Challenge younger children to find letters of the alphabet on everyday items like street signs, cereal boxes, or newspapers. By asking "How many A's can you find?" you also exercise counting skills.

Any daily reading, even comic books, is good for your child's brain. A librarian can help your child select books on any topic-basketball or birds, horses or Harry Potter. The secret is for the child to choose the subject, so that it doesn't feel like homework and he or she is truly reading for pleasure.

Writing weekly letters to a pen pal or distant friend won't feel like schoolwork, especially if the contents are strictly private! And older kids won't care that crossword puzzles boost spelling and vocabulary, if you make it a game while traveling or cooking dinner.

Have kids "paint" their names with water on a hot sidewalk, then watch the letters disappear! To sneak in some science, have kids guess how long it takes for wet footprints to evaporate, then time it. Challenge them to guess the melting time of ice cubes. Drop items in a pail of water to see if they sink or float. Have children record all guesses and results, and reward the "players" with frozen treats.

For more sly science fun, find two similar, healthy plants. Have your child water one, but not the other, for a week or two, and observe daily. Make a leaf tattoo by gently clipping a small paper shape onto a large leaf. Remove the shape after a week. Discuss the results and have the child write it up to share the experiment with family members.

Help your child make his or her own book. Use funny drawings, or photos of family members onto silly magazine pictures. A younger child can dictate the story; older children can write it themselves. Let creativity rule!