Fun Ideas for Keeping Your Child's Mind Active this Summer {Guest Post}
Saturday, July 31, 2010 Posted by Felicia
Some teachers bid their students a fond farewell by wishing them a “Happy Summer” or suggesting that they “Stay cool!” My third-grade teacher ended the school year with these more ominous parting words: “If you don’t work hard over the summer, you’ll get cobwebs in your brain!”
Ack! I worried that whole summer about what might be forming between my ears, as I spent my mornings riding bikes and afternoons swimming in the pool. Though somewhere mid-way through my fourth-grade year, I finally realized that forgetting a math fact was not actually a sign of a spider dwelling deep inside my brain, my teacher’s words have stuck with me over the last (gasp!) three decades and I do make an effort as a parent to keep my kids’ brains engaged throughout the school vacation months.
Since I am a firm believer that play is the work of children, I’ve tried to re-frame my teacher’s dire words. For us, “working hard” translates into playing hard and figuring out fun ways to learn at the same time. Here are some of our summer favorites:
Would You Like a Glass of Lemonade?
This year, my kids asked me if they could hold a lemonade stand during our neighborhood’s annual 20+ family yard sale. It turned out to be a huge opportunity for them to learn and practice all sorts of skills—from making correctly-spelled signs to measuring ingredients and counting exact change. While they were at it, they benefited from a crash course in finance, learning about revenue vs. profit, and on-the-job training in customer service (saying “please” and “thank-you” really does attract extra business!) Not to mention the added space to their closets, because we sold their outgrown clothes. The money earned is then used for a back to school shopping trip for their new trendy clothes.
Are We There Yet?
Most vehicles these days come stand-equipped with DVD players, MP3’s, and both cup and snack holders to help keep kids entertained and satisfied on long car trips. These gadgets are great and I wouldn’t want to live without them, but for our family, drive time has also become game time. My 4-year old’s top choice is always to play the Alphabet Game, scouring billboards and traffic signs for all the letters of the alphabet, in order. It’s a race to the letter Z…or a group effort, if we want to let our competitive guards down. My older daughter loves to do math in her head, so we play a lot of trip-related word problems (e.g. If we have 30 miles left to travel and we’re driving 60 mph, how long until we arrive?) Our young one even joins in the action with quick math-related drills (What’s 2 + 2? How many fingers and toes do you have altogether?)
Pen Pals
Once the road trip to Grandma’s has come and gone, the girls practice skills by crafting thank-you notes. Spelling counts, as does creativity. I get out old magazines and glue and have the girls cut pictures, words, and letters to create a story to send to their grandmother about the things they enjoyed most during their visit. Scissor skills, story-telling, writing, imagination—it’s all there!
Add it Up
Earlier today, my daughter was counting her “Kinz cash” in Webkinz world (an online site where kids have virtual pets, in virtual rooms, doing virtual jobs for virtual money) and wondering if she had enough money to purchase two items of furniture for her pet’s room. “They are 150 Kinz cash each” she explained. “I have 500 Kinz cash. Do I have enough?” I handed her a pencil, supervised her addition (reminding her to start with the ones column), and let her figure it out herself. When she happily realized she had adequate funds, she turned to me and actually said, “See, Mama, you really can learn things in Webkinz world!”
Indeed, the possibilities for learning through play are endless. Playing hard each day really does keep the cobwebs away and I know my kids are going to head back to school this Fall with clear heads and energized minds!
Ack! I worried that whole summer about what might be forming between my ears, as I spent my mornings riding bikes and afternoons swimming in the pool. Though somewhere mid-way through my fourth-grade year, I finally realized that forgetting a math fact was not actually a sign of a spider dwelling deep inside my brain, my teacher’s words have stuck with me over the last (gasp!) three decades and I do make an effort as a parent to keep my kids’ brains engaged throughout the school vacation months.
Since I am a firm believer that play is the work of children, I’ve tried to re-frame my teacher’s dire words. For us, “working hard” translates into playing hard and figuring out fun ways to learn at the same time. Here are some of our summer favorites:
Would You Like a Glass of Lemonade?
This year, my kids asked me if they could hold a lemonade stand during our neighborhood’s annual 20+ family yard sale. It turned out to be a huge opportunity for them to learn and practice all sorts of skills—from making correctly-spelled signs to measuring ingredients and counting exact change. While they were at it, they benefited from a crash course in finance, learning about revenue vs. profit, and on-the-job training in customer service (saying “please” and “thank-you” really does attract extra business!) Not to mention the added space to their closets, because we sold their outgrown clothes. The money earned is then used for a back to school shopping trip for their new trendy clothes.
Are We There Yet?
Most vehicles these days come stand-equipped with DVD players, MP3’s, and both cup and snack holders to help keep kids entertained and satisfied on long car trips. These gadgets are great and I wouldn’t want to live without them, but for our family, drive time has also become game time. My 4-year old’s top choice is always to play the Alphabet Game, scouring billboards and traffic signs for all the letters of the alphabet, in order. It’s a race to the letter Z…or a group effort, if we want to let our competitive guards down. My older daughter loves to do math in her head, so we play a lot of trip-related word problems (e.g. If we have 30 miles left to travel and we’re driving 60 mph, how long until we arrive?) Our young one even joins in the action with quick math-related drills (What’s 2 + 2? How many fingers and toes do you have altogether?)
Pen Pals
Once the road trip to Grandma’s has come and gone, the girls practice skills by crafting thank-you notes. Spelling counts, as does creativity. I get out old magazines and glue and have the girls cut pictures, words, and letters to create a story to send to their grandmother about the things they enjoyed most during their visit. Scissor skills, story-telling, writing, imagination—it’s all there!
Add it Up
Earlier today, my daughter was counting her “Kinz cash” in Webkinz world (an online site where kids have virtual pets, in virtual rooms, doing virtual jobs for virtual money) and wondering if she had enough money to purchase two items of furniture for her pet’s room. “They are 150 Kinz cash each” she explained. “I have 500 Kinz cash. Do I have enough?” I handed her a pencil, supervised her addition (reminding her to start with the ones column), and let her figure it out herself. When she happily realized she had adequate funds, she turned to me and actually said, “See, Mama, you really can learn things in Webkinz world!”
Indeed, the possibilities for learning through play are endless. Playing hard each day really does keep the cobwebs away and I know my kids are going to head back to school this Fall with clear heads and energized minds!
This article was brought to you by My Baby Clothes Boutique. Signe Whitson, the author, is the mom of two young girls as well as a licensed social worker and co-author of The Angry Smile: The Psychology of Passive Aggressive Behavior in Families, Schools and Workplaces. Check out her blog for more great stories and advice on passive aggressive behaviors.
August 22, 2010 5:08 PM
I too have adopted many of these ideas and my kids seem to love it. I have a little boy who is very money oriented. I helped him start up a corner lemonade stand where he could sell drinks and snacks. He has been able to keep himself entertained and loves that hes making his own money. I also got him into a online simulation game similar to the one you are talking about. He loves making money on the game and proudly showing everyone what he has done. Its great to have these games and activities teach such good life lessons early on in a fun way.