As the days get longer, hotter, and more enjoyable, it seems that we tend to get a little more leisurely. The hot temperatures make us want to move a little slower, and the long, long days leave some extra room for relaxation. Although, now that we have the time to relax, too much of a good thing could leave you scrambled when the back-to-school time approaches. Even though September seems like light-years away, the transition back to school will be made smoothly if there is less of a contrast between school and summer. But don’t worry, theses activities are much more fun than what anyone would be doing in summer school, and they train different parts of your child’s brain, so it’s a win-win, right? Here are a few ideas to keep the gears rolling throughout the summer:
1. Cook or Bake
Cooking or baking doesn’t seem educational at first, although there are many factors at play that make you use your brain. Your child needs to use creativity, memory, and decision making to first decide what to bake or cook. Once you start there, then comes to the fun. Depending on the age of your child, try using a recipe that is in the American Standard (i.e. Cups and Courts) and convert the recipe to ml and L. Besides some unexpected math, cooking and baking will also yield a creative mind. Maybe you purposely did not buy all the ingredients and now need to be creative to find what would be a good substitute. Or, maybe you want to split whatever you’re baking or cooking and add an extra flair to each half Learning this way perhaps gives the best, most tasty rewards.
2. Visit a Museum
We always think of museums as a place to visit during a rainy day, but we never think of visiting them during the hottest days of summer Often, museums have awesome programs for kids during the summertime, plus glorious air-conditioning. Besides being able to cool off, visiting different museums throughout the summer will teach your child unique facts about interesting topics that may be hard to get the facts in any other way. The ROM even has a summer club, equipt programs from archaeology to zoology to be sure your child has a unique experience and can try out whatever they want!
3. Geek it Out (with bubbles)
Weather Science is your thing or not, you can become a scientist for the day. It turns out making your own bubbles is actually a lot easier than it seems, you probably even have all the ingredients in your house already. All it takes is 6 cups water, 1 cup dish soap, and ¼ cup corn syrup! The key to making this combination into magical bubbles is all in the way you stir the soap and the water together. Want to go all out with the big bubbles? All you need is 2 sticks, markers, etc. and 2 pieces of string. Trying to get your child to engineering this bubble wand is a project in itself, plus it teaches them how to be resourceful – a useful skill sometimes missed when learning certain school subjects.
4. Make Your Own Tic-Tac-Toe
You’re probably thinking that making your own tic-tac-toe is pretty easy. You simply draw 4 lines, crossed, on a piece of paper. Although, a great art activity to experiment with this summer is making your own tic-tac-toe in a creative way. Head out to the nearest beach or forest, or look in your backyard for some rocks. Yes, rocks. Find one large, flat rock and 6 smaller pebbles. Wash the rocks off and let dry in the sun. Now, break out the paint. Draw the tic-tac-toe game on the large rock, and paint half the rocks one color, and the other half the other color. A way to make this game a learning experience for your child to let them construct it. They will have to figure out on their own how many rocks to paint, what colors, etc. Now, think about what other games you can make!
5. Get Them To Make The Plans!
Maybe you’ll end up at Disneyland, or eating icing until you puke if you like your child totally take over the plans! So, to avoid this make some guidelines. Tell them that they have a budget, timeline and that the activities have to include specifics! Such as, eating, being in nature and an educational game. Talk about problem-solving!
