• Join an adult interest group with your child. If your child likes birds, join a bird-watching group. Go to programs put on by the photographers club.
    

• Encourage your children to enter contests and competitions. Consider preparing for the state spelling bee, enter the county Youth Fair, or essay contests.
   

• Help your child develop presentation skills. Sign up for a storytelling class or encourage him/her to become a magician, a clown, or a juggler. Then let your child perform for a younger sibling’s or friend’s birthday party.
   

• Take advantage of the free offerings of nearby colleges. Check out a veterinary hospital, the National Hurricane Center or attend a program at the local Museum of Science.
   

• Select challenging games, and play them with your child. Start your child on crossword puzzles and word searches.
   

• Encourage your child to start a collection. Go beyond just gathering objects. If your child’s hobby is collecting trains arrange a ride on a real train or visit a train museum. If your child collects postcards or stamps, visit antique shops to add to the collection.
   

• Foster an appreciation for the arts. Visit art museum openings and attend rehearsals of concerts. Sign up together to help on the stage crew for a play. If your child has a special talent in any of these areas, arrange for lessons or classes.
   

• Check out special interest classes and camps. Does your community college or county park offer summer classes? Does space camp appeal to your child? Some programs are very selective; others are open to all interested children. But most have limited space, so apply early.
   

• Pick a foreign language to learn as a family. Listen to tapes in that language when you travel by car. One night a week, speak only that language at dinner. Check out foreign language children’s books from the library.
   

• Expose your children to other cultures by attending ethnic festivals. Keep a globe or world map near your TV so that your children can locate places in the news.
   

• Encourage your child to keep a journal. If journaling does not seem to suit your child’s style, promote other types of writing. Suggest a pen pal or writing for publication.
   

• Encourage science projects, inventions, and contests. If your child is not excited about competition, attend the contests anyway. They will inspire your child to repeat some of the experiments or to improve on some of the inventions.
   

• Teach your child how to take advantage of new technologies. If you don’t own a computer, the public library has computers available.
   

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