Celebrate Summertime! Five Ways to Keep Your Child’s Mind (and Body) Active

It’s finally summer – the season many of us anxiously await all year. But, for some parents, summertime brings the additional stress of making sure their children remain engaged in learning when school is out.

Summer learning programs such as Summer Advantage, or academic summer camps, are an option for some. However, constraints of time and money leave many parents on their own to provide educational  enrichment for their children during the summer months.

Below are five ideas to incorporate learning into your family time this summer. These ideas are simple, inexpensive, and promote outdoor play, which is essential to keeping your child’s body active and healthy.

• Take a hike.  Gather some books about leaves, plants, insects, and other animals and pack them in backpack. Find a local trail, path, park, or nature walk and spend time together walking and exploring. When you need a rest, find a spot to sit down and read together. Maybe you’ll read about something you see along your walk.

• Grow something you can eat and include it in a healthy family meal. Plant some herbs or vegetables in flower pots or a garden, if you have the space. Work with your children to create a healthy meal using what you grow – the ultimate lesson in farm to table! Eat your meal outside as a picnic. You can even collect the recipes and use them to start your own family cookbook.

• Get your game on. There’s lots of evidence that old-fashioned outdoor play has many benefits for children, from developing their imaginations to improving motor skills. Engage your family in games of tag, hide and seek, jump rope, horseshoes, or four square. Or spend time with your children playing hopscotch, blowing bubbles, or drawing with sidewalk chalk.

• Float in the clouds. Visit your local library for some books about the different types of clouds. Have your child draw and label them in a sketch pad. Then, spend some time lying in the grass together trying to identify what you see in the sky!

• Cut and paste. Get a blank scrapbook at a craft store or make your own out of construction paper. Have your child add favorite photos and souvenirs from the summer, and use crayons or markers to write in and draw memories. For younger children, offer a template with sentences to complete, such as “This summer, I had fun doing ______” and “My favorite summer memory was _____.”

The Need To Stay Engaged

Evidence show us that children nationwide – of all socioeconomic groups –experience learning losses when they don’t participate in educational activities during the summer.

School may be out for the summer, but parenting is still on.

Keep your children growing academically this summer.  Stimulate them socially, and keep them physically active.

With visits to places such as museums, college campuses, beaches, and parks, you can raise your children’s exposure to an array of new ideas and life experiences. This is the essence of summer learning.

Now is the time to make sure that summer means more than playgrounds and ice cream for your children.

For reading tips and information on the importance of reading aloud, click here.