The weather has turned sour here in the San Francisco Bay Area, making it all the more apparent that fall is on its way with the incumbent return to school, books and studying. If your little ones are less than thrilled about the idea of returning to class, ease them into the process with some of these fun craft ideas that will have them looking forward to the sound of that first bell!

Cereal Box Bookmarks

Teach them about recycling while you show them how much fun reading can be with these cute cereal box bookmarks from PlumPudding.

Book Log Bookmarks

Keep track of all the books they’ve plowed through this summer while you get ready for even more fun fall reading with these cute bookmarks from Woman’s Day!

Custom Binders and Book Covers

Let them dress up their books and binders so that they can’t wait to show them off to their friends! Thick wrapping paper or unpeeled contact paper make great book covers, and Better Homes offers some great suggestions for creating one-of-a-kind binders.

Create a Summer 2009 Time Capsule

Give the kids a moment to reflect on all that summer fun when they sit down to make a list of their favorite things to do, places to visit and people to see from this summer. Family Fun has a fantastic list of ideas to help you get started immortalizing this summer as a lasting memory you will all cherish!

It might be August already, but we still have a few more weeks of summer left to enjoy! Some of my favorite summer memories when I was a kid involved making homemade bouncing rubber balls out of glue and some other ingredients. They always went flat after a day or two, but the simple act of making them transformed them into something special.

You can make this same kind of special memory with your little ones by trying out some of these playtime crafts from Skip to My Lou:

• DIY Gak

• DIY Chalk Paint

• DIY Moon Sand

This summer, I’ve spent a lot of time at the historic Stanford Theater watching classic films on the big screen. My favorite part of the summer program at the Stanford is when I see tons of kiddies there to watch a timeless film that still manages to transcend all of the generational gaps between them and their parents.

I can’t imagine a world in which kids haven’t seen The Wizard of Oz or The Sound of Music, but there are other films that seem to enchant kids of all ages no matter how much time has passed since they were first created. Have your little ones seen any of these classics?

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
• The Great Muppet Caper
• The Little Princess
• Miracle on 34th Street
• Mary Poppins
• The Music Man
• ET
• The Princess Bride
• Who Framed Roger Rabbit?