It’s no secret, quarantine has effected all of us, but kids have been hit particularly hard. School has been disrupted, playdates and parties cancelled, parents are on-edge and there is no relief in the foreseeable future. Even my little guy is climbing the walls, literally.
So, the kids are bored, and you are worried about their lack of educational opportunities. Well, here are some no-cost, easy ideas to jump start your homeschool summer school.
Reading/Writing
Story writing prompts – grab a notebook, write a prompt at the top of the page and turn them loose. While this is mostly for older kids you would be amazed at how enthusiastic a little one can tackle this assignment (especially if they get to draw pictures.) Pinterest is full of pins that feature writing prompts.
Candy Land Sight Word Game – this is a game that I created for my little guy. I took an old game, added some dots and sight word cards and voila, he was learning new words. Full instructions on how to make and play the game can be found here.
Online Crossword Puzzles – these underrated games are great for reinforcing the understanding of synonyms and antonyms, increasing vocabulary and keeping your mind nimble.
Local library – I know, most of them are closed right now, but the Internet is a wonderful tool especially because is allows you to access your local library anytime you want. I strongly encourage you to see what they have, you may be very surprised. Of course there are the usually offerings of ebooks and audiobooks, but did you know you can learn a new language, listen to music, watch movies or take an on-line course? Well, go dust off your library card, log-in and see what resources they have for you.
Math
Math Board – This is a wonderful idea from Katie at wellnurturedplantsandpillars.com. She was looking for a way to help her son keep current on his math skills over the summer and she came up with this activity. She keeps it fresh by changing not only the number, but the questions as well. This can easily be adapted for a wide range of ages. If you don’t have a white board hanging around, then just use a sheet of paper, it just won’t be as much fun.
Dominos – for addition and subtraction learning you can’t beat these guys. There are many variations on the game as well as other uses. A nice variation I recently came across was this game using dice and dominoes from Linda at PrimaryInspiration.blogspot.com.
Card games – another way to reinforce learning addition plus teaching strategy as well. Think games like Pyramid (solitary-type game), Rummy, Canasta and Snap. Click here for more kid-friendly card games.
Science/Social Studies
Ted Talks – if you have never seen a Ted talk, you are in for a treat. While these may be a bit advanced for the younger ones, the older kids can definitely learn some pretty cool things. Some of the talks are serious, some are funny, some very quirky, but they are all stories told by experts. Some of my favorites include How to Spot a Liar, The Missing Link to Renewable Energy, and Creative Houses from Reclaimed Stuff. They even have a section just for kids, TedEd.
Sciencedaily.com – I used this gem everyday when I was teaching college. This site gives you the latest scientific research in understandable language. They take the latest published scientific articles and create a brief synopsis with a link at the end if you wish to read the full article (available through your public library.) The site is easily searchable and covers topics like Health, Technology, Environment and they even have a section titled Quirky.
Baby Animal Cams or Game and Fish Camera Traps – Depending on the time of day or season, these can be boring or highly amusing. When I worked for the Conservation Center at a local zoo, we used to bring up the cameras on our expectant mothers and see who was the first to spot a baby. Most of the highly-respected zoos and aquariums have some sort of animal cams. There is even a zoo in Japan that is having people log in to say “Hi” to the eels because they are lonely.
NPS.gov – Here is an example of government put to good use. There are 61 National parks and many more national monuments. Seeing them all is a big challenge, but the NPS has made it so easy to get a feel for them all. Do you want to see Old Faithful, they have a real-time webcam complete with eruption prediction times. There are virtual tours as well as educational materials for kids. And for the “collectors” out there, you can get a virtual stamp for your passport and you can also participate in the Jr. Ranger program from home.
Weather Trackers – A few years ago, my son became enthralled as he watched footage from Hurricane Irma. We watched tons of videos and learned quite a bit about hurricanes that year. Since then we have become weather watchers. Every day, beginning in June, we pull up two websites. One is a local weather radar map (he likes to see the monsoon storms roll into the state) and the other is the USA Today hurricane tracker.
Podcasts – There are a million podcasts out there, but here are a few of my favorites. But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids is a favorite for car rides. It lets kids ask questions about topics in which they are interested. Some recent shows have talked about the Corona virus, trees and even poetry. Ear Snacks is an offbeat podcast that tackles more social issues, but has lots of fun catchy songs. For older kids, Ologies with Alie Ward, is an unusual look at science careers and the people who do them.
National Geographic Kids – This is a very cool and kid-friendly website. They have wonderful pages on each U.S. state with photos, fast facts and history, animal pages (including dinosaurs) and fun games.
Game and Fish – many state Game and Fish websites have a page of educational activities for kids.
Art
Arthub for Kids – this is a great Youtube series for budding artists. The artist is a wonderful man who teaches you step by step how to draw that days’ picture. The best part is that he is doing it alongside one of his own kids, so you see his drawing and theirs.
Crayola.com – They have thousands of pictures on almost every topic and they are all free to print. Pictures of holidays, States, Countries, numbers and letters, and even items like nature journal pages.
Curator Wars – Every Friday the Yorkshire Museum announces the latest topic for their Curator Wars. The topics range from hats to cats and everything in-between. The other participating museums can get a little creative and very sassy, but it is all in good fun. Simply follow the Yorkshire musuem on Twitter to see the latest competition.
Miscellaneous
Geocaching – You can opt for the paid subscription, but the free version of the app works just fine. My little guy loves to hold the phone and guide us to the cache. Just make sure to watch the videos so you know the community etiquette.
Puzzles – These are good for building eye-hand coordination, especially in little ones who are getting ready to learn to write.
Hiking – Take along one of the printable nature journal page from Crayola.com and you get exercise and science.
Daily/Nightly walks – depending on the time of day, you can observe nature, practice your astronomy skills, teach directions (left, right, stop, North, South, East and West.) and talk about important topics in a relaxed manner.
And just for fun...Jelle’s Marble Racing. Much more engaging than you think. With racing and olympic style events, there is tons of opportunity for creativity and education. Just trust.
However you plan to spend your summer, these activities can help make the time pass more enjoyably and the kids can learn something in the process. What are your favorite summer time activities? Post a comment below.