Congratulations to the following winners of the Max Spaniel Dinosaur Hunt book giveaway:

Sheila from Mom 2 A Nutball won the Grand Prize

• Autographed copy of Max Spaniel (by illustrator David Catrow)
• One (1) Jumbo kids magnifying glass

Lesa from Conveniently Simplistic, Kerrie Mayans, Janet from Grammy Janet’s Place and Chris from The New Dad Guide all won copies of the new Max Spaniel book too.

Congratulations again to all of the winners! I hope you enjoy the book!

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The other thing I love about the summer is family vacations.  This year, we were fortunate enough to go to the beach (the “shore”) and to Disney World.  We went to the beach with my parents and nephew, and we went to Disney with my inlaws.  Both trips were fantastic, so I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures.

Nothing like starting the first day of vacation with a little PILE ON!:

Here’s Hans and Franz getting ready for the beach:

Here they are trying to pump (*clap*) me up:

After a few hours at the beach, it’s always fun to take a ride on a Pirate Ship:

The kids enjoyed hunting crabs with Nana:

Pop is really good at making me smile:

Nighttime at the beach is fun too, especially at the carnival:

Chani even talked Lori into riding the Himalaya:

It was great to get away and spend time with family at the Shore:

A few weeks later, we headed down to Disney World:

We saw Mickey and Minnie:

And, we ran into Tigger too!:

Grammy and Pop Pop always make things a big (fun) Hoopty Doo!:

And, we got to celebrate a birthday too – Happy Birthday Grammy!:

We almost lost Chani in a rogue rocket accident:

Fortunately, we made friends with someone at Star Command who brought us back together:

To make sure no one got lost, Lori decided to dress all of the girls alike:

Meanwhile, me and Ty got roped into some monkey business:

All-in-all, it was a Magical adventure enjoyed by all:

School starts next week, which means fall is right around the corner.  Our family had a great time this summer, and I hope yours did too!  Please read below for how you can share your favorite summer photos.

If you have a blog, feel free to write a similar post about your summer adventures.  Share your favorite summer pictures too.  Link back to this post, so me and all of the readers of Discovering Dad can share in the fun.  I’m already looking for ideas of fun family things to do for next summer!

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Having grown up in a single parent family with my own father often living several states away, I was somewhat lacking in access to positive male role models. But there were a few that had impact, and I will not forget them. First and foremost was my Big Brother, a man who volunteered his time every weekend to visit with me for the day and be my pal. He taught me that organization in both thought and work space were key to making work efficient and as easy as possible.

I also “borrowed” my friend’s dads as well, spending a few minutes here and there with them on weekends and summer days, whenever the opportunity presented itself.

One particular visit will always remain sharp in my memory, one I consider the crystal moment of clarity when the meaning of doing a job right really sank in completely. While at a friend’s house, I happened to witness his father working on a small construction project in the back yard. At the point I had arrived, he was putting on the finishing touches.

When I believed he was completely done with the job and would stand back to admire his work, I said “it looks great!”

He looked at me and said “But we’re not done yet.”

He and I rounded up his tools and carefully put them away in his workshop. Each tool had its own place. Then he hauled out a waste basket and a scrap bin, and I picked up the scraps while he carefully swept up the sawdust and bent nails.

As he was dumping the last dustpan full of detritus, he said something very simple but very powerful; something that has stuck with me to this day:

“The job’s not over until the cleanup is done.”

Wow. What a great lesson. This is something I’d never really absorbed before, and never in such a simple and concrete way.

Since then, my goal has been to follow that example in what I do, and it is what I hope to pass on to my own son.

How do you teach your kids to take pride in doing a job well all the way until it’s done?

Tom Bowns is a Contributing Writer for Discovering Dad. His personal site is Being Michael’s Daddy. You can also follow Tom on Twitter @michaelsdaddy.

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Little kids can get majorly bored. My four-year-old son Michael, when he gets bored (and that’s every night), hops around like a jackrabbit with its tail on fire, bouncing off of this bit of furniture and that, twirling and spinning, knocking over whatever might be in his path. It’s not a pretty sight.

Rather than just getting angry at him when he misbehaves, I’ve found that it’s far more productive to engage him in doing something. So I’ve constructed a list of things to do with him during these fits of boredom.

15 Fun Activities for Dads with Preschoolers

Building with blocks or Legos. I usually let my son be the architect here, and I follow his lead. He responds by telling me what he’s building, and by asking me to put some parts together to add to the construct. What he likes about this time most is that he knows he has my undivided attention, and that he has the freedom to let his ideas reign.

Drawing pictures. When we’re drawing, I like to divide the time up evenly between guided drawing and free form. At first, I keep Michael focused on drawing something specific like simple shapes or forms; squares, triangles, circles and faces or other very simple line drawings. Sometimes he’ll tell me he can’t, so I’ll gently guide his hand with mine to trace out the shape we’re after. This can help train his hands and arms to feel the movement associated with making that shape. After a few minutes I’ll ask him what he wants to draw, and give him a fresh sheet of paper. He always surprises me with what he comes up with.

Spelling. We have a bag of bananagrams which are small tiles with letters on them. With them in a pile on the table, I’ll pull a few out and spell words that I know he knows, and ask him to tell me what they spell. So far his review list consists of words like Off, Exit, Fire, Stop and Fox. Then I’ll spell out a new word and ask him to sound it out. Then we take the words he knows and change the first letters to see how the word changes. Then I ask him to spell something of his own. He’ll spell out words that don’t mean anything and I’ll pronounce them for him. He loves coming up with bizarre words that are nearly impossible to pronounce.

Toss a ball around. Little kids love playing catch, and feel great when they can make a catch or toss the ball so that you can catch it. And they invariably laugh hysterically when they toss the ball and you miss and react in a comical way.

