When I was an undergrad at USC I chose to write a research paper on roadside vernacular architecture - fancy term for those oversized and usually outlandish buildings proprietors constructed along main thoroughfares to attract drivers to their businesses. A post WWII trend found families across the US taking to the country’s expanding highway system in their station wagons and airstream trailers set to explore our National Parks or venture cross-country on Route 66 (which would become known as ‘The Mother Road’.) And so it was, in the mid-twentieth century, that the burgeoning American car culture spurred the development of diners in the shape of enormous coffee pots, hotels with two-story teepee cottages and refreshment stands masquerading as giant oranges.

Coincidentally, during this same time period, major fossil discoveries ocurred creating ‘dinosaurs fever.’ These old bones captured the nation’s imagination and soon we saw everything from Godzilla stomping across the silver screen to enthusiasts building mini Brontosaurus in their backyards. Business owners anxious to capitalize on the craze installed large scale beasties at campgrounds, built dino theme parks, incorporated them into hotel signage and created plaster-over-chickenwire models on top of their truck stops.

Now more than fifty years later, many of these structures have disappeared from the landscape or fallen into disrepair. But they continue to generate a nostalgic fan base that have written guidebooks and compiled online archives to document and share the locations of those remaining.

One of the most extensive online resources I’ve seen has been compiled by a woman named Debra Jane Seltzer whose site RoadsideArchitecture.com categorizes these structures by theme (junk food, cows, figures, etc.) with a great section on dinosaurs (my favorite) subdivided by US states along with their specific locations. SO all of this to say, if you’re beginning to dream of summer vacations and have a junior paleontologist at home you may want to consider your own modern prehistoric advenure! Renting an RV for a week could provide an economical holiday and allow you to explore roadside dinos in your neck of the woods.

All images in this post are from RoadsideArchitecture.com and you can also find more of Debra Jane’s finds at her blog Roadside Nut. Below is a sampling of the brilliant dinos.

One of the first gifts I ever remember receiving was a wood sled with red metal runners and a steering rope not unlike the one pictured below. And while your most likely to find a plastic roll-up or saucer style sled these days it’s pretty great to know that there is a company that’s still creating the old school versions. Mountain Boy Sledworks crafts handmade sleds from sustainable woods with non-toxic finishes including four coats of lacquer or three coats of polyurethane to create a marine-grade finish. Below is a selection of their flyer sleds, toboggans, pull sleds and kicksleds that look like so much fun!

You’ll also want to check out sledmaker Brice Haskin’s beautiful book that gives a brief history of sleds and sledding. The Sled Book.

Lest you be at a loss for outdoor activity during the warmer months of the year Mountain Boy also hand crafts gorgeous pull wagons.

I know that a number of kids have spent a portion of their summer holidays collecting bugs from the backyard, on camping trips and (ack!) the basement. And while most parents can assist in identifying the basic bugs (ant, ladybug, house fly…) there is that ocassional ‘mystery bug’ that has everyone stumped.

Well, I was recently introduced to the answer to all your entomology questions, What’s That Bug? This endlessly fascinating site posts reader’s letters and pictures of unidentified insects which Lisa Ann and Daniel (resident bug enthusiasts) research and post their finds. All manner of creepy crawlies are categorized down the left column including sections on ‘carnage’ (not for the faint of heart) and ‘bug love’ (far more interesting than pornography).

And since we’re on the topic, check out The Insect Circus (think Cirque du Soleil performers dressed like butterflies and spiders!)  Brilliant!

The ingenious fellas over at Kids Crooked House have created what I can confidently say is the most amazing line of play houses I have ever seen. Cheers to Mei-Lynn and Sharla over at Rare Birds Finds for turning me on to this cool family run business. Entirely handcrafted in Windham, Maine these houses are flat packed and easily assembled by two adults in about a half hour. Architecture that’ll make you think you’ve just stumbled into Toon Town, you can select from standard designs seen below or work with cousins Glen Halliday and Jeff Leighton to create an entirely custom project. They’ve got me dreaming of an adult size version, maybe situated like Todd Oldham’s tree house!

The video below the photos gives the best overview of Kids Crooked House, you can also view it here.

Grandpa Herb, or the Tire Swing Man as he prefers to be called, has set about perfecting that staple of the playground - the tire swing. He built a wooden play set for his grandson but when he went to add a swing the prices stopped him in his tracks. So he started experimenting with recycled tires and after a considerable investment of time and creativity he’s come up with a really classic, safe and affordable design worthy of the Junior Society club house. It’s a huge hit in his neighborhood and now it can make your house the most popular on the block when you purchase one from his online shop My Tire Swings!

Each tire is rescued from the landfill, thoroughly cleaned, drilled with holes for drainage and coated inside and out in your choice of twenty (20!) colors with raised white lettering. You can select from mildew resistant braided rope in four color combinations, heavy-duty silver chain, poly-coated chain in four colors or chain encased in green garden hose. There are a variety of mounting systems, you can select a horizontal or vertical format swing and options like handles or an adjustable height platform for added stability. All this for under $75.

And one aspect of Herb’s tire swings that I think is really fantastic is his focus on promoting them as a tool for children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. The sensory input of the tire’s spinning motion can be instrumental in the development of balance and equilibrium. It’s clear this Massachusetts grandpa has a good heart and is using his retirement to bring smiles to allot of swingin’ kids.

