Fun Summer Learning Activities

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How will you prevent your child from forgetting everything that they learned this year?

As summer looms large, we moms worry about how to keep our kiddos engaged and learning over the long break. We have lists in our head: create routines, read more, limit screen time, look for learning opportunities, etc. Yet, we really want to relax and enjoy the time off with our littles. Sometimes, it seems what we do to encourage and help our children’s growth only causes conflict and tears in the home.

Let’s see if we can find some fun summer learning activities that will not cause conflict and instead will maintain much of what the kids learned this past year.

Expand on learning opportunities

Children are naturally curious. They love the why’s and how’s of the way things work. Try to find opportunities that do not feel like lessons or teaching. I recommend some really fun science experiments. Pinterest is a great resource for this.

I remember my mom did this really great “swimming pool” activity with me. It was really a science type activity that I never would have considered a lesson.
Use a clear bowl. Add water, this is your “swimming pool.”
Shake in some salt (it could have been sugar-it was a long time ago!), “The moms are coming to swim.”
Shake in some pepper, “Now the kids are going to join the moms.”
“Now, here come the daddies.” Add a drop of dish soap.
All of the pepper goes to the edges in a nice circle.

I wish I could tell you why-I have no idea, but it is a lot of fun.

These kinds of experiments help develop your child’s critical thinking and problem solving skills.
More importantly, it engages your child in the world around the and has them ask why?

Build something together

Building different things together can help your child develop spatial reasoning skills and allow them to use their imagination. They can turn square legos into a racetrack or a UFO. Ask them how their creation works, why the chose it, and what obstacles they had because of the limitations of the materials they had on hand.

Learn something new

Fun fact: when your child learns a new language or a musical instrument their brains are growing white matter, cognitive function, and new neural connections.

Learning anything new like cooking, knitting, coding, etc. helps them develop curiosity, focus, and perseverance.

Play games

Some would say educational games should be played to keep your child’s brain engaged over the summer. I feel most games have value. When you play games as a family, you participate in together time. It is almost always a “safe space” because no one is talking about the chores that should be done, the pets that haven’t been walked, or any family member who isn’t pulling their weight. It is all about coming together and enjoying each other.

If you have kiddos that do not win or lose well, play collaborative games of the ones we have played and loved in our home!

Skills you learn playing games: self-esteem, critical thinking, strategy, motivation, social skills, compromise, and listening.

By creating learning opportunities for your child, you can help them develop their cognitive skills and keep their brain active over the summer months. With a little creativity and imagination you can turn every day activities into fun and educational experiences for your child.

Enroll in summer programs

Enrolling your child in summer programs and niche camps is an excellent way to keep their brain active, entertain them, and provide new learning opportunities.

1. STEM programs

STEM is hot! There are a lot of camps and programs offered for children of all ages specializing in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math). Most of them are great for the kinesthetic (hands on) kiddo. The programs in our area that parents and children flock to are offered by our aeronautical university.

2. Art programs

Art programs develop creativity, confidence, and inspire self expression. If your child has a love for the arts, look into summer programs at the community college, theater, art galleries, and music stores.

3. Sports programs

Participating in team sports can help your child develop teamwork, leadership, and communication skills. Sports programs will also keep your child moving which helps to create life long healthy habits.

4. Outdoor programs

By participating in outdoor programs, your child can stay motivated and engaged throughout the summer. These programs can provide your child with new learning opportunities, help develop new skills, and most importantly to your child, introduce them to new friends.

Plan educational trips

Educational trips can help your child learn new things, expand their knowledge, and develop their curiosity.

1. Visit museums

Museums com in all shapes and sizes. You can visit a children’s museum where your child can touch and interact with the displays. History museums will talk about a specific time, people, or event that may spark your child’s interest. We visited a car museum because my younger son loves all things cars. Find museums that match your children’s ages and interests.

2. Park pass

Have you heard of the National park pass? It seems to be marketed to the retired population, however, it is a great way to get your children to learn and engage with the country. The best thing about it-it has stickers! What child does not love stickers? You get a book which has the country divided up into regions. The goal is to visit a specific number of national parks within each region. At each park you need to go to the visitor’s center to get the stamp or sticker for your book. At the visitor’s center the kids can learn all about that monument, park, or site.

3. Attend cultural events

Ideally, you can all sit down with a calendar before summer begins and put which concerts, plays, festivals, and cultural centers you want to attend or visit. This is not always easy to do months in advance simply because you may not be able to find the information about the event. You can talk about the various customs and traditions from what you all see together. Encourage your child to ask questions. Take this a step further and learn to cook something together from each culture you learn about.

Educational trips can turn into fun learning activities for your child. You can mix and match these to create a fun summer experience that enriches your child without them ever realizing you purposely sought ways for them to learn.

Read, read, read

Does your child hate to read?

Check out 8 Ways to Help Your Child Fall in Love with Reading.

Reading is one of the best ways to keep your child’s brain active over the summer. It helps your child develop vocabulary, comprehension, and critical thinking skills.

1. Choose a variety of reading materials

Let your child choose what they want to read. You may wish they were reading “grade level” and chapters, not pictures, but if your child will spend time reading and enjoying magazines, newspapers, comic books, or graphic novels, let them. You want them to be reading and engaged.

2. Set reading goals

You can join the summer reading challenge at the local library. This may help with the variety of what your child will read. Your child will also meet others their age and may talk about what other’s enjoy reading. You can also make it simple and set goals in your own home, a set amount of time to read each day, for example.

3. Read together

Take turns reading the story. When you read the same story, you an discuss it together. This allows you to help your child summarize, without saying, “Can you summarize the last chapter?” Which sounds exactly like what they may have to do in school, you can say, “I can’t remember what was going on, fill me in?”

You can also teach your child to predict what may happen later, this uses inference skills based on what they are reading and what is happening and guessing what may happen. Then you can connect with some things that the characters may be doing or feeling that have gone on in your life. Ask your child to do the same as the story unfolds. Connecting with a story is a higher level thinking skill.

Reading can be a fun and exciting learning activity. Children get to explore new worlds, become heroes, and have wonderful topics for conversation.

4 EASY STEPS TO BECOMING A GREAT WRITER…. WITHOUT EVER PICKING UP A PENCIL

Does your child need help with writing?

Do you struggle with your child to get homework done?
Do they have difficulty with writing?
I am a writing teacher-you can make it easy!
4 EASY ways to help your child become a great writer.

Writing is at the foundation of all the academic
your child will do in older grades. This checklist can help!

Write

Writing will definitely feel the most like school.
Be sure to check out Summer Writing Prompts.

Encouraging your child to write can help develop writing skills, encourage creativity, and create writing fluency.

Keeping your child’s brain active during the summer months is essential to prevent summer slippage and retain what they learned the previous year. Create learning opportunities, find engaging summer programs, plan educational trips, and read and write regularly. By doing these things you can provide fun summer learning activities that your children will want to participate in.

Fun Summer Learning Activities