One project you can put up in the summer for your kids and their neighborhood friends is the pooling together of the wood toy trains of the kids and form them into a long convoy of train set in your yard. You can do this to simulate the long trips made by the trains through wild Indian country in American history that the kids now read about in their history books.

To make sure that the kids spend some hours outdoors during their long vacation from school, get this project organized early, as creating the scenario for this will be a bit complicated.

Before the school year ends make the kids research in the Internet during weekends what the American Wild West was all about in early American history, so when you create the drama in your yard weeks from now, they will be able to contribute additional ideas.

The concept of the "play" with the train for kids as the trains of old traversing the American continent is simple: Just let the trains strike out into the vast American countryside as what took place in historical times, with the danger of Indian warriors on horseback attacking the convoy at any point on the long stretch.

Get half of the kids to form into the Indian warriors group as the attacking force, and the other half as the members of the American cavalry, tasked to protect the American countryside from the depredations of the Indian braves then. Weave the story around the train set for kids the kids will help assemble and put together in one convoy. These constitute the props for the scene on the Indian warriors' attack on the train convoy, subjected to repulse by the American cavalry soldiers.

Give all the kids the chance to suggest their own inputs into the "drama" so you can maximize the fantasy the kids are capable of thinking up to carry out the war game. Get the dads and the moms to help in dressing up their little "warriors" in the appropriate outfits, either as Indian warriors, or as American soldiers.

You can just imagine how the other parents will be calling you even in the middle of night demanding to know more of what their kids are up to now as Indian braves or as dashing American cavalrymen, to fight the battle in your yard as soon as school is off.

Stay calm, you as the mastermind of the whole thing should be able to explain and convince the dads and the moms around to play along and witness the great battle between the Indian braves and the heroic American troopers in your yard in the next few weeks. Ask them to make the Indian war paint on their little warriors authentic enough, and come over to your place and join the fun.

You seem to be succeeding in convincing the kids' folks in your campaign for the great Indian attack on the toy train set. Many are coming over to witness the fight; one dad even volunteered to bring the sandwiches for the occasion. You have to ask your wife now to be ready with gallons of cold lemonade to wash the sandwiches down the hungry tummies of the little warriors.

As you review your checklist of the things that will happen shortly on that convoy of wooden trains in your yard, you could wonder if you are not actually overdoing things. Your wife however assures you everything is okay with: "Just go ahead with the play, Mr. Director. I am 100% behind you!"