50 Creative Ways to Fight the “Summer Slide”

Over the summer, students spend time relaxing, vacationing, and having fun, while the knowledge they learned in the school year slips right out from underneath them. This break from learning, and subsequent learning loss, is known as the "summer slide," and over time, can add up to years of lost learning and productivity at the start of each school year. It’s a serious problem, but there’s an easy way to fix it — learning over the summer. Summer learning can be fun and creative, and fit right in with your vacation plans. Read on to learn about 50 ways to fight brain drain over the summer.

Reading & Writing

Keeping up with reading and writing skills over the summer is key to maintaining learning throughout the year — so pay special attention to these creative learning activities.

1. Create a book club: Make reading social with a summer book club for kids.
2. Keep a journal: Encourage kids to stay sharp in their writing by keeping a journal, discussing summer activities and more.
3. Find summer writing camps: Older kids can check out summer writing camps, often available through local newspapers.
4. Read throughout the day: Offer reading opportunities morning, noon, and night, with the newspaper, websites, books, magazines, and more.
5. Write a comic strip: Develop creativity, writing, and humor with a fun comic strip.
6. Read books about summer activities: Before heading to the beach or a baseball game, pick out a book that discusses the activity.
7. Email friends and family: Have kids write to friends and family over email to keep in touch while also keeping up with their writing practice.
8. Encourage reading in bed, even if it pushes bedtimes: Allow your children to read in bed, even allowing them to stay up later as long as they are reading.
9. Start a blog: Create a blog for your child to update over the summer, and share it with family and friends.
10. Read everywhere: Read street signs, billboards, and anything else you can find while you’re on the go this summer.
11. Designate a family reading time: Create a time when your whole family reads, individually or as a group.
12. Buddy up: Pick out books for your kids to read together with their friends for fun and a shared experience.
13. Pick up comic books: Build a renewed interest in reading with comic books this summer.
14. Read aloud each day: Even if it’s poolside, listen to your child read aloud every day.
15. Summer reading camp: Scholastic offers a Summer Challenge, a virtual reading camp that engages kids in competitive reading over the summer.

Places to Go

Going out and getting active is a great way to have fun and learn this summer.

16. Go to a baseball game: Discuss strategy and scores while taking in a baseball game.
17. Visit museums: Museums often have summer programs for kids, so stop by and check out what they have to offer.
18. Go out to eat: Do menu math at a restaurant, asking kids how much food they can afford with a certain amount of money.
19. Go on tours: Whether it’s a chocolate factory or a glassblowing studio, take advantage of tours so kids can learn how everyday items are made.
20. Camping: Camping offers an excellent opportunity for discussing nature and the world around you.
21. State and national parks: Parks offer a multitude of learning opportunities, and fun family experiences as well.
22. Visit the zoo: Take a family field trip to the zoo to see the animals and learn about animal life.

At Home

Try these ideas on summer days when you’re sticking around the house.

23. Get crafty: Adopt a daily craft activity to do as a family every day.
24. Build a treehouse: Combine outside fun with construction by building a backyard treehouse, remembering to discuss measurement (and safety) as you go.
25. Create a lemonade stand: The classic lemonade stand offers many lessons in math and business.
26. Play board games: Board games build thinking skills and are a fun way for kids to play and learn over the summer.
27. Track daily temperatures: Fight the summer slide while tracking the summer heat wave by tracking the temperature each day with your kids.
28. Calculate your family’s emissions: Use the EPA personal emissions calculator to discover your emissions as a family, and discuss how you can improve.
29. Plant a garden: Teach kids about nutrition and growth with a summer garden.
30. Count money when playing Monopoly: A family game time with Monopoly can turn into a math lesson when kids act as the banker.

Taken From Accredited Online Colleges