I-spy, join the dots, spot the difference and things to do and make: our August issue will help you while away the summer days. Plus we've got Will Self on advertising, Stefan G Bucher and more

Our front cover features a monster surf-off courtesy of Stefan G Bucher. Cut out the monsters and watch them ride those waves (while avoiding a craftily-placed BP-style oil slick).

Inside, for our Bumper Summer Fun Issue (yes, OK, before people start complaining, it's not that 'bumper' but use of the word is, we believe, traditional in the circs) we have enlisted the help of some top illustrators to help you amuse yourselves over the holidays. You can play i-spy in the studio (with illustrations by Christine Berrie)

Indulge in a spot of join-the-dots, or find the (very) cheeky monkeys hidden in Johanna Basford's tree

For the fashion-minded, Elliot Thoburn has created this creative couple for you to dress up

And, for the more ambitious, we have plans to make your very own pinhole camera courtesy of new book Build Your Own Paper Cameras

If that all looks like a bit too much work, why not cut out and make the Peskimo mask on the back cover

modelled here by our very own Gavin Lucas

No, you don't have to butcher your copy of CR in order to make this stuff – it's all available to download in PDF form via a URL printed in the issue. Once you've had a go, please send in your pictures to gavin.lucas@centaur.co.uk and we will feature them on the blog (we'll be especially impressed by anyone who takes a photo using the Pinolta paper camera)

We also have an online treasure hunt to find five of Stefan G Bucher's monsters that are secreted about this site, as well as a fiendishly difficult competition devised by Bucher himself on page 3 to win a personalised prize.

Bucher is profiled from page 24

If that all sounds a bit too lighthearted for you, we have a Case Study on johnson banks' controversial Science Museum identity

and a fantastic interview with novelist Will Self in which he reveals his family connections to advertising and the reasons behind his abiding fascination with the industry

Plus more in Crit, including a review of the Photo España festival

and new contributor and ace photography blogger Jörg M Colberg on a seminal survey of the American Midwest

Enjoy.