Fun Learning Ideas and Activities for Kids This Summer
Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent or work outside of the house, you will need a go-to list of everyday summer activities for kids to keep them busy—and learning—during summer vacation. Left to their own devices (pardon the pun) summer free time may turn into too much screen time.
At Creekshaw master-planned community, children can take advantage of so many fun summer activities. Just because summer can be less structured, doesn’t mean that learning ends. Parents can be role models for their children by showing them what it means to enjoy learning new things, whether in the classroom or through spending family time together making real-life memorable.
Stop the Summer Slide
At the beginning of the school year, many teachers expect to review last year’s material and reteach children the skills they’ve forgotten. Educators refer to this as the “summer slide,” or summer learning loss, but don’t feel the need to set up a classroom in your dining room just yet.
Parents can prevent the summer slide by being aware of it and finding opportunities to add an element of learning to summer vacation activities. Make time for having fun but also make it enriching by including some reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Here’s How
- Weekly Storytime: The educational benefit of reading to children can’t be overstated. Reading aloud helps young children build language skills, learn about the world, and develop emotional awareness and empathy for others. Since Creekshaw is in Royse City, a charming small town north of Dallas, the C.F. Goodwin Public Library is ground zero for summer fun and reading. This excellent library has a weekly story time for little ones. For older kids, sign them up for a summer reading challenge.
- Bring Math into the Real World: Statistically speaking, math is the subject that suffers the most from the summer slide. One fun way to include math in summer fun is to cook recipes and have the kids help to measure and add ingredients. Another practical way is to have kids manage some money, a real-world application they must master. Younger children can be taught one-to-one correspondence by having them set the table.
- Spend More Time Outside: Apply sunscreen, grab a water bottle, and get outside. Children need nature and physical activity. Take your kids to the pool at the Creekshaw Amenity Center or take a meander along the hiking and biking trails. Make a playground visit in the morning while it’s still cool or take a nature walk and have the kids identify (and count) the different plants and animals they see. Let children run, play, and explore, and watch the learning happen naturally.
- Take a Day Trip: Royse City boasts an array of day trip destinations, like taking the kids to visit Shangri-llama, where they can interact with the inhabitants, a herd of gentle llamas. Other must-see places in Royse City include City Lake Park, Futuro House, Robert Smith Family Park, and more.
- Take a Road Trip: It takes under an hour to get to Dallas from Creekshaw. Once there, enrichment opportunities abound. Take a nature stroll through the Butterfly House in Fair Park, visit the Dallas Aquarium or Zoo, or the Perot Museum of Nature and Science – a hands-on museum with many interactive displays.
Staycations
Families that live in the master-planned community of Creekshaw enjoy upscale resort-style amenities that make a compelling argument for planning staycation activities with the kids. For example, go to the catch-and-release fishing pond and use that time to have conversations, make plans, tell jokes, and yes, teach. There are many ways to add skill-building to daily life during a summer break.
Staycation ideas to spark summer enrichment might include:
- Backyard Camping: Creekshaw homeowners take pride in their backyards, creating spaces that offer a relaxing and entertaining environment. Take the kids backyard camping this summer. It’s the best of both worlds and can lead to learning opportunities about planets and stars while sitting by the fire ring.
- Begin a Fitness Routine: Invite other neighbors to join in a Mommy& Me fitness class in a shared community space. Challenge the kids to participate in sports. Check out the Royse City Sports Complex, located footsteps away from Creekshaw.
- Make a Family Journal: Encourage the kids to participate in creating a family journal. Writing encourages meta-cognition and self-reflection. Deciding what to put in the family journal encourages collaboration. Kids can take photos and draw illustrations. Young children can dictate their ideas.
School and Community Partnership: Royse City ISD
Niche,a highly respected school rating service, ranked the Royse City Independent School District far above average among other districts in Texas. One of the reasons for this is the priority on forming a partnership between the school district and the community, working together to help local children succeed.
Royse City ISD, in partnership with the YMCA, offers the community a summer camp for children 5-12 years old, five days a week, from June through August. Campers are provided 2 snacks a day and will enjoy theme-based enrichment opportunities, outdoor learning opportunities, arts, fitness, field trips and more.
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Summer Bucket List
One sure-fire way to avoid the summer slide is to have a plan in place. Make a calendar that includes family goals and individual goals. Brainstorm with the kids about the places they’d like to go, what they may want to do or learn, and any new things they may want to try. Summer provides the flexibility of more free time, more outdoor recreation, and less stress which equals more quality family time. Who knows? You might learn something new along the way.
Slide into Summer Fun! To learn more about the Creekshaw Community and all the opportunities it offers for spending quality family time, schedule a visit today.