Riding the Bicycle or Tricycle. My son is not quite to two-wheeler stage yet, being somewhat short, so he still rides a tricycle. But when the whether permits, he loves to go riding around the sidewalks and driveways of the neighborhood, and wants to be sure I’m right there watching. In years to come he’ll ride behind me on nearby trails and we’ll go on riding adventures.

Pipes. Michael has always had a fascination with drains and what might go “down the hole” so this was obvious for him. We’d had a set of 1½ inch plastic balls that belonged to another set of toys, so I bought a few sections of 2 inch pipe and fittings such as elbows and other couplers. Michael and I can spend hours connecting the pipes into different shapes and configurations so he can put the balls down the hole at the upper end and hear them clank all the way down to the bottom.

Reading. While he has a hard time sitting still, Michael does love to listen to someone reading to him. I think this is important as it helps develop a strong vocabulary, imagination and a love of language.

Boxing. Seriously. We have a set of gloves for both kids and grownups. Going a couple of rounds really helps us both get out some aggressions. We don’t usually last more than two. His favorite move is to distract me and then run around so he can strike from behind. So far he’s learned how to guard with his left and jab with his right.

Taking a Bath. This doesn’t involve a lot of interaction all the time, but while playing he loves to wrap up his toys in a washcloth and then offer it to me as a “present” which I’ll carefully unwrap and give the requisite surprised and delighted reaction.

Disassembling something. It costs five bucks tops to buy some old electronic or mechanical doodad at Goodwill, but it provides an entire afternoon of joy taking it apart, screw by screw, wire by wire. Of course, you’ll want to be on the lookout for sharp things, poisonous things or things that might hold a charge like old television sets.

Making music. Could use anything, from a cheap set of kids’ musical instruments to pieces of scrap lumber or pots and pans. Anything that will make sounds can be used to make music.

Blowing bubbles. Another great sunny-day outdoor activity. I make my own bubble solution out of glycerin, dishwashing liquid and distilled water. Cheaper than the pre-made stuff and lasts longer.

Car games. “I spy” is a classic. I tell Michael that I spy something yellow, and he has to tell me what it is. Another one we like to play is “Cash Cab”, in which I have to ask Michael a question about a favorite show or story and he has to provide the right answer to win “cash” along the way. This is best on short little trips, otherwise you’ll be scratching your head for more questions and he’ll get bored.

Chasing, playing hide & seek. Kids love to be chased, and they love to hide. They get better at hiding as they get older, but it’s fun at first to pretend not to know where they are.

“Warmer and Colder” Show him an object, and then have him close his eyes or leave the room while you hide it. Then call him back into the room and tell him to find it by giving clues as to where it is. Say “warmer” when he gets closer, and “colder” as he gets farther away.

A bored kid can be a real terror, and coupled with an aggravated parent, you have a recipe for disaster. But add a dose of imagination and an hour or so of undivided attention and you have a happy child, a grateful parent and memories to last a lifetime.

What kinds of fun activities do you like to do with your preschooler?

Tom Bowns is a Contributing Writer for Discovering Dad. His personal site is Being Michael’s Daddy. You can also follow Tom on Twitter @michaelsdaddy.

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A really cool thing I hadn’t considered before my first child came along is that having kids is a license to do kid stuff again.

It’s a license to play.

A grown person playing hopscotch or setting up troops of little green army men would be considered bizarre unless that person were playing along with a kid. You have a kid, and you get a free pass to have fun.

Heck, people expect it. They’d thing something was wrong with you if you had a baby and didn’t talk silly to him, make faces or act like a total goofball. It’s not just permission to be playful, it’s an obligation.

So why not run with it? You’re a fun-loving dad. You have the opportunity and the rationale, so go ahead and play!

We were all in such a hurry to grow up and act “cool” during middle school and high school. We were all eager to put away the childish games. But at some point after having reached that magical state of maturity we sought after, the sad realization struck us that we had to give up our playfulness. Sure, you can play racquetball or one-on-one basketball with the guys… but you can’t turn the furniture over to make a fort, or play Tarzan up in the trees, or play Cowboys in the backyard with your adult buddies. Not as a serious grown-up person.

And then you have a child!  Everything changes – you are allowed to play again. It doesn’t matter if you have a boy or girl, if you let them know you’re available for some serious play time they’ll be all over it.

I like to think of myself as a very experienced kid. A child who has been nine for the past thirty-six years. Thus I bring a wealth of playtime skill to my kids’ lives. I know just how to prop pillows up on top of the blankets that festoon the overturned living room furniture to keep them from slipping off. I can draw excellent control panels on cardboard boxes to construct a proper space vessel for interplanetary combat. I know all the best ways to conceal yourself when playing hide-and-seek. I feel honored to be able to pass these talents along to my children. And they are more than happy to learn.

I was eager to finally take my daughters to Disneyland in 2001 when they were old enough. To prepare for our visit, I studied websites devoted to the park. It was then that I realized I’d forgotten how completely amazing the place was – a place “where dreams really do come true.” By the time we were set to go, I was nearly bursting at the seams with excitement. My investigation had given me a whole new appreciation of Disneyland. I never would have reached that point, nor would I likely have ever visited again, had I not had children.

My kids have allowed me to experience a youthful exuberance for life all over again. I may be their father and, as such, given them life, love, shelter and protection, but they have given me permission to play.

Do you play with your kids? What are your favorite things to do with them?  Please share some examples of the fun things you do with your license to play!

Tom Bowns is a Contributing Writer for Discovering Dad. His personal site is Being Michael’s Daddy. You can also follow Tom on Twitter @michaelsdaddy.

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