Cities, towns have school vacation boredom solutions

School has been out for less than a week, but that time-worn refrain, “I’m bored, there’s nothing to do,” already hangs on the tip of every child’s tongue just waiting to fall on the ears of their parents like nails on a chalkboard.Not this summer.From Parks and Recreation to local libraries, the YMCA and school programs, everyone is getting in on the idea that it’s good to keep kids busy.Department of Public Works Deputy Commissioner Lisa Nerich oversees the city parks and said the summer programs, which span all age groups, are very important.”It’s important to offer recreation for the kids, and we’re always looking for new ideas,” she said.Nerich said many of the activities offered over the summer, which includes the daily parks program, a myriad of sports camps and lessons and movies at Red Rock Park, to name a few, are free, but some do incur a small fee.”There are field trips that cost a little, but we do our best to price them out and make an effort to make sure they are affordable,” Nerich said.She said they are mindful that many families have more than one child in a particular program.The parks program, which starts up July 7 and runs Monday through Friday, is centered in 10 of the city’s neighborhood parks and playgrounds. Nerich said they try to choose at least one park per ward and in some cases two.In Ward 1, Nerich said, the parks program was initially only offered at Gowdy Park, but when children in the Lynn Woods Playground area began to show an interest, they opened that playground as well.”It was too far for the kids to walk to Gowdy, and the program has built up each year since,” she said.Cook Street Park will also be added to the list this summer, as well, because the Ford School will be closed for the summer, Nerich said.Neptune Park, located behind Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, will also be used for the parks program in place of Warren Street playground. Neptune Park has all new play equipment, picnic tables with checkerboards carved into them and a brand new splash pad.”And all the Parks and Rec sites will also have free lunch provided,” she added.Park program supervisors will distribute lunch and milk to kids participating in the program daily at no cost, Nerich said.The five-week parks program includes sports activities, arts and crafts, cake decorating and sand castle contests, field trips to play miniature golf or bowl, special events like movie night and dances, a bike safety day and more. Nerich said it runs with open enrollment, which means kids can come every day, once a week or whenever they want. Often on very hot days kids will opt to stay home, but, otherwise, Nerich said, the program generally has strong attendance throughout the summer.Martha Morgan, the children’s librarian at the Saugus Public Library, said much of her summer program is science-themed because it builds off this year’s summer reading program, “Fizz, Boom, Read.” It includes not only the reading component but a variety of projects, activities and story times.Morgan said she was fortunate enough to be able to pitch her summer program to 600 students at the Veterans Memorial Elementary School, so she is expecting a good turnout for it.With cool programs like the Whale Mobile, funded with a grant from the Saugus Cultural Council, which allows kids to walk through a life-size inflatable blue whale, how could she fail?Parents should also check with their children’s schools to see what sort of enrichment programs are being offered throughout the summer. Each of Lynn’s high schools run a camp aimed at readying incoming freshman for their first year in high school. Many of the elementary schools also offer a variety of programs.Many nonprofit agencies, such as Girls Inc., The Boys and Girls Club, LynnArts and Raw Art Works, also run summer programs, and information can be found on their respective websites.Even the Lynn Museum and Historical Society is getting in on the summer fun with family-oriented programming. Every Sat