The summer season may be ending, or it may have ended for some. However, that does not mean the season is over. This series, summer enrichment activities, aims to ensure that you enjoy the summer and learn new things. These six summer learning activities are great for kids, whether they’re still on summer break or have just started school.
Craft a project
The chances are that your children collected many seashells if they had the opportunity to visit the beach. You can purchase a bag of shells from a discount store and make a staycation craft with them! You can make shells into cute tropical fish or crabs, turtles or any other sea creature that you like! You only need a little craft paint, glue, and googly eyes to turn a seashell into an educational summer activity.
Eat (or drink!) Something festive
You can make a meal from scratch or use an existing recipe to add creativity. Snack time is a great opportunity to be creative. These Under The Sea Graham Crackers are an example of this. They are easy to make and have a cool edible ocean scene. For an extra special activity, let your children decorate their crackers.
Ingredients:
- Graham crackers
- Graham cracker sand: Use a rolling pin for crushing graham crackers into a plastic bag
- Fish crackers in gold
- Sprinkles
- Blue icing: You can make your blue icing by mixing one stick of butter with two cups of powdered sugar and blue food colouring.
Play a game
Students can benefit from matching games in many ways. It’s a fun summer learning activity disguised in a game. You can make the deck of cards into an outdoor recreation activity. You can print summertime images in pairs and create a large entertainment centre. It’s also possible to have your children draw or paint two pictures. However, make sure you use thick card stock and cork tiles to not show through the paper.
Get outside
Outdoor play is good for your child’s health. It can also provide many benefits for their mental and emotional well-being. You can play traditional games such as tag or let your child’s imagination fly with DIY sidewalk foam paint. The best part? The best part? You likely have all the ingredients in your kitchen and can make a batch right away.
Supplies:
- One 7.65 oz. One 7.65 oz. bottle of washable glue for schools
- 1 cup white flour
- 4 to 5 cups plain white shaving cream
- Just a few drops of food colouring
- Large zipper bag made of plastic
- 4 sandwich-sized plastic zipper bags
- Scissors
- 4 squirt bottles (optional)
Directions:
1. Put flour in a gallon-sized plastic zip bag.
2. Place the container of washable school glue on top of the flour.
3. spray about 4-5 cups of shaving foam in the bag.
4. Close the bag and continue to knead for a few more minutes until all is well mixed.
5. To divide the bag into colours, cut a corner from the gallon-sized bag.
6. You can add food colouring drops to each bag (about ten per colour, or mix-and-match to create new colours and shades).
7. Mix the colours thoroughly in each bag by kneading them together.
8. Take a corner from each sandwich-sized bag, and then squirt it in plastic squirt containers. You can also skip this step and paint the bags with plastic squirt bottles. This is easier for children younger than 5. To avoid it being too heavy, you should trim a small corner.
Plan for indoor activities
When I think about the beach, my mind immediately goes to all the childhood fun I had played in the sand. Because of all the creepy crawlers that could make homes in sandboxes, I don’t like them installed in my backyard. How do I combine the two ideas? Tupperware sandboxes You can buy a bag of sand at your local garden centre and divide up the sand to create small archaeology boxes, kinetic sand or trace sight words. This indoor activity is great, but I recommend a towel or sheet to cover any sand that might escape the sandbox. Trust me; there will be.
Explore!
Sometimes it’s better to explore than make a silly snack or craft. Are there any topics that you have been discussing with your family? Is it something your children are interested in? Maybe there is a topic you want to help your kids learn? You can make any category fun by creating a themed hunt. Since we are currently working on colours, I decided to create a colour-themed scavenger hunt. This option is so fun and versatile that it can be used anywhere. You can use it to take a vacation to the beach or for your home. Explore, play and learn together.