and you and your child will feel good and proud of their accomplishments.  Summer can be a magical time.......enjoy it!