Summer is here and the kids are out of school for a few months. Most, if not all children want to play the summer away, but you can include activities to keep their minds sharp all summer long. Forget sitting down with books and paper. Make learning fun this summer to keep your children interested in learning all year round.
Visit the Zoo to Make Learning Fun This Summer
Many may not take this as a learning opportunity, but the zoo gives children the chance to see a variety of animals they may not know otherwise. Many zoos have information cards in front of cages and habitats so your children can read about the animals they’re seeing. This is a great way to expose your children to exotic animals and introduce animal kingdoms if they’re old enough.
Museums
Museums are another great spot to make learning fun this summer. From dinosaurs to ancient tools and civilizations, museums offer a variety of areas to learn about. Some museums even have hands-on displays so children can be directly involved in all sorts of learning related activities.
Get Crafty to Make Learning Fun This Summer
Steering away from the reading related activities and more towards hands on learning, educational crafts can be a big hit with kids. Building birdhouses teaches them how to use units of measure and how to read a ruler or measuring tape. It can also help teach them how to use basic tools, such as hammers. Always leave the cutting to an adult though! You can also find recipes for making your own bubbles and turn it into a fun science experiment.
Rock Collecting
While geology may not be taught in schools, rock collecting can still help keep your child’s mind sharp during the summer. Make sure it’s legal to collect in the area you’re looking and have them pick some of their favorites. There are plenty of online resources to help them identify their rocks.
Web Ranger
This activity can be done from home, so on extremely hot days or other poor weather, they can still learn while having fun. The National Park Service has a program called Web Rangers where children can sign up (with the help of a parent or guardian) and learn about national parks while earning rewards and completing fun activities.
Color Flowers to Make Learning Fun This Summer
Using white carnations, children can learn how water and nutrients travel through flowers with a simple experiment. All you need is water, food coloring, and carnations. It usually takes one day for the color to set, but the color will darken as time goes on. Give them the freedom to experiment with different color combinations to see what they create!
Book Challenge
While it may not be at the top of every child’s list of fun things to do this summer, a book challenge can be rewarding for the parent and the child. Based on your child, come up with a number of books to read per month (or over the entire summer) with a reward at the end they’ve been wanting if they meet the goal. This keeps their reading skills sharp and gives them something to look forward to. Additionally, summer reading is great for SAT Prep if you have teens.
Nature Walks
Take a walk at your local park or other available walking trail. This can give children the opportunity to learn how to identify potentially poisonous plants, various animals, and trees. When the leaves start to fall, you can even collect them for children to identify and press into a book.
Summer doesn’t mean the learning is over! Children want to have fun all summer long and dread the days as school approaches again, but learning doesn’t have to be boring. There are many ways to make learning fun this summer, from nature walks to rock collecting. Even the zoo and museum can be a fun learning experience!
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