Summer Learning: Tips for Summer Learning Activities

by Mom It Forward on May 10th, 2012 | No Comments »

Perhaps boredom is inevitable for all young kids during the summer. Try as I might, I always hear "I'm bored" at some point, no matter how many activities I provide. I'm beginning to think it's not humanly possible to prevent their boredom, since there's no way I can drive them from playdates to movies to day camps all day every day, at least not if I want to keep my house clean and maintain my sanity. So I'm going to set realistic expectations at the beginning. What are those "realistic expectations" going to be, you ask? A good amount of fun, some enjoyable learning, some work, and some balancing down time. Here are some ideas to make summer learning enjoyable, tweeted by friends at recent Twitter Girls' Night Out (#gno) parties sponsored by PBSKids and WBGH.

Tips for Summer Learning Activities

Do little hands-on science experiments. We talk about that alot here, but it bears repeating: nothing beats hands-on experience for hands-down, all-out fun learning. Do something like trying to break open a raw egg by applying equal pressure at both ends. @RobynsWorld records how that experiment went for her here. She says all ages can do it.
Have writing or story-making time, with fun prompts like "my life as a worm, the day I flew to space," etc. (suggested by @SavingPennies7).
Write fan fiction with your kids. Have them write their own ending to the Twilight, Harry Potter, or Fablehaven series; their own shorter versions of favorite books like Nerds or Candy Shop Wars; or, suggests @GeekDad248, their own stories about PBS characters they like.
Check out Ruby's Studio for products that help teach preschoolers, recommends @MelissaNorthway. She says it's like "a cross between Mr. Rodgers and Mary Poppins."
Cook something with your kids, incorporating grade-level appropriate discussion of measurements, food properties, and the science of cooking. @RobynsWorld provides some good thoughts about that here, and recommends, as do I, Alton Brown's Good Eats show as a good resource for the finer points of scientific cooking.

While I won't be able to stop the boredom altogether, I will certainly do my best to incorporate fun learning activities like these into our busy summer.

Feature photo courtesy of Flickr.