12 Weeks of Summer Fun Learning!

With summer fast approaching, the school year is coming to an end for
most students. Children are filled with thoughts of endless hours riding
bikes, trampoline jumping and water fun....but what about learning?
Does summer have to mean a complete halt to the 3 Rs; reading, writing and
arithmatic? Check out these learning activities that will keep those
educational embers burning the summer-fun
way!

Below are 12 summer learning activities, one for each week of summer
break.  For extra fun, try writing all the activities on a pieces of
paper and have your children draw a new one each week.

1. Yard Sale Mapping
Summer is the time for yard sales. Have your children go through yard
sale section of the classified ads and plot out the locations on your
local city map. You can get a map at your local Chamber of Commerce, from
the phone book, or on the internet at Mapquest.com

2. Recipe Fun
Keep those reading skills sharpened by having your children make
something from a recipe. It can be very simple like playdough or for the more
advanced reader, cookies. My son loves to go through my Betty Crocker
Cookbook and find things that he can make.

3. Board Game Instructions
Have your children learn a new game completely on their own by reading
the instructions. Boards games can be purchased for only a few dollars
at secondhand stores. You can also do a search for card game
instructions on the internet. If only all reading assignments were that fun!

4. Nature's Color Wheel
Give your child a large, sturdy piece of paper such as poster board,
cut in half. First, discuss what kind of colors they see in nature during
the winter and why. Have them consider if there are more colors in the
summer and discuss why that is. Have your child go outside and take
samples of as many natural colors as they can. This can be done by rubbing
things such as a dandelion, a brick, or mud on the poster board paper.
See if mom can guess where the colors came from?

5. Measure the House
Give your child a tape measure. Have them measure the perimeter of your
home and any other building structures on your property such as a
garage. After this hands on activity they won't easily forget  the meaning
of "perimeter" ever again.

6. Barbeque Cookout Helper
For the next summer barbeque have your child help with all the details
of preparing and planning a barbeque. They can help with meal planning,
writing the shopping list, meat safety in cooking (Ecoli dangers), cost
estimator, etc.

7. Bug Hunt
The bug hunt is especially fun with more than one child participating.
Armed with a bug collecting container (such as a glass jar), have
children see how many different bugs they can find. Older children can
research and identify the bugs they find.

8.Temperature Reading
For one week have the child record the highest temperature and the
lowest for each day. Make sure that the reading is done at the same two
times of the day. For older students, teach them to go online and find the
record highs and lows for the same date.

9. Summer Crops
Summer is the time for things to grow. Have your child research what
crops grow in your area and why they grow there as opposed to elsewhere.

10. Bouyancy
Set up the kiddie pool and let the kids loose with some bouyancy
experiments. Have them guess what will and will not float. Record their
results. Make boats out of sheets of tin foil and see how many pennies it
can hold before sinking. Who can make the boat that holds the most
pennies?

11. Concoct a "Family Favorite"
Take the opportunity to create a special family recipe. Summer is an
especially good time to create a one-of-a-kind dessert or smoothie
recipe. You could even let the kids make several items and determine which is
the "winner".  Don't forget to give your creation a special,
one-of-a-kind name!

12. Farmer's Market
Take a visit to the local farmer's market. Compare market prices with
those in a local grocery store. Compare quality of fruit. Discuss what
qualifies as "organic" produce.

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