This is one of my favorite times of year. We’ve purchased the perfect backpacks and new shoes, and I love all of the organizational boxes and notebooks! Like you, we are looking for ways to get the gears turning in the brain after a summer of pools, fun, and sun. Phantom Tollbooth is a crazy book all about Math, but it is so much fun! Another great way to brush up on their math skills is with all of the clearance sales. Let your kids calculate the new price of the items you buy. It might be crazy and a tad stressful, but have fun getting ready for school anyway. P.S. The Phantom Tollbooth might be a great book for you to read too, it will bring back a flood of memories of math and English you have blocked out for years.

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Ender’s Game was to me, my brothers, and my friends what the Harry Potter series was to a new generation of readers. The sci-fi book captured our imagination and ignited a love of reading. One of the highlights is a battle game the characters play that is similar to laser tag . . . only it is played in a zero-gravity environment, and when a player is shot his suit is immobilized for the remainder of the game. Even with gravity and low-tech clothing at play, I still imagine I’m a character in the book any time I play a round of laser tag with the kids.

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We’re always looking for a way to get our kids to a museum, but it’s never very hard when it is the Arizona Science Center. Kids run around from one activity to another as they explore science through fun, hands-on exhibits. We typically leave the place exhausted, but better educated and talking about science. Strange Matter is a temporary exhibit about Materials Science – or the science of what makes up everything around us. You’ll learn about plastic, glass, metal, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

Strangely enough, a lot of scientific discoveries are made by accident. We’ve always loved hearing about the quirky ways some discoveries are made. While we certainly can appreciate the methodical scientific approach, sometimes a good accidental invention story simply tickles us. This week’s book, Mistakes that Worked, tells some of these stories. We also think it’s good for kids to understand that they need to make occasional “mistakes” to do great things. We read books like this when we were kids, and we still like relating some of the funny facts we learned.

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We’re always looking for a way to get our kids to a museum, but it’s never very hard when it is the Arizona Science Center. Kids run around from one activity to another as they explore science through fun, hands-on exhibits. We typically leave the place exhausted, but better educated and talking about science. Strange Matter is a temporary exhibit about Materials Science – or the science of what makes up everything around us. You’ll learn about plastic, glass, metal, and all sorts of other fun stuff.

At home, one way to keep the interest in science high is through a funny book by one of our favorite children’s book dynamic duos, Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith. Science Verse pokes fun at science class through a series of parody poems. But watch out! If you’re not careful you might learn something while you’re having fun.

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