Why So Savvy: After several successful years, Jack Johnson is once again donating 100% of his "To the Sea" tour profits to his charity, the Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation, which supports environmental, art and music education.  So green is this savvy guy, you can find environmental education community groups at his concerts and even travel via carpool, which you find on his website. And that's music to our ears.

24/Savvy Mom: New York, NY

There are many lessons I teach my kids:  kindness, respect, following directions and self-confidence.  But this month’s lesson is how to eat like a human being and not like a cow.   I often feel like my children graze the fields of my kitchen like cows eating all day.  If you have little ones, maybe you can relate.  The minute they finish the breakfast you pull together bleary-eyed and half asleep, they begin mooing, “I’m hungry…I want this, I want that.”  You pull out some other edible breakfast food, which hopefully, but unlikely, they’ll eat complaint-free.  Minutes later they’re hungry again, and by the end of the day you feel like your kids have turned into farm animals.

Mr. Savvy and I are lucky enough to be clocking triple-digit hours this week with our favorite nephews, making it a plumb opportunity to remind ourselves just how incredibly hard it can be to fill those long, school-free days.  Oh ye parents of children not in year-round school, what a tribulation summer is!  We dug around and loaded up a menu of savvtivities—inexpensive, fun, time-consuming activities—and occupied those little  darlings all day, tantrum free.

1. Water Balloon Fights! Remember how fun those used to be?  Get the kids to fill up a bunch of balloons with water and play toss, stepping back with each successful catch.  Whoever loses gets soaked!  For green parents, plan this around the time your lawn needs watering and make the kids move around covering all the dry spots.
2. Sidewalk Triathlon: Hopscotch, jump rope, and hula hoops are all easy, inexpensive physical activities you can challenge the kids to engage in some healthy competition with.  No sore losers allowed.
3. Bubble Painting: Everyone's tried bubbles, but what about bubble painting?  You'll want to do this outside, in case it gets messy.  Cover a section of a wall and the floor underneath with butcher paper or old sheets you don't care about using as a drop "cloth."  Tape up a white sheet of construction paper and put a drop or two of food coloring in bottles of bubbles.  Let kids blow bubbles onto the paper, making one-of-a-kind works of art.  Or, get white card stock and use the opportunity to have them make greeting cards.
4. Sprinkler Water Park: Running the sprinklers on the lawn is a prime opportunity to get Wee Savvies out of your hair for a few hours.  Either let them run around free and easy or if you're feeling extra-savvy, get some plastic sheeting or a tarp from the hardware store and make a slip and slide.
5. Holiday Craft Elves: Get out that Tub o' Dazzle and give the kids art projects you can use come holiday time.  They can make holiday cards, paper mache decorations, gift tags or more.  The possibilities are endless and it's never too early to start prepping!
6. Photo Scavenger Hunt: Find 50 or so things/situations the kids can take photos of inside and outside the house.  If they're old enough and you want to extend the activity, have them make online photo albums and write story narratives about the photos.
7. Highway Patrol: Take the kids for walks around the neighborhood armed with plastic bags and pick up loose litter.   You can help them appreciate the value of being a conscientious neighbor and give them a big treat at the end for their hard work.