1.Create a "READING Hideaway": Cut the bottom off large cardboard boxes and connect them to each other with heavy duct tape- to make a tunnel, house, or fort, and especially a palce to curl up with a book.

2. Teach your child to play "Tic-Tac-Toe" and "Twenty Questions", which enhance basic math and logical thinking skills.

3. Using acrylic-base paints, let your child design her own T-shirt. Cut sponges in funny shapes, dip in paint, then press on shirt. For extra pizzazz, glue on buttons, lace, or jewels.

4. Provide your child with a typewriter or word processor and plenty of paper.

5. Surround your child with books, magazines, and other reading materials. Keep a basket of library books by her bed, a basket of magazines in the bathroom, a few books in the car, and a basket of books by the couch in the family room.

6. Play the "Synonym Game" to enrich your child's vocabulary. Write a word like "walk" on a card, and then brainstorm, coming up with as many substitutes for the word as you can: skip, stroll, march, saunter, swagger, hobble, shuffle, etc. Then try another word.

7. Get a star map from a local planetarium and take a "Stargazing Walk." Identify stars, planets, and constellations. Figure out which phase the moon is in, and tell stories about how the constellations got their names.

8. Have a "Creative Night" by providing the raw materials of crafts, art supplies, or invention. Together design and put together a banner to hang, make a board game, puppets, or anything that appeals to your kids.

9. Drop a cloth, take out paint and a giant piece of butcher paper, and get creative together. Use big brushes and also sponges cut in interesting shapes, a marker taped to the end of a stick, even apple cores.

10. "Get physical": Bowl together, go roller skating, or play at the park.

11. Encourage making collages, crocheting, weaving, or sculpting in clay. These hands-on activities engage most children's attention and help them build longer concentration and focus.