Fathers who can master and implement the elements of play for each developmental stage of their children's lives will be successful fathers. With Piaget on the one hand, and some useful skills on the other, Fathers can become guides to the world of creativity and work for their children.

Below are some suggestions and links to playfulness:

• Stamp Collecting
• Collecting letters from foreign countries
• Images of Money
• Folding a Paper Balloon
• Paper Airplanes - One of the most magnificent devices for explaining physics to a kid.
• What goes into an all purpose activity box?
• Scrapbooks and Collages
• Publishing your own local newspaper!
• Music for Children

Stamp collecting serves many functions:

• Kids can learn a lot about history through the collection of commemoratives.
• It teaches organizational skills, expecially if Dads and Kids construct their own collections, rather than relying on commercial albums.
• It requires periodic revisitation, so Fathers can use its maintenance as an excuse to also maintain the old P-C relationship!

Here's a 1961 four cent commemorative  for the first manned space flight	This one is for the first  Moon Landing in 1969

This is a "First Day Cover". When a new stamp is issued,  the Postal Service will cancel stamped commemorative envelopes  at a significant Post Office. This one, commemorating LBJ's Inaugural   was cancelled at the Washington, D.C. Post Office. in 1965

Collecting letters from foreign countries

One of the most pressing problems in parenting today is the worry parents have about their children's intellectual curiosity.
We all want our children to think beyond their own problems and environments.
This exercise will widen the horizons of both fathers and their children.

Children make good ambassadors. With a little research, Dads and kids can start writing letters to key officials in foreign countries, asking for information about, and examples of, the culture. The result ties in with collecting in general. My advice is to start with a general collection of national issues and go from there. If kids are interested in international collections - they can dovetail this activity with a letter writing campaign to foreign countries and cities.

For example, by dragging out the Atlas and picking countries and cities, then looking them up on the internet, Dads and kids can decide who to contact:

"To the Mayor of Brisbane, Austrailia
My name is Giacomo Bartullio.I am 8 years old and live in Coshockton, Ohio. I am a big fan of your country, having learned about it from the encylopedia at school I am very interested in learning more about Brisbane and Austrailia.
If possible could you please send me some brochures. I am also a stamp collector and am looking forward to seeing what kind of stamp you will use on the return mail...." You get the idea?

Most likely, what will be returned to young Giacomo will be a letter signed by the Mayor, some images of the country, and maybe a small set of stamps.  What Giacomo learns from this, aside from the explicit information, is that Australians are nice folks and that they like children.  He also might learn that people around the world are responsive and good - sort of a belated extension of Erikson's trust vs. mistrust stage of development.

This same idea can payoff by requesting inexpensive examples of the culture.
For example, when writing to the Mayor of Brisbane, Austrailia, that 8 year old could also ask politely that a few low denomination coins be sent along with the other stuff. "...also, I am starting an international coin collection. If it isn't too much trouble, could you send me the equivalent of a U.S. penny. My encyclopedia says you use pence in Autrailia.  You might be interested to know that I plan to show off my collection to my class."

Now he has the start of an international penny collection, an international stamp collection, a collection of letters from foreign dignitaries, and a good start on a worldly self-image that can only expand.

Early Versions of the $5 had the President on the Back  with a mythic scene of Liberty and Justice on the Front

Early versions of the $1 had pictures of Both Martha and George Washington  - note the words "Silver Certificate"

This example of a $1 is shows America showing Democracy (Washington, D.C.) to the Future

Franklin and Liberty on the $50 - later on Ben got a raise!

These were called "Goldbacks" because of the yellow back color and because they were "backed" by gold instead of silver.

Another example of non-Presidential currency

And another example of an early $1 without the strange pyramid and the U.S. Seal

Start with an 8.5 by 11 inch sheet of paper and fold diagonals to make a perfect square. Tear off the bottom.

Fold the square into a rectangle, then tuck the sides into a triangle.

Fold the four corners up to the top to make a ...

diamond shape.

Fold in the east and west corners to the middle

Fold down the four top flaps and ...

tuck inside.

Blow here to get ...

a Paper Balloon! 

Also, your public library has several books on Origami and Paper Airplanes.
Usually, these books come with all the instructions you can use, and can get pretty complicated.

While you are at it, you might look for books on kite making and flying. 

What goes into an all purpose activity box?

Want to bring out the artiste in your kids? They need good tools set in an organized keeper.

Find a good sized tool or tackle box - something with a tray and various sized compartments for storing the implements of the artist. The contents can be swept up and put away fairly quickly.

First, the tools

• a protective cloth (big enough to cover the kitchen table, or other work surface).
• crayons, pencils (colored and no. 2s), washable markers, colored chalks
• glue sticks and white glue, No toxic or petroleum based adhesives!
• safety (round tipped) sissors (a couple of pairs)
• a pretty good compass for drawing arcs and circles
• 12 and 6 inch rulers, maybe a french curve
• a couple of different kinds of erasers
• a small box of tissues (for blending colors)
• tape - scotch and masking

• some scraps of gift wrap (for framing and borders)
• colored papers for cutting out designs
• plenty of white paper (the thicker the better, and recycle those used reports!)
• construction paper

This is an all purpose, rainy day, self-amusement set of tools. The idea is that kids can be creative. 

Scrapbooks and Collages

I'll bet, if yours is like most families, you have a couple of shoeboxes full of unorganized snapshots. These are natural mines for keepsakes for kids:

• They can make a family history album, supplying their own captions and decorations.
• Your kids might like to keep records of things that happen during the school year.
• They can catalog trips they go on - vacations, school events, birthdays, and so on..
• Maybe a photo album of the family's pets would be a fun and sweet project!

A cluttered mind generally comes from a cluttered environment.
Scrapbooks clean up some of the clutter and serve as a self-empowering way for kids to learn self-efficacy and self-control.

Just remember the kids are doing the creating, it's their project - so easy on the criticism and control!

BTW - Keep your eye peeled for old looseleaf notebooks. If someone in the family works in an office, they might be a good resource for this (and paper too!).

Nothing to do! Everybody's bored and whining!

Why not layout a tabloid of your own, complete with crayon drawings and heavy marker headlines.

Click here for an example