Where I live in Clark County, WA, there are many small local events that give our growing county a hold onto the small town atmosphere. Taking advantage of these local events can be a fun, frugal way to entertain the kids as well as learn a little about your community. I am listing a few special events as well as the annual ones.
May 20 is Luke’s Lego’cy Carnival at King’s Way Christian School 78th St, Vancouver WA from 5-9 pm. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Luke, he was a courageous and inspiring young man who fought a tough battle with leukemia 3 times and went on to heaven last May. This carnival is to remember Luke’s love of Lego and to keep his memory alive in our hearts.
May 21st Hazel Dell Parade of Bands. A tradition since 1964. Parade starts at 10 am.
May 21-22nd Dozer Days – Playing with the Big Machines. Held over in the Quarry in Fisher’s Landing. For more info www.dozerdays.com
June 3-5 Hockinson Fun Days. A great Pancake Breakfast and a fun Parade For more info www.hockinsonfundays.com
June 16-19 Planter’s Days, Planting good seeds by doing good deeds, is this year’s theme for our northern neighbor, Woodland’s fun and historic civic celebration. The kid’s made great pirates on last year’s VBS float in the Planter’s Day parade! Aargh! For more info www.lewisriver.com/plantersdays
4th of July Parade in Ridgefield is the Saturday before the 4th. www.lewisriver.com/ridgefield/fourth/schedule
July 4th Don’t forget the celebration at the Fort! www.cityofvancouver.us/4thofJuly
July 8-10 Amboy Territorial Days will be featuring the Rockin Dixie Wrecked Band again!
July 16-18 Harvest Days in Battle Ground. More info at www.bgwa.com/harvest
July 22-23 Camas Days has chosen Jungle Safari as its theme this year. Sounds exotic! Go to www.camasdays.com for more info.
August 5-14 Clark County Fair. Okay, this isn’t really a frugal event but there are ways to do it on a tight budget. With a Fred Meyer coupon, the first day offers free admission and a free Pancake Breakfast. Bring a small backpack with snacks and water to save on exorbitant fair prices. Lots to see and do that won’t cost money. I love the 4H displays. My son loved the Lego creations and my daughter enjoyed the sewing projects and photography. There are some very talented kids in Clark County. Several places including the Columbia Credit Union have discounted ride tickets and bracelets. After last year’s dizziness, I think I will pass on the rides this year! www.clarkcofair.com
August 25-28 La Center’s Our Days Festival takes place. Let’s end the summer with some fun! www.lewisriver.com/lacenter/festivals/ourdays
Hope you can take in a few events and have some frugal fun!
Blessing in Creation!
Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer. Show all posts
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
It Takes a Village to Raise a Reader
Encouraging literacy is a community effort. Although home is the most important source to improve a child’s reading skills, it is wonderful to see community programs aiding parents and teachers and instilling the importance of reading to the young. It really does take a village to raise a reader.
We are lucky enough to live in a county with a fabulous inter library system and we have taken advantage of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library regularly.
Both of my kids look forward to trips to the library, especially during the summer months while the reading incentive rewards them with prizes. I was so happy to discover last year that middle school students can now earn Barnes and Noble gift cards. My daughter earned $15 worth last year and this year my son has challenged her to read more as he, too, can earn the gift cards now.
For younger children Barnes and Noble and Borders have reading incentive programs to complement the library’s reading incentive. Since some of the pre-chosen books weren't my kid’s top picks, I told them I would buy them each a book at the end of the summer if they completed all reading requirements. So for approximately $15 in books, my two children read for three months solid!
Additional reading programs include http://www.scholastic.com/summer/ http://www.bookitprogram.com/SummerBreak/ And for those of you in the eastern United States, TD Bank www.tdbank.com offers to deposit $10 into your child’s account for summer reading participation. Half Price Books also had an incentive offer last year for those who have one of their stores nearby www.hpb.com. I am on the lookout for more community reading programs and encourage you to look into what your community may offer too!
With all the fun incentives, neither of my kids considers reading to be school work. They like that they can read whatever they choose (as long as it is appropriate) and that they earn books and prizes. My son often picks Star Wars, but we also return from library trips with a stack of science, history, cooking, fantasy, and adventure books.
I’ll have to admit that trips to Barnes and Noble and the library never leave Mom empty handed either. My list of “to reads” is growing” even faster than my “have reads”. The last few library visits have loaded me up with books on freelance writing. And I am excited for summer reading too!
We are lucky enough to live in a county with a fabulous inter library system and we have taken advantage of the Fort Vancouver Regional Library regularly.
Both of my kids look forward to trips to the library, especially during the summer months while the reading incentive rewards them with prizes. I was so happy to discover last year that middle school students can now earn Barnes and Noble gift cards. My daughter earned $15 worth last year and this year my son has challenged her to read more as he, too, can earn the gift cards now.
For younger children Barnes and Noble and Borders have reading incentive programs to complement the library’s reading incentive. Since some of the pre-chosen books weren't my kid’s top picks, I told them I would buy them each a book at the end of the summer if they completed all reading requirements. So for approximately $15 in books, my two children read for three months solid!
Additional reading programs include http://www.scholastic.com/summer/ http://www.bookitprogram.com/SummerBreak/ And for those of you in the eastern United States, TD Bank www.tdbank.com offers to deposit $10 into your child’s account for summer reading participation. Half Price Books also had an incentive offer last year for those who have one of their stores nearby www.hpb.com. I am on the lookout for more community reading programs and encourage you to look into what your community may offer too!
With all the fun incentives, neither of my kids considers reading to be school work. They like that they can read whatever they choose (as long as it is appropriate) and that they earn books and prizes. My son often picks Star Wars, but we also return from library trips with a stack of science, history, cooking, fantasy, and adventure books.
I’ll have to admit that trips to Barnes and Noble and the library never leave Mom empty handed either. My list of “to reads” is growing” even faster than my “have reads”. The last few library visits have loaded me up with books on freelance writing. And I am excited for summer reading too!
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