Fun Summer Learning Activities for Staying at Home

Gas prices are skyrocketing right now. I almost choked when I had to pay $4/gal at the pump this week. With prices soaring as summer approaches, you may be thinking of staying home more often. Where in years past you might have made summer learning trips to the zoo or museum, this year you could be looking for enriching and fun summer learning activities for staying at home. Lucky for you, SO MUCH fun summer learning can be done at home. We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite ways to keep kids brains active and learning during the summer months without ever getting in the car.

Slime science! Almost all kids love slime…why not incorporate some science learning? This packet contains multiple slime recipes, the science behind slime, along with a worksheet that guides kids through making and testing a slime hypothesis.
Virtual museum tours - Stay inside where it’s cool while exploring some really cool museums online. Check out this blog post for descriptions of each museum experience.
Watch Emily’s Wonder Lab on Netflix and try some of the experiments.
Get ice cream from the ice cream truck! Keep a little cash on hand to let your child gain experience paying for ice cream or other treats. For older kids, help them practice making exact change.
Summer math challenge - We’ve all heard of the summer reading challenge put on by the local library…but we often forget about math. Check out this math challenge designed to keep kids engaged in real-life, low-pressure, open-ended math during the summer months.
Start a book club- It can be just family, or you can include neighbors or friends. Let your child participate in making the book selection. Meet to discuss the book and have yummy snacks.
Build something! Whether it’s with lego, wood, bricks, or other materials, building will help your child sharpen their spacial reasoning and math skills.
Get a pen pal - Set up for your child to have a pen pal. This could be a family member, friend, child from a different state, or a resident of a retirement home. Getting mail is always fun and the writing practice will keep your child sharp for the new school year.
Bake or cook together - Making things in the kitchen requires the use of math, reading, and executive functioning skills. Making an effort to get into the kitchen together can be a rich and fun learning activity.
Poke around on google earth. There are so many cool things to see!
Have a reading picnic or cozy reading day. Making reading novel and fun could be just what your reluctant reader needs to keep their reading going this summer.
Try out Sporcle Kids - These fun online trivia quizzes are a great way to pass time and remember/learn something along the way.
Play board games - Almost all board games provide practice in reading, addition, or counting.
Play with water - experimenting with water and other liquids helps kids learn about physics, volume, gravity, and so much more.
Track the weather. Getting kids to pay attention to the weather can be a great way to incorporate math and science into your summer learning routine. Record temperatures and rainfall. Older kids can find averages and outliers.
Online tutoring - If your child needs more intensive help to fill in academic gaps this summer, online tutoring is a great way to attend tutoring from the comfort of home while saving on gas. You can set up a free consult call here to chat about your child’s needs and how we might be able to help.
Do art projects or tutorials. Art is a great way to integrate lots of academic subjects with creativity.