(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. I only link items I love or have used! Thank you for your support when you purchase through these links!)
We only have a few more weeks left of this school year and then we are on summer break! Yay!! We do a traditional school year starting in August and ending in May, so we have the entire month of June and July off. Every summer I usually plan a fun science unit or get some workbooks for us to do, that usually end up stressing me out or we never finish.
This year I’m planning…nothing!
Since we only have 2 months off, where we are usually busy with play dates, swimming, and small trips to the beach or our cabin in the mountains anyway, I’m not going to stress myself with the idea that we will get to something.
We are going to be spending the summer reading LOTS of great books and doing some fun projects, puzzles, or handicrafts that we didn’t have time for during the school year.
So today I’m sharing my ideas of what we will be doing, whenever we feel like doing it, this summer. I’ll also share some of my favorite summer workbooks/units at the end if you like those too. 😊
Reading
This summer, as our read aloud, we are going to be reading Little Pilgrim’s Progress by Helen L. Taylor. I’ve heard multiple GREAT reviews about this book so we are excited to read it together. I think my kids might enjoy listening to the audiobook while we follow along and look at the beautiful illustrations.
My daughter Hazel (8 years old) is an avid reader so I know she will be flying through books this summer. Here is a list of some great series she will be going through from our local library:
- The Critter Club
- Sophie Mouse Series
- Heidi Hecklebeck Series
- Daisy Dreamer
- Ella Diaries
- The Never Girls Collection
- Nancy Drew Notebooks
- Star Friends
- The Moffat’s (series) by Eleanor Estes
- And of course more American Girl books: Meet Julie
My son Teddy (6 years old) started reading this year and will continue this summer with lots of books. Here are some favorite series for him we will be reading more of:
We also love to read Charlie & Mouse and Sydney & Taylor books together.
Rest time/reading time is required in our house everyday, especially during the summer. I usually entice my kids with a reading log and let them have a fun treat after reading a certain number of books during the summer also. Some treats include: going for ice cream, sleepover at Grandma’s, buying a pack of water balloons, getting to pick out a new book, or go to a fun indoor play place. I usually just find a simple, free reading chart off Pinterest like THIS.
Whitney from @brighterdaypress has a really fun Summer Reading Bingo you can print HERE.
Starting July 1st, Barnes & Noble does a summer reading program where your child gets a free book for every 8 books they read and enter on their summer reading log you can print HERE.
The Good and the Beautiful also offers a Summer Reading Program that comes with a new book for FREE. **Sign up for the text message notifications- they will be restocking these on May 10th.
Puzzles and Games
For practicing math during the summer we love to play games. I love that when playing math games my kids don’t even realize they are learning. These are some of our favorites:
- Sum Swamp
- Pop Addition & Subtraction
- Pop it! Addition
- Dino Math Tracks
- Yahtzee
- Money Bags
- Sleeping Queens
- Tenzi
- KaBoom! (DIY Learning Game)
I love doing puzzles, it’s very relaxing to me, but I don’t have a lot of time during the school year to be working on a puzzle non-stop. My kids are starting to love to do them with me now too, so we got a few new ones to work through this summer.
Handicrafts and Painting
My kids have gotten a lot of great crafts and activity kits for Christmas and birthdays that I have been saving to do together this summer.
This summer I also hope to paint more. We really enjoyed learning some watercolor techniques this school year, so I hope to try a new watercolor tutorial each week from Let’s Go Make Art (myself included!) They have lots of great art tutorials for kids.
We also want to try some chalk pastel art tutorials from You Are An Artist.
My kids love learning to draw TONS of fun things from Art for Kids Hub.
(These are all free art tutorial videos on YouTube. ) THIS is our favorite watercolor set.
These Coloroki paint by number sets are super fun for kids too!
If you enjoy doing a simple unit study or workbooks to keep concepts fresh, these are some great ones we have done in years past:
I love the Moffat Girls No Prep Summer Packets. These are fun, hands on worksheets to review concepts learned. My kids enjoy doing these! They have them for multiple grade levels.
The Good and the Beautiful Safety Unit is a great science unit to do during the summer. It is simple, engaging, and full of important information for your little ones about all kinds of safety (fire, water, fun, stranger, electricity, internet, etc.) We did this a few summers ago and will definitely repeat it again.
Me On the Map would be a great unit to do during the summer also! Kids learn about their home, street, city, state, country, continent, and planet through great books and simple hands on activities and projects.
Those are our summer plans…a lot of creating, playing, and reading whenever we feel like it. I hope you found some great things to do with your children this summer. If you have any other suggestions, please leave them in the comments below!
I’m excited to have a relaxed summer and hope you do as well!
Lindsay
Thank you for compiling this list of fun and engaging summer learning activities.