Once the presents have been unwrapped and the initial excitement of new toys and games has faded, how do you keep your children busy for the rest of their holiday vacation? While children are out of school for the holidays, parents can keep children learning with fun and engaging projects throughout the last seven days of the year – from December 25 through December 31.

"Holiday vacation is an ideal time for parents to help instill a joy for learning in their children and show that they enjoy learning themselves," said Sherry Bare, Center director for Sylvan Learning Center. "Sharing fun, learning activities can help children improve their attitude toward learning and provides a great opportunity for busy families to spend quality time together during the holidays."

Seven Days of Activities for Family Learning Fun is a free, activity booklet available online from Sylvan Learning Center at http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/learning-activities/brochure.cfm,  and includes seven days of fun learning activities that the whole family can enjoy. Interactive, educational projects detailed in the booklet help nurture reading, writing, research and math skills. Activities for the final seven days of the year include:

December 25 - Start a memory book. Create a memory book of your family’s favorite holiday memories. Purchase a photo album and decorate it together.

December 26 - Family reading. Spend at least 10 to 15 minutes a day reading to your children. For help selecting great family books, visit Book Adventure, a free, reading motivation program created by Sylvan Learning Center at www.bookadventure.com.

December 27 - Family history. Create a family tree and incorporate pictures of aunts, uncles and grandparents. Ask family members about what they were like when they were children.

December 28 - Make your own play dough. Use the play dough to make letters, shapes, numbers or figures. Create games using the figures you have created.

December 29 - Dress up as your favorite book character. Choose your favorite book character and play dress-up, re-enacting your favorite parts in the book.

December 30 - Have a book-inspired feast. Bring ideas from literature to life by experimenting with foods from classic books. For instance, make your morning breakfast memorable with Green Eggs & Ham by Dr. Seuss.

December 31 - Explore nature.  Take a walk with the whole family to explore nature. Use the Internet to learn more about this time of year and the plants and animals in your area. Or, check out books about nature and local foliage from your public library.

For more information on fun learning activities from the experts at Sylvan Learning Center, or to download Sylvan's free activity booklet, Seven Days of Activities for Family Learning Fun, log onto http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/learning-activities/brochure.cfm or call 1-800-31-SUCCESS.

Learning feels goodTM at Sylvan Learning Center, the leading provider of in-center and live, online tutoring at home to students of all ages and skill levels. With more than 27 years of experience and nearly 1,200 centers located throughout North America, Sylvan’s scientifically-proven, personalized methods have inspired more than two million students to discover the joy of learning.  Sylvan's trained and certified teachers provide personalized instruction in reading, writing, mathematics, study skills and test-prep for college entrance and state exams.  Sylvan helps transform unique kids into uniquely inspired learners with the skills to do better in school and the confidence to do better in everything else.  For more information regarding the Sylvan AdvantageTM, call 1-800-31-SUCCESS or visit http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com.