Eleven-year-old Natalie Newman tips her head to one side and thinks for about two seconds when asked whether her father, writer Richard Newman, is the “cool dad” in her circle. “Nah,” she says. “I don’t think so.” But she does have a friend who wants to be a writer now (she does, too). And when she and her dad hang out, she’s never bored. Last year, she and her pals critiqued Richard’s manuscript, Sally Pringle and the Space Pirates, by reading it out loud, in parts.
“They liked it,” Richard says. “They sat down across from me at the table and told me what they liked and what I should change.”
Richard indulges Natalie’s fascination with pirates—which is fair, because he started it. Years ago, he read Treasure Island to her at bedtime and she decided pirates were the greatest. For a school project, she and Richard created a Treasure Island board game. And during a trip to Louisville, they went to the Frazier Historical Arms Museum’s third floor to see medieval weaponry, chain mail and relics from the Tower of London.
On Thursdays, when Natalie goes to stay with her dad for the weekend (Richard has Thursdays blacked out on his calendar forevermore), the two play cards, make enchiladas and play a made-up game called “bedtime stories.”
“Actually, that’s how Sally Pringle started,” Natalie says. Her dad makes up a story off the top of his head, telling it in serial form night by night, though he admits to writing down the names of the characters as he goes. Of course, once you do that, you might as well write it out as a book and add some flourishes—hence the paper-and-ink incarnation of Sally’s pirate adventures.
“What was that thing you added—that big green lizard thing?” Natalie asks her father. “That was cool.”
“Yeah,” he replies. “I should have thought of that the first time.”
It must be great to be so creative that you never have to go to Six Flags, eh?
“Oh,” he laughs. “We do that, too.”
Some Cures For The Summertime Blues
Not an author? Not to worry. We’ve got plenty of tips for keeping a bored kid busy.
Off the Beaten Camp
For young techies who prefer to forgo the trailblazing and poison ivy of old-school summer camps, Washington University offers ID Tech Camp (missouri.internaldrive.com). Classes are available for kids ages 7–17; register them online (natch) for units in video production, robotics and Flash animation. COCA (524 Trinity, 314-725- 6555, www.cocastl.org) is the place to go for day camps in circus arts, dance and music and classes for kids as young as 3. Just down the street, at Craft Alliance (6640 Delmar, 314-725-1177, www.craftalliance.org), your kids can sidle up to a potter’s wheel or make their own ’zines. Madebyme Craft Studio (13940 Manchester, 636-227-5252) offers girls’ camps throughout the summer. The Gorlok, which is something like a Billiken (but lives at Webster University), is the namesake of Gorlok Golf Camp (www.webster.edu/athletics) for boys and girls ages 9–15. Webster also offers camps in volleyball and basketball.
Go Play Outside
Like dinosaurs and magic, the universe is naturally fascinating to most kids—and adults, too, which means that exploring the night sky together during a Star Party (St. Louis Astronomical Society, www.slasonline.org) promotes family togetherness in a way that The Wiggles on Ice just can’t. Missouri Department of Conservation classes—try "Let's Make Stinkbait!" or "Mysteries of the Night Prairie"—are 100 percent free (636-441-4554, mdc.mo.gov/events). For an urban outdoor experience, Trailnet offers a regular schedule of family rides in Creve Coeur Lake Memorial Park and along the St. Louis riverfront (www.trailnet.org).
New and Cool
Skyzone is a kid’s dream come true: a 22,800-square-foot building full of inter-locking trampolines (17379 Edison, behind the Chesterfield Commons Home Depot, www.skyzonesports.com). The St. Louis Science Center (5050 Oakland, 314-289-4464, www.slsc.org) recently opened Sportsworks, an interactive exhibit where kids who get plenty of thumb exercise on the video game console can expand their “fitness literacy.” Exhibits include a virtual-reality basketball game, simulated rowing races, a climbing wall and 18-foot-high G-force loop. The Children's Garden at MoBot (4344 Shaw, 800-642-8842, www.mobot.org) includes treehouses, caves and a little riverboat kids can pilot. Less hyped but still four-star: new playgrounds in Forest Park and Faust Park that offer old-school faves like slides and swings, as well as equipment for kids with disabilities.
Overbooked
Sometimes a parent doesn’t have the head-space to play event planner. But fear not the day when the summer heat becomes so unbearable that nothing sounds good; just send the kids to the library. The St. Louis City Library (www.slpl.org) is teaming up with the Magic House for a summer reading series, "Paws to Read," that pairs animal-themed books with Magic House events; the St. Louis County Library (www.slcl.org) has reading clubs, a teen knitting group, workshops such as "Floats Aren't Just for Parades" (a history lesson about root beer) and visits from the Missouri Department of Conservation's Mobile Aquarium.
