You might be familiar with the concept of the ‘summer slide’—the tendency for children to lose much of the information, skills, and inspiration acquired during the school term throughout the carefree days of summer. It’s not that you’re pushing for your child to morph into the next Newton or Rosalind Franklin, but you undoubtedly desire them to retain the previous year’s learning to be ready for the forthcoming academic year.
Yes, periodic calculated screen time can be beneficial for educational purposes, but the secret to ensuring a summer that’s both entertaining and educational lies in a blend of instructive play and educational screen use. This strategy also effectively curbs the common cries of “I’m bored.”
This summer, make it clear that daily learning is crucial, enabling children to maintain their learning habits while savouring the relaxation that summer brings.
Here are 21 suggestions to stimulate your children’s minds throughout the summer, ensuring they have an enjoyable summer and a smooth transition back to school:
Seek advice. Consult your child’s teacher before the end of the school year to understand the educational objectives recommended for your child. Avoid comparing your child’s academic performance with that of their siblings or friends. Everyone’s learning journey is unique. Focus on encouraging your child based on their current academic standing to enhance their love for learning.
Register for the library’s summer reading program. Set a minimum daily reading time of thirty to sixty minutes. Split the reading time into two thirty-minute sessions—one for a book approved by you and the other for whatever your child wishes to read. Libraries offer a wide variety, and summer is the perfect time to explore age-appropriate comic books, graphic novels, cookbooks, and biographies.
Explore local museums. Determine free visiting days for local museums and educational centers. Choose between guided and non-guided tours based on your family’s preference. Don’t forget to check the gift shop for intriguing games and toys.
Engage in gardening. Use illustrated gardening books by Sharon Lovejoy to find projects that match your family’s and children’s interests. Plant a pizza garden if your family loves pizza or a salsa garden if fresh salsa is preferred. Tailor your gardening based on your family’s dietary preferences. Refer to the sidebar for guidebooks full of gardening inspiration.
Think like an educator while shopping. Visit your local teacher supply store and stock up on workbooks and educational games. Other items that might motivate summer learners include timers for dividing the day into learning segments, craft supplies suitable for all ages, and educational games, videos, and music.
Pretend to shop. Display some food from your cabinets and pantry onto the countertops. Allow children to use real money, price items, use calculators, and do the math. Make this pretend shopping a whole-day event or a weekly activity if your children enjoy it. Adjust the complexity of the game according to your children’s ages.
Visit nearby nature centers and gardens. Make a list at the start of summer and aim to visit all regional natural sites before the school year starts. Plan a weekly outing and bring a picnic. On the way home, play “I Spied” instead of “I Spy” to review what you saw and learned.
Plan a hypothetical vacation. Allow each child to choose a destination and calculate the total cost for the family to stay there for a week, including airfare, transportation, meals, hotels, and all other expenses. Have them present their proposed vacations to the family, showing the math on a poster board. Who knows, they might convince you to embark on a trip you hadn’t considered before.
Allow them to plan a meal. The children can become chefs for the day—finding recipes, making the grocery list, cutting coupons, shopping, comparing brands, and finally cooking. Be a good sport and enjoy whatever they serve. Younger children can do the same with pretend food.
Introduce a word of the day. Write the word in large letters at the top of a page with the definition just below. Hang the word on the fridge and encourage using it in sentences throughout the day.
Turn bug or weed control into research projects. This is an excellent way to practice problem-solving and might help solve your most frustrating problems. Challenge older children to address your ecological challenges by researching and testing natural solutions they find on the Internet. Keep a record of the results and reward successful solutions.
Experiment with measurements and mixing. Put the children in charge of desserts for the summer. Ensure they create some healthy options like fruit pops or sorbet, as well as delicious baked treats like pies, cakes, and cookies. If they get carried away, let them hold a neighborhood bake sale.
Pair reading with multimedia. Take turns reading aloud or check out audio books from your local library to listen to before dinner or bedtime. After finishing the book as a family, watch the movie together. Compare and contrast the books and the films. Refer to the sidebar for suggested books that have been adapted into movies.
Maintain a “My Summer Memories Scrapbook.” Choose a blank-page, oversized book with ample pages for writing, collaging, collecting, and embellishing. Dedicate time to work on the “summer books” for a half-hour every day at the best time. Let the children decide whether to keep it private or share their work with the family.
Subscribe to BrainPop. This educational website offers over 1,000 short animated movies for children aged six to seventeen, serving as an excellent substitute teacher for your children during the summer. They can explore topics that interest them. Check with your child’s school library for free access to BrainPop. Otherwise, a subscription is a wise investment for entertaining enrichment.
Undertake a significant creative project. Choose one that requires planning, creativity, and collaboration, such as staging a puppet show, writing a play, or making a movie. Allow your child to approach the project in their unique way, offering help only when needed. Invest a little in your child’s creativity, and their imaginations will soar.
Visit friends and family worldwide. Start with a list of friends and family scattered across the globe. Then, once a week, spend an hour exploring each destination using Google Earth and online research. Expand your geographic knowledge by video calling your friends or family and casually interviewing them about their living areas. Hang a map on the wall and mark each location you visit virtually.
Move beyond the lemonade stand. Creating your child’s version of a lemonade stand offers valuable lessons about business, sales, and marketing. Consider selling old toys, baked goods, or artwork for a lesson in entrepreneurship. You never know; this might ignite a future interest in business.
Dedicate to a cause. If your child loves animals, consider volunteering at a local animal shelter. If they’re into fashion, why not organize a summer fashion show to fundraise for a local charity? Even a visit to your local food bank or letting your kids accompany you when you donate blood is a life lesson that keeps on giving.
Introduce your childhood favorites. Did you enjoy making friendship bracelets or collecting comic books? Did you learn to play the guitar or practice scouting skills in the backyard? Summer is the perfect time to share your beloved hobbies and pastimes with your kids. Why not start a dinner conversation about it tonight to spark the memories?
Encourage intelligence admiration. Identify wholesome and intelligent online role models for your tween or teen to follow during the summer.