Summertime Learning Adventures: Engaging Curriculum for Summer Break

5 activities that will keep kids learning and developing all summer long!!! 

One of the biggest concerns for educators and families is the summer slide, when students disengage from learning and then they return to school with an academic decline to start their next year of school. These activities will help promote student learning to continue over the sunny summer months. They will encourage families to interact and discuss reading, math and science in a way that will be fun, creative and they will help create a deeper understanding of the world around them. 

1. Goal for Growth 

A great way to start the summer is to sit down together and set realistic goals that will drive you all to learn and grow throughout the summer. Participating in this as the adults in the family is a great way to model goal setting while also showing that growth takes effort, planning and follow through. For these fun visual representations of the families learning goals you will need to grab your MARK 5 Die Cutting Machine and then you will use the Cactuses #2 Die Cut. Cut out one for each of your family members and then assemble them using glue. This is a simple first step to set up the summer with the intention of continuing to grow your brains as a family.  

2. Reading Raindrops 

The summer is an amazing time to pick up books galore. There are also ample opportunities to learn about new books. Summer reading programs at your local library that also give perks to young readers to promote and encourage lots of summer reading. This is  a great way for young readers to track their reading and also feel a sense of accomplishment as their pile of raindrops grows over the summer. To create this, get out your MARK 5 Die Cutting Machine to cut out your raindrops. You will also need the Raindrop Die Cut. You will also need to get metal ring binders for each of your kids. You can use all blue cardstock or you can give your kids some different options by cutting out drops using a multitude of colors. Have each of your young readers decorate a front drop that will be their cover for their summer reading project. One fun way to extend this would be to have each of your kids draw what they would rate each book out of five stars.  

3. Color Categorizing

This is a GREAT activity to use with children in the preschool to Kindergarten age range. Forming connections between the real world and developing their brain is a great way to build knowledge and understanding. The goal of this activity is to engage your young child as they go about on any of their summer adventures. Going on a summer walk? Taking a trip to the lake? Having a playdate at a park? While you are out and being active, have your little learner take note of the different things they see and the color they are. When you get home, have them add words underneath each of the color ribbons. They can add to these lists all summer long. These lists will show them that animals, plants, objects and even things that they see in made up stories can fall into categories like color. To make these ribbons use your MARK 5 Die Cutting Machine and you will also need the Award #5 Die Cut, you will need the different colors to be a visual representation for your child. Hanging these up on a wall or turning this into a book that can be added to are both great ideas for this activity.     

4. Place Value Practice 

One fun way to extend math learning over the summer is to build on the idea of place value and look at numbers in various ways. This is to think of the standard form number, a place value drawing, expanded form, written form, odd or even number, add or take away 10, and what number comes before and after. An easy way to select a number is to look at the number of day for the year it is on that day, for example June 10th would be the 182nd day of the year. You could do this once a week, or if you feel it would be super helpful for your learner then do it every day. You will use your MARK 5 Die Cutting Machine as well as the Octopus #4 Die Cut and the Photo Booth Props Die Cut.  Cut out as many octopus as you will want to use for the summer. Letting your children add props to their octopus each day is a fun way to allow them to use their creativity for this project when they work on their place value understanding. Practicing these skills would be a great way to prepare scholars who are going into the 2nd grade or you can use it as a review for children who might have struggled with their number sense mastery in their previous school year. 

5. Food Group Categorizing

This is another super fun way to take an everyday occurrence like eating a meal and finding ways to make it a learning activity. Building a strong foundation of nutrition is something you can invest in early on in a child’s life. Giving them time to explore what they are eating and what the benefits are to those foods can help promote a lifelong healthy eater. For this creative look at the food groups take out your MARK 5 Die Cutting Machine. You will need several die cuts for this activity.

Start by cutting out the Lunch Box Die Cut for each of your children. You will then need to make sure you cut out foods from the Vegetables Die Cut, the Fruits Die Cut, the Dairy Die Cut and the Grains Die Cut. As you go about trying different foods throughout the summer have them add the foods they are eating to the correct food group in their lunch box. This hands-on approach to healthy eating is a great way to solidify their understanding of what a nutritious food is, where it comes from and what other foods are in that same food group. This will also help them to see if they are eating a balanced diet or if maybe they need to start eating more fruits, veggies or dairy to balance out what they are eating.  

 All of these activities and projects are simple, fun and creative ways to engage your children in learning even when school is out of session. Summer is filled with adventures, trips, outdoor activities, and spontaneous outings that have numerous ways that can help young children to learn and grow while experiencing the world around them. These activities highlight ways to extend their ability to read, develop number sense, categorize and build understanding of the human body through nutrition. The key is to look for ways to start conversations as you explore and play throughout these warm summer months. Don’t forget to make this learning fun and playful, gaining knowledge through making memories is one of the absolute best ways to grow a child's brain. These projects will be things they will look back on in years to come and they will bring a smile to their faces because they were learning and growing with their families in out of the box ways! 

Written by Amy Pinegar.