Summer Learning
Whew! Summer has arrived in full swing. Let’s talk about some great summer activities you can do to keep your littles active and the learning on full blast!
Take it outside!
Bring a load of books outside and lounge on a picnic blanket. Bring fun finger foods and drinks to enjoy at your leisure. Read outside with your child. Don’t forget the sunscreen!
A picture is worth a thousand words!
Let your child take pictures of the great outdoors. Print some of the favorites and glue them into a notebook. Let your child draw pictures or write about what he or she has seen. Add to the notebook throughout the summer for a great memory book to look back on.
Create Scavenger Hunts
You can make a list for your child to look at while outside. Here is a copy of our summer scavenger list from one of our Freebies. Join our Facebook Group for access to these. Let your child collect items on the list. There are so many ways you can play with these items.
Help your child sort them into groups such as hard and soft, sort by size, or groups of numbers. Do you have more pinecones or rocks?
This is also a great time to talk about the items found outside. Just through conversation the vocabulary can grow immensely! (See how I used immensely in this conversation?) Focus on adjectives to describe what objects are found.
Get messy!
Since you are going to spend so much time outside, this is the opportunity to get messy.
One fun activity is to put some shaving cream in a tub and sprinkle some washable paint throughout the tub. Add some small plastic animals and let your kids go!
Have some dirty toys? Put some soapy water and cloth in a tub and dump the toys into the tub. Your kids will have a blast washing them. Rinse them off, let them dry and they are ready for play another day.
Plant a garden!
Flowers or food are both exciting to watch grow. There is something magical about watching a tiny seed burst into something beautiful or delicious to eat. This is also a fun way to teach responsibility. There is a natural way to learn cause and effect. If the plants aren’t watered, what is the effect?
As your children see the actual fruit of their labor, they are much more inclined to try and taste new foods. Let them help with the cleaning and prepping of the food. This gives them ownership and they are much more enthusiastic about trying new things.
Visit libraries and museums!
Some days are just too hot or rainy in the summer. Don’t let that keep you from getting out. Local libraries have programs designed specifically for summer. Be sure to check your local library to see what they have to offer. Many areas offer play cafes that are specifically designed for little ones. If there is one close by, check them out!
Summer is the perfect time to slow down and savor the time with your little ones. Whether you’re splashing in sprinklers, building backyard forts, or hunting for bugs in the park, these moments become the memories they’ll carry for a lifetime. So grab the sunscreen, leave the screens behind, and get outside—adventure is waiting right in your own backyard.
Looking for more support and creative ideas?
Join our facebook group for:
- Creative Ideas
- Encouragement
- A safe place to connect
- Weekly calls with our curriculum developers
