Summer is a wonderful season for spending time with your children. Family togetherness is great, especially because the summer is not as bogged down with homework and other activities.
However, sometimes you need a break from all that togetherness. Moreover, even bright, active, engaged kids sometimes get bored. Fortunately, we have some ideas for fun activities to keep them occupied during the long, hot summer months.
- Make ordinary activities fun.
Kids don’t always need entertainment, and they enjoy getting to help adults.- Involve children in your daily chores while you listen to upbeat music.
- Let them help plan meals, make shopping lists, pick out items at the store and prepare food.
- Let them reorganize a kitchen cabinet.
- Give young children Montessori-inspired activities to do.
Have an indoor picnic. Too hot, muggy, or rainy to go outside? Pack a picnic lunch together, spread out a blanket on the living room floor, and pretend you’re having a grand adventure.- Sorting games help children get ready for math.
- Sensory play helps kids in a number of ways, supporting language development, motor skills, problem-solving skills, cognitive growth, and social interaction.
- Fine motor activities, such as picking things up with tongs, prepare kids for necessary life skills like writing or tying their shoes.
- Go to the library.
Time spent at the library choosing books or reading together is time well spent, but libraries offer much more than that! Check with your local library for information about storytimes, classes, and other activities available to children and families. - Read aloud to each other.
Experiencing a story together is a great way to build memories, and reading aloud can build a child’s confidence as it’s building their vocabulary. - Finger paint in the bathtub.
Want to let them unleash their creativity but not ready for the mess it will create? Tack up some large pieces of paper on the shower walls, but the kids in bathing suits, and set them in the bathtub with finger paints. When they’re done, you can remove their masterpieces from the splash zone and hose the children down. - Let them try some science.
A simple internet search will yield dozens of science activities to do at home with kids of all ages using things you already have on hand like oil and water, baking soda and vinegar, or food coloring. - Send them on a backyard safari and challenge them to come back with drawings or descriptions of as many plants and creatures as they can.
If you’re not squeamish about bugs, you can even let them collect some in a jar and bring them in for identification. - Grow some butterflies.
A butterfly kit comes with live caterpillars, and your children can spend the summer caring for them as they watch them go from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly. When it’s time, you can even have a butterfly release party!
At MSOD Shipra, we believe in providing self-guided activities for children, so that they can learn from doing and grow in independence. For more information about us, or to explore our philosophy, call or visit our website.