Summer is the time children spend for leisure and relaxation. They might stay up later than usual, or they might binge eat their favorite ice cream. You may tolerate these occasionally but as parents, you need to make sure your child stays productive in any way at this time.
Here are summer activities for your children you should consider.
Enroll them in a sports clinic
An effective way for your child to stay fit during the summer is enrolling them in sports clinics. A 2016 study found that the prevalence of obesity on kids from kindergarten to second grade went up from 8.9 percent to 11.5 percent during the summer. Likewise, the prevalence of overweight increased from 23.3 percent to 28.7 percent.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), children ages five to 17 should engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day. Your child will easily meet this target if you enroll them in sports camps. Sending your child to a sports clinic will not only make them physically stronger, but they’ll also develop as an individual. They’ll learn the importance of teamwork and discipline.
Give them summer assignments
Giving them summer assignments ensures that learning will continue. In Chicago, for example, $2.7 million was spent on a program that addressed students’ ‘education-free summers’. Up to 170,000 public school students, ranging from kindergarten to 7th grade, were given reading assignments and workbooks during their summer vacation.
University of Tennessee professors Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen took a look at the effect of summer reading. They found that children who don’t read during the summer can lose at least two months of reading improvement. On the other hand, students who read over the summer can gain a month’s worth of reading proficiency.
Given this, it’s good to let your kid continue learning during the summer. There are supplementary lessons available online. Studentreasures Publishing (https://studentreasures.com/teachers-lounge/lesson-plans/third-grade/) said their free hands-on writing activity for students will inspire your little one to write and possibly pursue a career in publishing in the future.
Let them take part in outdoor activities
Many children spend most of their time indoors. According to a study, an average American child spends only four to seven minutes a day playing outdoors and over seven hours a day in front of a screen.
Letting them explore the great outdoors gives them a kind of stimulation that their gadgets won’t be able to provide. Nature will activate more of their senses: seeing, hearing, smelling and touching. It also promotes creativity and imagination. By letting your child interact with their surroundings, they can think more freely and approach the world in their inventive ways.
Are you thinking of new and low-cost activities for your children? You can try the following:
- Treasure hunting
- Gardening
- Neighborhood walk or hike
- Designing an obstacle course
Take them to a museum
Summer is a perfect time to take your children to museums. Museums provide additional learning not only for your kid but also for yourself. According to Dr. Kimberlee L. Kiehl, executive director of the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, a child is never too young to visit a museum. She recounted that she’d seen babies looking intently at art pieces inside museums before.
She added when taking your child to a museum, note their interests. Look for exhibits online that might get your child’s attention.
There are many activities for your children during the summer. Summer isn’t an excuse to stop their learning. Summer is a time for them to relax and recharge, but keeping their minds sharp will help them as they grow older.
