It’s summer break and your kids are so excited to be out of school and playing in the sun! You’re happy they’re home but now you’re at a loss for summer activities and you’re worried they’ll lose the skills they gained during the school year. Luckily we have 10 fun activities to keep them occupied AND work on their literacy skills at the same time!
Download the checklist to tick them off as you do them!
Hopscotch Spelling
Grab your chalk and make a hopscotch board on the sidewalk. Write consonants and vowels in different boxes. For each step your child takes they have to blend together a word. Alternatively, you can write sight words and spelling words in the boxes and have them say silly sight word sentences, and read the spelling words!
Take My Order
This is great for the next time you have to order take-out. Have your child write out their order on a piece of paper and hand it to you. They’ll get to practice their spelling and you won’t have to cook!
Grocery Party
If you have kids that like to help in the kitchen then this one is for you! Pick out a fun and simple recipe that you all can make together (we love this one for Rice Krispy treats). Then get your helpers involved in the grocery shopping!
- Have the kid say what they need out loud and then write down the ingredients. If they aren’t at the writing stage then you can help them with this. This helps them with planning.
- Head to the store and have your child find each item. Finding the right isle for each item helps them with categories.
- Lastly, Come home and make the recipe! This is perfect to help children with following directions.
Road trip I spy:
This is the time for lots of road trips! So before your next one, plan out this game! Pick a few categories of things you might see while you’re driving, such as animals, buildings, colors, etc. Jot them down in a notebook with space underneath each one for later. As you and your family see these items on your journey have your child jot them down in the correct category! This can help with vocabulary, spelling, and categorization tasks!
Recipe Re-write
Just like “Grocery Party” pick a simple recipe that you and your child/children can make together. Give your child all the ingredients for the recipe, and have them make a “grocery list” by categorizing the type of food. So the grocery list should look like this:
And not like this
This task helps them with categorization.
Then print out a recipe and cut out each step. Have your child organize the steps in the correct order kind of like a puzzle. This helps with processing, sequencing, and reasoning.
Finally, make the recipe together and enjoy!
Bakery Remodel
For this activity, you’re going to make a pretend bakery! Use play dough (store-bought, or homemade) to create cookies for a pretend bakery. Have the kids create menus to practice spelling & reading, or work on a particular articulation sound by focusing on specific flavors and toppings (e.g., to practice the “ch” sound – use “chocolate,” “chip,” “cherry,” etc.). This activity is easy to play every day. Have the children choose new flavors, or treats to make as daily specials!
Homemade play dough recipe: https://tinkerlab.com/rainbow-play-dough/
Summer Gardening Fun
Plant a flower or an entire garden with your child! While gardening, you can work on a number of language targets such as descriptive language (colors, textures), cause/effect (when we water the plant it grows), new vocabulary(seed, shovel, etc.), and sequencing of events (e.g., first pull out the weeds, then dig in the dirt, plant the seeds, water the seeds). If you chose to plant in plastic or terracotta potters you can paint on them beforehand! Everyone can write their own name on the plant to remember who they belong to and practice writing their name.
The Dinner Debate
This is another great game for when you need to eat out. Everyone has to nominate a place they would like to eat, and they have to convince the entire family why their choice is the best.
The kids can write sentences, draw pictures, or even persuade their family members with a speech.
Once the debate is over, family members can vote for the most convincing option. etv dinner is chosen!
Slime Time:
This one is fun and messy so be prepared! Use the recipe here or any recipe of your choice to make slime! Like all the other recipe ideas have you child/children write out the ingredients before you go to the store, or have them write them out as they add the ingredients in.
No Pencils Allowed:
Last be certainly not least is what we call “No pencils allowed”. This can be done just about anywhere and with lots of different mediums. Make a list of some fun summer-related words for your child to spell. Then get creative and see what surfaces and materials you can use to write them out. You can use water and a paintbrush on the sidewalk, a water gun to spell things on a fence/sidewalk, if you’re at the beach you can use a stick and sand, at home you can use shaving cream on a table. The possibilities are endless!
We hope you get to do some of these fun activities this summer! Let us know over on our social media which one of the games your family enjoys!
If you find your child needs more help with their reading or writing check out our summer programs!