Did you know that July is Anti-Boredom Month, National Purposeful Parenting Month, Hot Dog Month and Baked Bean Month? July also harbors National Ice Cream Day, National Salad Week and International Joke Day. I kid you not.

It’s a month chock-full of activities, but it still has plenty of long, hot, dull days. If your kids are like most, the summer is a mirage of an oasis of fun in the desert of leisure time. When they get right up to it, today’s kids discover that the fun vanishes quickly. Many children find it very hard to create their own amusement.

But boredom, believe it or not, is fertile ground for creativity.

Brenda Ueland puts it like this: "So you see, imagination needs moodling — long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering." In her book Uncommon Genius, Denise Shekerjian writes that creative people are comfortable “leisurely drifting about, curious to see where the unpredictable currents will take them.”

That’s what summer is for. To explore. To daydream. To ride those unpredictable currents.

Since kids are unaccustomed to this, you may need to give them a boost into using their time creatively. That’s where Summer Celebrations can help. I’ve created activities to jump-start imaginations based on little-known birthdays, anniversaries and holidays.

So grab a hot dog, some baked beans and salad. Have the ice cream standing by.

We’ve got some serious moodling to do.