At last today is the day of school!! This year has been great and each of my boys have grown in leaps and bounds educational wise. I can't complain, it has been a very productive year for all of us. I always look foreword to summer because my boys become mine again. I don't have to share them with anyone!! I'm a bit greedy with their sweet hugs and kisses.
Being that summer is here I am concerned about them loosing any learning they have gained during the year. I was told by a teacher that the first quarter of the year they actually spend it re-teaching lessons that were learned in the previous grade. A refresher course so to speak. I don't want my boys to jump back a step so I have planned out fun activities that will continue to keep their minds active. If you have kids I would do the same. It could make a huge difference in their grades when school starts again.
Some easy things to do are trips to library's. Public library's offer a whole slew of summer reading activities, and your child's school library may remain open so they can still rack up those accelerated reader points. A trip to the park or zoo can be a two day event that's packed full of fun.
One day at the park or zoo the next day at home make construction paper books about their experience! Let them draw their favorite things you did on separate sheets of paper, color them, and decorate using glitter glue, buttons, rice, macaroni or bits of tissue paper. Once they are dry make a cover and staple them together. Your child will have a book that they made!! This activity encourages creative thinking, fine motor skills use, memory use and team work and not to mention sharing!
A favorite activity here during the hot part of the day is our Alphabet hunt. Make large ABC's and number's out of different colored construction paper. You'll need a treasure box (a small shoe box they have decorated is awesome for this) and of course binoculars. We made ours out of a paper towel tube cut in half and decorated. Place the ABC's and numbers all over the house. Then let the kids loose to find them. It's a hunt they enjoy. Once they find their prey put them in their box and when it's over count up who got the most and make words out of their letters they found! It's a whole slew of activities in one. This one also helps those fine motor skill, creative play, sharing, team work, ABC identification, scissor skills, tripod grip, and color and number recognition.
Be creative and if your having fun then they will too. And if your worried about messes don't be. Messes can be cleaned up by little hands too and most of the time they are eager to help clean up. I feel that the messier a project is the more fun it is!!
Enjoy your summer and if you have some great projects for kids feel free to share them!!
Sounds like fun!
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