“Did you know pink dolphins really exist?” I asked my daughters. To kick off summer break, we’d just finished watching A Mermaid Tale for the 86th time, partially due to Zuma the pink dolphin. My girls looked at me with a healthy dose of wonder and disbelief. “It’s true! Look at what I checked out at the library,” I said while handing over a book all about dolphins, including the pink ones found in the Amazon River.
That one question sparked a summer-long quest to learn more about ocean habitats, sea mammals, and even migration tracking of great white sharks. I didn’t realize pink dolphins could help prevent the “summer slide,” where kids lose about a month’s worth of learning during the break. If you want to prevent summer slide in your child, pick from these 42 ideas so fun your child won’t even know they’re educational (but you will)!
Activities to Do With You
1. Teach your child to cook by following recipes.
2. Read aloud a chapter a day.
3. Visit a museum—science, kids, art, history, aviation, trains. There are over 35,000 museums in the United States alone!
4. Go to a National Park and explore the free Junior Ranger Program.
5. Attend a local play or theatre production.
6. Try a new-to-you cuisine. Bonus points if the menu is printed in English and another language.
7. Build something together with all those LEGOs.
8. Start a small garden with easy-to-grow food, such as cucumbers or tomatoes.
9. Play games like UNO, SkipBo, Bananagrams, or Boggle. And if you want one game to last all summer, pull out Monopoly. You just might finish by Labor Day.
10. Give your child a budget and shop for a local food bank together. Let her take the lead.
11. Create a family tree and share stories about your family members. Who knew your great-great-grandmother could help you prevent summer slide?
12. Go stargazing. Learn about the different constellations, phases of the moon, and chart the International Space Station as it flies overhead.
13. Uncover more about your town’s history. When was it founded? By whom? Anyone famous born there or pass through?
14. Attend a hardware store’s kids’ woodworking event to build something.
15. Hold your own backyard Olympics. Time the races and put your child in charge of calculating scores.
16. Experiment with different slime recipes.
17. Play hopscotch.
18. Go geocaching.
19. Visit a zoo, aquarium, or farm to learn about different animals. Check your library for animal-themed events, too.
20. Head to a pick-your-own-fruit farm and discover firsthand where food comes from locally.
21. Learn about composting and reduce food waste by turning scraps into nutrient-rich fertilizer. (That will really help your backyard garden you planted in number 8.)
Activities to Do Independently to Prevent Summer Slide
22. Watch a documentary. Consider March of the Penguins, A Beautiful Planet, The Short Game, or Spellbound.
23. Write a letter to grandparents.
24. Join the summer reading challenge at your local library.
25. Play Wordle, and prevent summer slide by boosting vocabulary.
26. Put 500- or 1,000-piece puzzles together.
27. Give your child a paper map to plan out the best route for your summer trip.
28. Create a comic book.
29. Go on a photography scavenger hunt.
30. Become a citizen scientist by keeping a bird-watching journal and identifying all the bird species flocking to your back yard.
31. Learn basic phrases in a foreign language. Duolingo is a favorite app for language learners.
32. Create new LEGO creations with your old bricks. The Brickit App takes a photo of your child’s bricks and then offers suggestions on what to build.
33. Read a book and then watch the movie or series based on that book.
34. Pick up a new skill like juggling, yo-yo tricks, or origami.
35. Learn about basic geology, and collect interesting rocks.
36. Try beginner-friendly coding platforms, like Scratch, to learn basic programming concepts.
37. Solve crossword puzzles or sudoku.
38. Write and direct a play. Perform it over dinner!
39. Research how to attract beneficial insects to your garden (see number 8), and build a welcoming bug shelter using natural materials.
40. Plan a dream vacation with a set budget. Factor in costs for travel, hotels, food, and activities. Then pitch the idea to the whole family.
41. Prevent summer slide by listening to kid-focused podcasts, such as BrainsOn!, But Why? and Story Pirates.
42. Keep a scrapbook over the summer.
What educational activities or programs do you incorporate into your summer routine to keep your kids engaged in learning during the break?
