Summer Learning Activities and Games (Without Worksheets)
Keeping your child’s brain active through the summer months can be a challenge, especially if you have an active child who isn’t interested in worksheets. Summer learning is a great opportunity to make a shift into real-life application of what they’re learning, so instead of forcing it (or avoiding learning activities completely), here are some ways to keep your child’s brain active and learning!
Summer Learning Ideas That Don’t Involve Worksheets:
Get Outside and Let Them Be Bored
One of the best things for your child’s brain is to occasionally let them be bored. Kids face a constant onslaught of stimulation—so much so that they often don’t know what to do with themselves when they’re not being actively entertained or directed in how they spend their time. Free play is so important, even for teens who may be hesitant to just tinker around with a new hobby or something new and different.
In addition, outdoor time is so powerful for improving brain health, focus, and many other areas of learning, so making it a priority to get outside every day during these nicer months is a great step in the right direction.
Keep a Summer Journal
Writing in a journal or typing up stories and memories are great ways to practice key skills in a way that’s fun and memorable. Instead of pointless handwriting practice or spelling worksheets, help your child keep a journal where they respond to fun prompts or write records of their adventures.
Here’s a roundup of 11 fun summer journal prompts to get you started >>
Do a Summer Reading Program
Summer reading has numerous benefits for your kids, including helping them learn new things, keep up their momentum, and setting them up for an easier transition back to school in the fall. Have a reluctant reader? Here are some tips to help them enjoy the process a little more >>
Click here to sign up for our 2024 Summer Reading Program! Earn fun prizes from local businesses all summer long just for reading >>
Institute Family Game Night
Games are a great way to keep learning (in a way that’s fun) through the summer! Family game night not only allows you to connect with your kids, but it gives you a little peek into how their brain works. Depending on the ages and skills of your kids, you can choose games that will engage and challenge them in a variety of ways.
Here are some lists of some of our favorite games to recommend based on the skills you’re trying to target:
- 9 Fun (& Brainy!) Group Games for Family Gatherings
- Games and Activities to Build Visual Processing Skills
- Fun Logic Games to Build Reasoning Skills
- Games That Strengthen Working Memory
- 5 Word Games to Improve Your Child’s Reading and Spelling Skills
- Top Brain-Boosting Family Games
Use Travel Time Wisely
Have a long car trip or flight ahead of you? Use your travel time to boost brain skills! Instead of having everyone just be on their own devices, you can leverage this time to practice skills like attention, memory, and processing speed as a family. Here’s a list of 10 easy travel games you can tweak to fit your family’s needs and ages >>
Screen-Free Independent Games and Summer Learning Activities
Without a strict schedule to the day, it’s easy for screen time to increase during summer months to help keep kids occupied. While some educational games or learning shows won’t hurt, it’s important to balance them out with brain-boosting activities.
Involve Your Kids in Real Life
During the school year, you likely do a lot of the grocery shopping or home maintenance tasks without your kids around. During the summer, use this time to teach them important concepts like time management, task prioritization, budgeting, planning, and more! These life skills will do much more for them than any worksheet.
Use Your Summer Learning Time to Target Cognitive Skills
Yes, you can use the summer to rehash subjects your child struggled with in the previous school year. But you can also use it to foster their resilience and foundational learning skills so they don’t just repeat the same pattern of struggle year after year!
Not sure where to start? Take our FREE brain skills quiz to see which skills are strong (and weak) for your child!
