Summer Activities for Kids to Prevent Vacation Brain DrainSummer vacation is supposed to be a time of fun, a break from the monotonous school year. Unfortunately, for many kids, it is also a time to completely forget a large chunk of everything they learned the previous year. Schools are forced to repeat information throughout nearly the entire first quarter of each year just to bring kids back up to speed. Help prevent  brain drain  by including as many summer activities for kids that offer educational opportunities as possible.

Summer Activities For Kids that Prevent Brain Drain

  • Enroll your kids in a summer reading program, or create your own reading goals for your kids. Aim for at least four to six age appropriate books throughout the summer. More would be better, of course, but you should try for at least one a week. This is one of the best summer activities for kids to prevent vacation brain drain.
  • Add museums and other educational places to your summer vacation itinerary. Even if you’re planning to stay right in your own town, chances are there is some type of museum nearby.
  • Explore nature. Take your children hiking and encourage them to seek out different plants, animals, and insects. Keep a science journal to detail their discoveries.
  • Set up a lemonade stand or have a yard sale. Let your kids be in charge of their own items. They’ll learn math skills and make some extra money!
  • Build a birdhouse. It will help with their advanced math skills and provide shelter for our winged friends.
  • Play board games or let your child play computer games that utilize the skills learned the previous year in school.
  • Plant a garden together, and let kids take responsibility for maintaining it. They’ll learn valuable science and ecology skills.
  • Practice handwriting skills by having your child write his or her own story. It doesn’t have to be grammatically correct or even contain proper spelling if they aren’t that advanced yet. Just the act of writing down their ideas stimulates the brain and gives them much needed practice so they can write a little less like a doctor.

Just about any summer activities for kids can be used to teach valuable educational lessons and help them retain what they learned throughout the year. Look back over their school books and homework assignments (if you’re a sentimental parent like me, chances are you’ve kept at least a few!) for some ideas. I also suggest looking over their report cards to see where they could use some improvement.

For more info, check out this infographic from Visual.ly :

 

Summer Activities For Kids

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