In 1995, Brown’s Foster Home, a facility in Rome, Maine for developmentally disabled men, began a wood shop program and their first project was to build a classic birdhouse. The guys enjoyed the collaborative process and began experimenting with not only various house shapes and rooflines but also with recycled and repurposed materials. As their skill improved and they refined their designs Recycled Reflections became a full fledged enterprise. And now more than 15 years since inception the guys at Brown’s have made literally thousands of birdhouses all of which they catalogued: stamping, numbering, dating and photographing each piece.

Inspiring story aside, the birdhouses really are quite remarkable with their trademark pine cone shingled roofs, patina of age lent by the recycled materials and quirky personality acquired from their unexpected perches. They average between $65. and $75., a price tag tempered by the knowledge of the sense of accomplishment and dignity the guys get from their efforts building birdhouses.

Undoubtedly many of you are preparing to pack Junior off to summer camp this month. Be it day camp or sleep-away, it can be a really formative experience for many kids, being away from home for the first time and learning to negotiate a daily routine with a mass of one’s peers. Granted it’s not for every kid, but personally I loved it. Of course it was a scary and at times, like Lord of the Flies with counselors. But by the end of the week you hopefully figure out the system, learn the silly camp traditions and leave with a pack of great cabin-mate friends. So in memory of Camp Hiawathas everywhere, I’ve pulled together a mini sampling of some fun and smart camp products.

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Check out this Camp Kit that contains a journal full of camp songs, ghost stories, trivia questions, jokes, magic tricks, and more; postcards and stationery to keep in touch with family and friends back home; stickers; a star chart to track the constellations; and a four-color pen for writing letters. Best of all, the kit has a handle for easy toting or hanging from a bunk bed! $22.00

Camp Stationary Kit Each set includes 40 colorful sheets of send-and-seal stationary for writing home to mom, a camp journal that will help Junior properly pack, store addresses, learn to tie a knot, study the stars, stash keepsakes, and record his daily doings, along with an album to fill with photos of summer friends. $25.00

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Camp Cards Each kraft gift box contains 24 fill-in-the-blank postcards and a chunky twig pen. $12.00

Camp Photo Albums at Madallie, a great children’s travel shop. Two styles to select from, $12.95 each.

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Minimus.biz is a very clever concept store filled entirely with little sample sizes of a hundreds of products. You can purchase tiny toothpastes a la carte, but even better they also have prepacked theme collections including the Summer Camp Kit containing everything from all the bathroom basics to a one-time use camera. This is a sure fire way to make certain all of the essentials accompany your kiddo to sleep-away camp. $41.66 You’ll also find laundry kits and snack kits which would make a great care package. Bookmark this site, it’s a great resource for any trip.

Avid birder and National Audubon Society member since the age of eight, Roberta “Bobolink” Beyer has recently launched a beautiful online shop call The Fat Finch. As I understand it, Roberta created her web store as a companion to her brick and mortar store Bobolink (a type of bird and her nickname since childhood) to reach a wider audience of birding enthusiasts. But quite honestly you don’t need to be a ‘wake up before dawn and sit in a thicket with your binoculars’ type to enjoy the offerings of The Fat Finch.

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Wrapping paper resembling vintage paint-by-number birds. $2.95 per sheet.

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Birding lends itself to all variety of involvement, the simplest of which may be simply setting up a birdhouse, bird feeder or bird bath with your kids. I’m awful partial to the Barnhouse Birdhouse below, and it’s functioning doors allow you to either leave them open with birdseed inside or keep them closed during nesting and then open them for easy cleaning in the off season. $64.95

Tangent that leads somewhere, I promise: When I was a kid, probably eight or nine, I decided I absolutely and irrationally needed a multi-tiered, pagoda-like bamboo birdhouse that I found in a shop or catalogue. Immediately began the Christmas campaigning, and apparently my pleading worked as I later found out my poor father was up till all hours Christmas eve assembling the crazy, complicated thing. It sounds horrible when I say it, but in retrospect the idea of having a pet bird was really secondary to owning that cage. I did select a green parakeet and named him Pistachio who was a poor housekeeper and continually generated a two foot circle of feathers and seed shells around his cage. And I confess to completely panicking when he was let out of his pagoda and flitted insanely around my room. Admittedly not the most successful pairing of pet and kid. All of this to say that the adorable motion-sensor chirping birdies might be a good test run if you’re thinking about a caged bird of your own. $14.95 each.

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There is also a small but fine selection of avian themed books, from classics like Owl Moon to more contemporary stories. Various prices.

Warmer weather and the great outdoors relentlessly summon children everywhere to don their helmets and put the pedal to the metal. Be it trike, two-wheeler with trainers or a big kid banana seat bike there are certain key accessories every junior cyclist should consider: a good helmet is a given (and the only real must-have), however a snappy bike basket could be nice, handlebar pom-poms ditto, but I was pop-a-wheelie excited when I can across the really fantastic collection of bicycle bells and snake bike locks at Pylones. This French company has a tremendous sense of humor that plays out in the every day objects they transform with bright color and amusing design sense. They have four shops in Paris and three in New York , but thankfully the entire Pylones line is available on their website. Bicycle bells are $17. each and snake bike locks are $27.