THIS IS THE TIME TO UNDERTAKE A NEW PHYSICAL SKILL. DEPENDING ON THE AGE AND INTERESTS, SELECT ONE OF THESE:
Little league, baseball, etc.
Horseback riding Trail Rides at Half Moon Stables 777-6088
Hula-hoops and yo-yos are popular again – They just take practice.
Golf at Mahogany Run 777-6006
Swimming – any beach or resort pool
Snorkeling supervised at Coki Beach 775-4220
Scuba 693-8063
Fishing Prowler Sportfishing charters 779-2515
Sailing Call Fanfare Charters for instruction 715-1326
Basketball – find a hoop or put one up
Tennis (free courts at Sub Base)
Soccer field between airport and UVI campus
Bicycling – good place to ride is behind the hospital or around Reichhold
Volleyball on the beach at Sapphire on Sundays
Parasailing and windsurfing 775-9360
Jogging or walking program (good parent/child activity!) CAHS field or on the sidewalks leading out to the airport.
Make sure safety equipment and paraphernalia is available and used. If you can't enroll your child in an organized program, hire an older child to play with them at regularly schedules times. Review safety procedures, make sure someone is available to handle emergencies and provide a snack. Carefully specify exactly what you want the older child to do (and not do).
2. ADVENTURES WE SOMETIMES FORGET:
Nature walk at Magens
Coral World and Coral World, again and again 775-1555
Fort Christian 776-4566
Kayak tour of the mangrove 779-2155
Boat trip to Hassel Island
Water Toys of all kinds are available at Elysian Resort and Bluebeards Beach
Day Sail to the British Virgins 776-6234
Day Trips on boats Limnos Dohm's Charter Sloop Fantasy
Market Square early in the morning
Mountaintop to visit the birds and take pictures 774-2400
Government House and the Legislative Building – sit in on a session
Take a tram ride up to Paradise Point 774-9809
Seven Arches museum behind the Lt. Governor's Office, Government Hill 774-9275
Estate St. Peter Great House and Botanical Gardens 774-4999
Camping on St. John in the National Park 776-6201
Archeological dig on St. John 776-6201
Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins on St. John 776-6201
Nature programs in the National Parks 776-6201
Tillet Gardens 775-1929
Fairchild park up on St. Peter Mountain Road 360 degree view
Haagensen House at the top of the 99 steps 774-9605
Join a gym with your teenager
Visit historic churches around town Synagogue 774-4312 Frederick Lutheran 776-1315 Dutch Reformed 776-8255 All Saints 774-0217 Moravian 776 0066 St. Peter and Paul Catholic 774-0201
For small children a tour of the airport, the post office, or the boat docks.
Atlantis Submarine trip – ½ price for locals during the summer 776-5650
Scuba trips RMS Rhone 775-6100 WIT Concrete 774-2001 Chris Sawyer 777-7804 Coki Beach Dive Club 775-4220
Fishing expeditions 779-2515
Exploratory walks around Compass Point or Crown Bay
Drive into the county on the west end of the island to the very end of the road
Visit beaches off the beaten path like Mandahl Salt Pond, Stumpy, Dorothea, Tutu, Bovoni (Take food and water.)
Spend an afternoon at one of the resorts
Ride the ferry to St. John, have lunch and return
Take your car on the barge to St. John ($40.) and explore the island.
Humane Society – visit with all the animals, even choose one to take for walks outside on a regular basis.
Take your child to the arcade at Tutu Mall and play the games with them.
Establish a relationship and regular visitation with an elderly person (children over 8)
New family park at Lindbergh Beach on the road to the airport
St. Croix Buck Island Reef National Monument Whim Plantation Museum.
3. PROJECTS AT HOME:
Find an old toy or piece of furniture and help the child refurbish it
Model airplanes, boats, kites, or complex puzzles are all very positive activities.
Assign the child to clean out and organize a junk drawer, the linen closet, a cabinet of video and audio equipment. Children over six can be very good at this. Just don't make it a heavy-duty task – choose a small area and give a reward.
Start a planting project – cacti can be fun for children or grow herbs from seed in a sheltered area.
New software programs for the computer. There are wonderful geography games, encyclopedias like Encarta, math puzzles, coordination games, on line activities together, science programs, art and design programs, etc. Or just to learn how to use the computer; training programs are available over the summer at St. Thomas Community Outreach 715- 3464, Computer Place 774-6859 Computer Central 715-1220
Photography – with a book and a camera and plenty of film children can have a wonderful time documenting their environment.
4. CHOOSE A THEME TO LEARN MORE ABOUT and get books, computer games, films and watch TV programs to delve deeply into the subject. It should be something that you can all enjoy and talk about. Possible subjects: history of the Virgin Islands, famous people who lived and worked on St. Thomas, slavery in the Caribbean, volcanoes and earthquakes, the process of building a house, the various ethnic divisions of Europe, types of fish and their habits, maps, islands and cultures of the Caribbean, flowers and plants of the Caribbean.
5. READ, READ, READ, READ
Help your child choose books that are appropriate.
Discuss the book with your child.
Have them write a short report describing three characters, telling the main idea of the book and writing a paragraph about how it ended. Read it and discuss it supportively with the child. Younger children should be able to tell you about the story after you have read it together several times.
Visit Education Station, Dockside Bookstore, Hemingway Book Store, K Mart, and pick up used books at the Humane Society, dejá vu and from friends.
Make regular visits to the Enid Baa Library on Main St. 774-0630. Always check before you go to see if the Children's room is open. Call Mrs. Hendricks at 774-3407 if you can volunteer for that very worthwhile service.
FUN DINING EXPERIENCES: The following restaurants are ‘kid friendly' (tolerant plus) from my personal experience. Children need to learn to sit in their chair, amuse themselves with paper and pencil or a book and practice ‘restaurant manners'.
Duffy's Love Shack (during the day)
Blue Moon Café
Sibs
Hard Rock (day and early evening, especially fun for teenagers)
The Greenhouse
Chart House
Finn McCools
Tickles at Crown Bay
Molly Malones at American Yacht Harbor
Woody's in Cruz Bay, St. John
7. SHARING WITH OTHER PARENTS:
Children need to spend time with their friends and parents cannot be available constantly to supervise activities with their children. Work with some other parents who are willing to supervise structured activities with a small group of children. Parents can share skills and interests with other children. Establish some mutual supportive rules for behavioral expectations (for both parents and children). The interaction with different adults is always very beneficial. Watching others relate with your own child is also highly constructive. Stick to scheduled times and keep the activities simple.
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER……………
