This summer, impress even your coolest grandchildren with your beat-the-heat savvy! These easy, fun ideas will keep all generations smiling on the hottest of days.

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Ice Cube Painting

Ages: Ten months to five years

You'll Need:
* Ice cube tray and freezer
* Washable paint or food coloring (but beware--food coloring can stain!)
* Construction paper, coffee filters, or paper towels

Here's How:
* Mix water and paint or food coloring to make different colors.
* Pour into an ice cube tray.
* When frozen, break out the cubes and paper and let your grandkids create!

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Beautiful Bubble Brew

Bubbles hold a fascination for all ages!

Ages: One to five years

You'll Need:
* 6 cups water
* 2 cups dishwashing liquid (Joy or Dawn brands work best)
* 3/4 cup Karo light corn syrup
* Bubble wands: canning jar rings, funnels, plastic berry baskets, wire coat hanger shaped into a big 6" wand, plastic 6 pack holder, spools, straws, etc.

Here's How:
* Combine the water, dishwashing liquid, and syrup.
* Let mixture sit for 4 hours before using.
* Pour into a frying pan or large pan and dip in your wand for some unbelievably beautiful bubbles.
* Store mixture in covered glass or plastic containers for future use.

Note:
* Check out John Cassidy's The Unbelievable Bubble Book (Palo Alto, Calif.: Klutz Press, 1987) for further variations.

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Rainbow Rags

Your older preschooler grandkids will love the magic of tie dying on fabric!

Ages: Four to five years

You'll Need:
* 100% cotton T-shirt, pillowcases, or natural fiber fabric to make everything from puppet stage curtains to placemats
* Commercial fabric dyes--or make your own with food coloring or crepe paper soaked in water.
* A bowl or pan for each color
* Rubber bands or string

Here's How:
* This project can be messy, so either do it outside or lay down lots of newspaper!
* Remember to mix the three basic colors red, blue and yellow--to make green, purple and orange.
* Wash and dry the T-shirt or fabric.
* Let your grandchildren create their own scrunches, folds, or twists in the fabric and secure these shapes tightly with a rubber band or string.
* They'll have great fun dipping the tied bundles in the paint and letting it soak until the color is as deep as they wish.
* Wring out the material. With the rubber bands or string still in place, wash and rinse the fabric alone in a washing machine. Add a few tablespoons of salt to a washer full of cold water to help fix the color.
* Remove the string or rubber bands, and hang the fabric to dry.

As summer fun gets under way, we just wanted to remind all of us how important it is to watch children around water. Even if your grandchild is thought by his parents to be "water safe," you must be right there at all times to make sure everything goes right.

Unplug the phone; get the treats, sunscreen, lots of water or juice for drinking, and whatever else you might need; and provide the constant supervision that your little ones require to be safe.

Now for the fun tips! You might try getting out a clean paintbrush and letting your grandchild "paint" the rocks, house, or sidewalks; popping some sponges and a bit of soap in a dishwashing tub and having a "wash the toys" day; letting your little one explore in the kitchen and come up with some novel water toys for a little pool outside, or suggesting that they draw on a coffee filter or paper towel with water-based markers and then squirt them outside on a clothesline for a beautiful watercolor effect.

Let your imagination take flight and you'll make the most of these precious outdoor moments with your young grandchildren!

You've just had a lovely time seeing a neighbor whose three grandchildren were visiting, and something about the mischievous sparkle in the two-year-old's eyes reminded you of when your eldest grandchild was that age. Before you even take off your coat, you take a moment to pull down from the shelf the journal you've been keeping for your eldest grandchild since her birth. With a smile on your lips as you remember her funny antics then and now, you write a short note about how you thought of her today. This is the essence of journal writing with and for a grandchild, another suggestion given by Hannah and Dan R. of upstate New York.

This little journal is not for you to look at alone, however--instead, let your grandchildren rediscover theirs each time they visit (or every time you visit them, if you can take it along). Your young grandchildren will delight in having you read all you've written since the last time you were together, and you will have the satisfaction of having created the most personal keepsake you can for each of your little ones. You might even develop a picture "signature" to end each entry--and use it as well in your letters and notes. A hand-drawn cartoon face of Grandpa or Grandma, or another unique sketch, will become a way even infants can learn to associate you with their journal entries and all the loving packages and messages you send.

This month, we'd like to give all grandparents a bit of inspiration from our contributors for how they can create homemade books and journals that reflect the special relationship we have with each of our grandchildren. Enjoy!

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Ridiculous Recipes

Here's a foolproof way to get your preschooler grandchild giggling!

Ages: Three to five years

You'll need:
*A small notebook, spiral bound or journal style

Here's How:
* Ask your grandchild by phone what ingredients he or she would put into a common recipe, such as cookies, pizza, cupcakes, etc.
* Whatever imaginative response you get, jot it down in your book
* You might want to put a favorite "real" recipe on one side of your new, shared "recipe book" and your grandchild's whimsical version on the facing page.
* Pictures she draws of the two of you cooking together will make perfect illustrations!

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Peek-a-Boo Book

Your younger grandchildren will especially enjoy this, and if you include some photos of yourself it'll help her remember you.

Ages: Nine months to two years

You'll Need:
* A small spiral notebook--spiral bound index cards are perfect
* Pictures or photographs of things or people meaningful to your grandchild
* Clear contact paper
* Scissors

Here's How:
* Starting with the second page in the book, paste a picture or photograph on every other page.
* Cover each picture with clear contact to preserve.
* Cut each blank page into thirds horizontally cutting from the edge of the page through to the spiral binding.
* When your visiting and you "read" the book with your grandchild, turn just one strip at a time.
* Give your little tyke an opportunity to play peek-a-boo and guess who as you slowly reveal the whole picture.
* You can cut pictures out of magazines, but be sure to include some photographs of yourself!

---

Grandloving Activity Idea: Together Stories

Books can be dear friends in childhood and beyond. Personalizing your grandchild's first experiences with books will give them extra appeal.

Ages: Three to five years

You'll Need to Send:
* A story you've written in which you've left blanks for your grandchild to fill in.

Here's How:
* Something your grandchild is interested in will make a good topic--Nick's fascination with Winnie-the-Pooh led to a story that began, "The wind was whistling and whipping the trees around yesterday, and guess who blew in flying high on a _____ balloon? Winnie-the-_____. I invited him to come join us for a ______." Write one or two sentences per page, leaving room for your little one's illustrations.
* Have your grandchild fill in the banks (her folks might have to do the reading and writing to record her words).
* Have her mail the booklet back to you so you can follow up with a sequel!