Make Learning Fun this Summer! 31 Activites to do at home

Reading:

1. Create a Family Book Club: Choose a book to read together as a family and have discussions about the plot, characters, and themes. Encourage each family member to share their thoughts and ideas.

2. DIY Storytime: Have your child write and illustrate their own story, then read it aloud to the family. Encourage creativity and imagination!

3. Outdoor Reading Adventure: Take books outside and have a reading picnic in the backyard or at a local park. Let your child choose their favorite spot to read and explore the natural surroundings.

4. Book Scavenger Hunt: Create a list of items or themes from books and challenge your child to find them in different stories. This activity promotes critical thinking and comprehension skills.

5. Kitchen Reading: Involve your child in reading and following recipes while cooking together. This not only improves reading skills but also teaches valuable life skills.

6. Letter Writing: Encourage your child to write letters to family members or friends. This activity enhances writing skills while fostering communication and connection. Make it an email! You're child can practice typing and using technology while working on their writing.

7. Read Aloud Theater: Act out scenes from favorite books together as a family. This promotes comprehension, fluency, and creativity.

8. Audio Books and Podcasts: Listen to audio books or educational podcasts together during car rides or quiet time at home. This helps improve listening skills and exposes children to a variety of content. Check out Youtube for stories that are narrated like these folk tales and fairy tales that originally aired in the 1980s and 1990s on Rabbit Ear Radio: Pecos Bill, Jack and the Beanstalk, The Velvetine Rabbit, Ananzi, and Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks. Pandora has a free pod cast story for younger children (ages 5-12) called Sound Detectives from Stitcher Studios and LeVar Burton Entertainment. Greeking Out is a pod cast from National Geographic Kids about Greek Mythology. Common Sense Media has a list of kid friendly pod casts for you to preview.

9. Research Project: Pick a topic of interest and work with your child to do research on it. Utilize the internet and your local library to find books and text to learn more about the topic. Can't think of a topic that is interesting enough? Think about researching a new skill and having your child teach it to another family member!
10. Tell a Story: Verbally make up a story with your children. Have everyone take turns adding to the story. This is a great activity when driving in the car or waiting somewhere for an appointment. You can even do it over dinner as a family! When your done have your children write and illustrate the story you all just made up!
11. Card and Board Games: Have a weekly family game night! So many card and board games require reading/writing of some kind. Garage sales and second hand stores are an inexpensive way to add games to your household. Consider swapping games with a neighboring family or friend group. Also check out your local library to see if they have games that can be checked out! Here are some idea of games that may work for your family! Card Games: Apples to Apples, Charades, Exploding Kittens, Munchkin, Would You Rather?,  Sussed?, Quelf, Brain Quest, Pic Wits,  Board games: Boggle, Scrabble, Pictionary, Scattergories,  Monopoly, Tall Tales, Cranium, The Game of Life, Poppycock, Trivial Pursuit, Blank Slate

Math:

1. Math in the Garden: Plant a vegetable or flower garden together and involve your child in measuring, counting, and calculating the space needed for each plant.

2. Math Games: Play board games like Monopoly, Uno, Rummikub, Phase 10, or Yahtzee that involve counting, addition, subtraction, and strategic thinking.

3. DIY Measurement: Have your child measure objects around the house using non-standard units like paper clips, pencils, or string. Compare and discuss the results.

4. Budgeting Practice: Give your child a pretend budget and have them plan a family outing or shopping trip. This activity teaches money management and basic arithmetic.

5. Math Art: Create geometric shapes or patterns using household items like pasta, buttons, or beads. This activity combines math concepts with creativity.

6. Cooking Math: Involve your child in measuring ingredients and adjusting recipes. This hands-on activity reinforces fractions, measurements, and proportions.

7. Math Bingo: Create bingo cards with math problems instead of numbers. Call out equations and have your child solve them to mark off the corresponding spaces.

8. Math Story Problems: Invent and solve real-life math story problems together, such as calculating the cost of groceries or figuring out travel distances. Planning to take a family vacation this summer? Get your child involved with having them plot the distance on a map, figure out the time it will take to drive based upon how fast your car or plane moves, determine the number of times you will need to stop and fill up the gas tank based upon gas prices.

Science:

1. Nature Walks: Take nature walks and encourage your child to observe and identify plants, animals, and natural phenomena. Bring along a magnifying glass for closer inspection.

2. DIY Experiments: Conduct simple science experiments at home using household items, such as making a baking soda volcano or creating a homemade slime. Check out these easy at home science experiments.

3. Star Gazing: Spend evenings stargazing and identifying constellations. Use a stargazing app to learn about the night sky together.

4. Kitchen Science: Explore science concepts in the kitchen by experimenting with mixing ingredients, observing chemical reactions, and learning about states of matter.

5. Plant Observation: Plant seeds or seedlings and observe their growth over time. Keep a journal to track changes and learn about the life cycle of plants. Manipulate factors such as sunlight, water, soil type (sandy, rocky, etc) to see how plants will respond.

6. Outdoor obstacle Course: Set up a backyard obstacle course with challenges that incorporate science concepts, such as balancing, gravity, and momentum.

7. Indoor Obstacle Course: Set up an indoor obstacle course for a ball or marble. Explore ways that different textures help move the ball or slow it down through friction.

8. Water Play: Explore concepts like buoyancy, surface tension, and displacement through water play activities like sinking and floating objects or creating waterfalls and dams.

9. Bug Hunting: Go on a bug hunt in your backyard or local park. Encourage your child to observe, identify, and learn about different insects and their habitats. Take pictures of bugs you find then head to the library to look up more information about them!

10. Games:  Guess in Ten (animals, solar system, dinosaurs, things that go), Trivial Pursuit
11. Animal Cameras: There are free animal cameras you can access on Youtube. Watch with your children. Have them check in a few times a week on one animal. Kids can keep a journal of what the animals are doing, food they may be eating, what their habitat is like. Children can write or illustrate what they see. Each week pick a new animal cam to observe!
12. Museum Visit: Check out a local museum of science or natural history. Check websites to see if they offer a discounted day for kids or families.

Social Studies:

1. Family History Project: Research and create a family tree together. Interview relatives to learn about family history, traditions, and cultural heritage.

2. Virtual Museum Tours: Take virtual tours of museums, historical sites, and landmarks around the world. Discuss the significance and history behind each location. Check out this list of FREE virtual museum tours!

3. Cultural Cooking: Explore different cultures through cooking traditional dishes together. Research the origins of each recipe and learn about the cultural significance of the ingredients.

4. Map Exploration: Study maps together and learn about geography, landmarks, and countries around the world. Plan imaginary trips and discuss different cultures and customs.

5. Time Capsule: Create a time capsule with items and memories representing the present day. Discuss what life is like now and speculate about the future.

6. Community Service: Volunteer together as a family for community service projects or neighborhood clean-ups. Discuss the importance of giving back and making a positive impact.

7. Historical Reenactments: Act out scenes from history or famous events. Use costumes and props to bring historical figures and moments to life.

8. Local Field Trips: Explore your local community and visit historical landmarks, monuments, and museums. Discuss the significance of each location and its role in shaping local history.

9. Plan your own city: Have your kids create their own cities. Take the opportunity to learn about city layouts, access to roads,  utilities, and public services. Take a trip to the library to learn more about necessary components to city planning and community resources.
10. Games: Ticket to Ride, Catan, Pit, Guess in Ten (US states, countries, professions, foods around the world, legendary landmarks), Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit,

These activities provide engaging and meaningful ways for children of all ages to continue learning and exploring academic skills over summer break, all while having fun and making memories! Have some ideas of your own? Share them in the comments below!