Can you believe summer is just around the corner? Every year about this time, parents often come to us wanting to find fun ways to keep their children entertained during the summer, and to find out what they can do to help make summer an educational time. Summer vacation can be a fun time, but it can also be a time for learning. With so much free time, it can be tempting for children to spend countless hours watching television or playing video games. With a little creativity and planning, you can easily transform this coming summer into an opportunity to explore new hobbies, learn about responsibility and build upon skills already learned during

Keep the Learning Going

It is estimated that students lose an estimated one to two months of reading and math skills during summer months, and do not score as high on standardized tests as students who continue learning during the summer. Summer is a great time for children to discover that learning is fun and can really happen anywhere, especially in their own backyard.

Create a Family Scrapbook

Family vacations, or other adventures are great opportunities to create a scrapbook that can be a lasting souvenir. Collect menus from restaurants, tickets from places visited, and other such items. Encourage your child to write descriptions about the places you visit and tell a story about the adventure. This is a creative way to get children to polish their writing skills.

Teach Responsibility

You can teach your child how to be responsible by having the help set the table, care for a pet, clean out a closet, or paint a fence. You can also have your child participate in community service to help your child learn to be punctual, follow directions, and learn to serve others.

Let Your Child Plan an Adventure

Let your child help you in the planning of an upcoming trip. Whether it is a day trip to the zoo or a family vacation, you can let them help you research where to go, what to eat, and other such things. They can also help estimate the distance between the zoo and where you will eat lunch after, or if you are driving, let them help you figure out how many gallons of gas it would take to get there and estimate the cost. If you are flying somewhere, have them help you check travel schedules and costs. If you are traveling to a different state or city, you can look up information about the area such as the state flower, state bird and other interesting attractions. You can then have your child write to the state bureau to ask for additional information before traveling.

Turn a Museum Trip into a Treasure Hunt

Often kids aren’t as excited about attending a museum but you can get them excited about it by having them explore the museum’s website and taking a virtual tour. When you get to the museum, plan for their short attention span, and make it less intimidating by starting at the gift shop and letting them pick out postcards of a painting or object on display. You can then turn your trip into a treasure hunt by trying to find the painting or objects that were in the postcards. You can also look for interactive exhibits and for periods of history that your child has already studied in school.

We hope these tips have been helpful to planning your child’s upcoming summer vacation and keeping it educational. We would love to hear about creative ways you have come up with to keep your child’s summer fun and educational.