School may be out but that doesn’t mean that the learning has to stop. Here are 7 fun summer learning activities for your young students.
Hooray! School is out!
Just because school is out, that doesn’t mean that the learning has to stop.
While kids might not be excited about doing classwork, they do still love to learn. If you get creative, you can get them to engage with you in learning activities that will create long-lasting change in their education.
Continue reading this article for Summer learning activities that your kids are going to love.
Must-Try Summer Learning Activities
Summer doesn’t have to look like hours and hours of television and video games. Sure, those things are nice but what other activities can you do to keep your kid’s brains engaged?
1. Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are always fun no matter your age and you can use their appeal to help kids learn during the color.
Have kids look for colors, numbers, and letters inside or outside. Use cheat sheets so they can check off each item as they find it. When each child checks off all of their items, give them a prize for completion.
If you can be outside, you can also have them look for insects, plants, and other things in your yard.
2. Inspect an Ant Bed
Kids love to see how insects live. Grab a magnifying glass and let everyone gather around an ant bed.
You can talk to them about how ants live and work while they are looking at the little guys in action. If there is an ant that decides to leave the bed and go out on an adventure, have the kids follow at a safe distance to see what it is doing.
3. Write About a Family Adventure
Summer is filled with lots of adventures. When kids know they are going to have to write about it, they will pay more attention to detail.
Let’s say that you go hiking up a mountain and to a waterfall. Let your kids know that you’re going to give them points for each detail they add.
Since they are looking for small details, instead of just thinking about hiking to the waterfall, they are likely to look for different plants, butterflies, rabbits, etc. When they are writing about the family adventure, have them tell a little bit about each of the things that they saw. Hands down, one of the easiest summer learning activities to do!
4. Puppet Theater
Depending on the age of your children, you could have them write out a script for their very own puppet show. They can even create their own puppets using socks, Popsicle sticks, and any other supplies they might have.
Puppet theater will allow them to use their imagination and entertain themselves as they are in the creation process. Invite over a few friends for the production and make it a big deal.
5. Plant a Garden
You can plant a garden inside or outside. If you want to plant a garden inside, consider a small herb garden that you can put in your window.
There are whole kits that you can use to create your garden if you don’t feel like putting it all together yourself. If you’re a little more on the DIY side, you can nail together some boards and get the soil for the type of garden you want.
If you want to go outside for a little gardening, you can read up on how to plant a garden with your kids. You can go through the whole learning process together! Not just one of the best summer learning activities, but one of the best family activities!
6. Get Artsy
Developing your artistic side throughout your life is very important since it allows you to stand out from the crowd.
Let your kids start learning how to express themselves through art as well. Whether your kids enjoy paint by number, finger painting, or coloring with crayons, let them explore their creative side.
Try doing a chain-linked paper and string it around the room to see how far you can make it go. Color each of the links for pretty decorations.
7. Race the Clock
Kids love to be timed when they are doing something and you can use this to teach time management.
Give them 3 small tasks to do and tell them they have 7 minutes to do the task. You should make sure they have enough time to do the tasks and not be unrealistic.
Have them figure out the best way to get the tasks done in the allotted amount of time. When they are finished, ask them how they got everything done and what their strategy was.
You can teach them why their strategy worked and how they can improve their time management skills. Summer learning activities that teach necessary life skills!
8. I Spy
Don’t let I Spy end with your generation. Teach your kids about I Spy on a nature walk, in the car, or elsewhere.
When they spy something, have them tell you some fun facts about it and then you can tell them a couple back as well. When you do it like this, you are both learning from each other. Kids love to teach as much as they love to learn.
9. Have a Picnic
Learning how to cook or how to put a picnic together can give kids a true sense of accomplishment. Not only that, when you teach your kids how to fix simple meals, you can free up some time when you would have otherwise had to help them get food together.
When you have a picnic, kids don’t only learn to put food together. They also learn they need to pack and prepare by grabbing a blanket to sit on, a picnic basket, and other must-haves.
10. Gravity Games
Since kids are always falling, you’d think they would notice more about gravity. Oftentimes kids don’t think about why they are falling or even that there is something called gravity.
Try having them race a feather and a rock. Let them pay attention when they jump and talk to them about gravity.
Get a few pebbles for everyone. Put some rings on the ground. Have them toss the peddles into the rings.
Teach them about why the pebbles fell when they did as they tossed them toward the rings.
11. Farm Visits
Check your local area to see if there are farms that will allow you to take a tour. Many farmers are glad to open their gates and let kids come in to look at the horses, chicks, and other animals on the farm.
See how animals live on the farm is both fun and educational. You never know what the animals might be doing. You might even get to see a chicken lay an egg.
12. Build a Bird Feeder
It seems as if birds never stop eating. You can build a bird feeder for endless fun watching the birds.
Watching the birds is only part of the fun though. When you build a bird feeder, you’ll have to learn how to use different tools. You’ll also have to learn how to measure and read plans.
Before building the bird feeder, have kids help you figure out which types of birds live around your area. You also want them to figure out what kind of bird feed they need for their bird feeder.
13. Volunteering
Many organizations will allow young kids to come in and help out for a short time. Volunteering teaches children to be kind and caring. It also can open them up to new experiences they otherwise wouldn’t have had the opportunity to see or do.
Find a park that needs litter pick up or a food pantry that needs help organizing the cans of food.
14. Painting the Fence
Do you have a fence that could use a fresh coat of paint? Suit up the kids and let them at the fence. There isn’t much damage they can do with the paint and who doesn’t love a good messy outdoor paint day?
15. Visit a Museum
Many areas have free or very inexpensive museums to take the kids to. If you think the kids are going to be bored with the museum, turn it into a treasure hunt.
There are likely things in the museum that your child has studied in school. Have them look for these “treasures” and give them credits to use in the gift shop when you exit.
Keeping Kids Engaged During the Summer
It can be challenging to keep kids engaged in learning throughout the Summer. The above Summer learning activities are a great way to have fun with your kids and help them learn.
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