4 Summer Activities to Get Kids Geared Up for Back-to-School
Most parents can relate to the challenge of keeping kids engaged in fun, healthy activities over summer break. When back-to-school approaches, the mission changes from keeping kids engaged to gearing them up for the new school year. Here are four of our favorite summer activities that will help get your kids ready to learn when they go back to school.
Education is a lot like farming in some ways. The teacher plants the seeds of learning in the fall, nurtures development throughout the year, and harvests the results with spring testing and final projects that let kids showcase all they’ve learned.
Any farmer will tell you, however, that the work doesn’t end with the harvest. There is still much to be done to prepare the soil for the next growing season. Children’s minds must also be tended in the summer time in order to be ready for the next school year.
One thing most parents can relate to is the challenge of keeping kids engaged in fun, healthy activities over summer break. When the school year comes to end, so do those comfortable daily routines, after school activities, and teacher-planned homework assignments. Once that final bell rings, it’s up the parents to keep kids on track.
Then back-to-school comes back around and shakes things up again. During this crucial time, parents switch gears from staying engaged over the break to getting ready for the new school year.
Here are four summer activities to help get your kids ready to learn when they head back to school.
1. Outdoor Sports & Games
The best thing for kids to do in order to stay active, healthy, and stimulated is to play outdoor sports and games. Popular youth sports include soccer, volleyball, baseball, basketball, kickball, tennis, golf, and swimming.
Outdoor play means fresh air, sunshine, and plenty of room to run. Sports help kids develop their gross and fine motor skills, plus teamwork and sportsmanship. You can almost guarantee your kids will be good and tired by the end of a day of sports camp, which means they will sleep well at night and might be more well-behaved at home.
Just be sure to cover them in sunscreen, keep them hydrated, and make sure they wear hats and proper clothing to protect them from UV ways.
Late-summer sports programs are also a terrific way to get kids back into the swing of socializing with other kids, parents and coaches. Sports and games bring rules and structure, which can help kids adjust from the freedom of summer back to the classroom.
Have you tried using Blueprint4Summer to find summer sports programs for your child? It’s free and easy and there are camps available for just about every age, interest, and ability level.
2. Nature & Gardening
Summer time is a great time for gardening, and gardening is a great way to introduce kids to all sorts of fun learning opportunities. If you have time, space and resources for a garden or a few potted plants at home, you can allow your child to pick out some seeds and enjoy the experience of growing pretty flowers or tasty vegetables. Garden veggies should be near peak picking season right around back-to-school time.
A growing garden is a excellent place to observe plants and learn about their unique biology. Gardens are also a great place to learn about insects and bug life!
Kids who learn about gardening will develop a better appreciation for the environment and may even spark a new life-long hobby.
Find Gardening Themed Summer Camps for Kids
3. Scavenger Hunts
To encourage your kids to explore the outdoors and finish a task to completion, why not have them go on a scavenger hunt? Place certain objects in different areas of the yard, and have them look around for those objects. Offer a reward for finding all the objects, or the most or specific objects if you have multiple children.
Better yet, sign your child up for a group scavenger hunt activity. They’ll love making new friends, exploring new places, and maybe even winning some prizes while they’re at it.
4. Arts & Crafts
A great way to get kids school-ready is to have them do various arts and crafts projects. These artistic activities get kids using their creativity, which means they are exercising the problem-solving areas of their brains. They’ll need those skills for the schoolwork ahead!
There are still hundreds of arts summer camps available for signup this summer. Head over to our Summer Camp Search App and see what’s listed!