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 Creekshawis 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 fromCreekshaw. 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 amenitiesthat 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 homeownerstake 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.
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.
Real estate “experts,” which can include both buyers and sellers, have long extolled the “three most important words” in the industry. They are location, location, and location! Combining small-town charm with big-city convenience, Creekshaw master-planned community is a 30-minute drive east of downtown Dallas on Interstate 30. Its location offers its community residents a robust economic climate and enhanced employment opportunities, as well as access to a variety of amenities found in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
However, its prime location is only the beginning. An experienced team of premier builders has curated the manicured neighborhoods and developed detailed floor plans that will appeal to today’s most discerning homebuyers.
With miles of hiking and biking trails, inviting green spaces, and upscale amenities, there is something here for every member of the family. For example, residents can drop a line in the catch-and-release ponds on a lazy Sunday or relax with the kids at the Amenity Center swimming complex. Plus, the Royse City Sports Complex is adjacent to the community. Convenience has been built right into Creekshaw’s community design.
Homes Transformed
What do buyers want in 2024? Recently, Creekshaw’s construction pros listed some emerging trends that are most requested by today’s prospective home buyers.
Innovative Homes: According to David Weekley Homes, new construction trends run the gamut from innovative, versatile room design to the latest in interior design concepts. Transformational design adds functionality and adaptability as families, and their lifestyles, grow and evolve. DWH offers models for touring or prospective buyers can schedule a 3D virtual tour from the comfort of their own sofa with the company’s LifeDesign™ feature. In 2024, trends include clear sight lines, traffic pattern room placements, and an emphasis on windows and light. Visit their website for additional interior design inspiration and ideas.
Smart Technology: Highland Homes has a passion for architectural design that employs new and energy-efficient construction methods. In fact, they have earned the Excellence in Energy Performance Award for exceeding Energy Star expectations.
Smart technology accessible from a mobile phone is integrated into each home design. Features include electronic deadbolts, video doorbells, outlets that include USB ports, smart thermostats, WIFI garage doors, and high-speed WIFI routers. Appliances are energy efficient, and homes are “future-proofed” with eco-friendly options focused on long-term sustainability.
Highland Homes offers buyers an assortment of floor plans that will suit the individual needs of the homeowner and an inspiration gallery to “try before you buy.” Look at the Interactive Room Visualizer function on their website to get a feel for design combinations and available finishes for people to choose from.
Future Forward Design: Premier builder K. Hovnanianis introducing Tacoma II, its newest floor plan for the Creekshaw community. Upscale kitchens and spa-quality bathrooms are representative of the growing self-care trend in 2024.
The pandemic reminded us of the truth in that old adage: your home is your castle. Families today want homes that come with all the comforts they enjoy. For example, flexible spaces for workouts or hybrid work-from-home offices continue to be desirable, as do fully functional outdoor spaces that invite nature inside. To streamline the process even further, check out the Looks function on the builder’swebsite. Interior design professionals at K. Hovnanian have curated four inspirational home design palettes that orchestrate harmonious interior design options with available add-ons and finishes.
Coming Soon: Creekshaw has partnered with Impression Homes to offer community residents a townhouse option that is now in the planning stages. Community amenities are desirable whether purchasing a large family home or a smaller starter home. Check back at Creekshaw.com for updates. Impression Homes offers a Home Photo Gallery and other valuable information on their website for first-time buyers who want to familiarize themselves with the home-buying process.
Point and Click
When considering new construction, the amount of decision making involved can occasionally feel overwhelming. Each one of Creekshaw’s construction teams seeks to streamline the process for prospective home buyers. One sure-fire way to do that is to provide interactive features that can demonstrate all the exterior and interior possibilities available with the click of a mouse.
A 2024 trend towards interactive features is also the latest in the construction industry. Builder sites include mobile-friendly, user-friendly functions, since mobile devices account for a sizable portion of web traffic. Interactive elements offer users an engaging design experience that encourages exploration and authentically demonstrates what is possible, without the fear of making costly, irreversible mistakes. Users can experiment, undo changes, and change their minds again to make informed decisions when the time comes to build.
Reality vs. Virtual Reality
As popular and engaging as interactive design has become, there is still nothing like seeing a place firsthand. Creekshaw is in Royse City, where visitors can stop by and see the Futuro House, an architectural wonder that was considered truly innovative back in the day. Designed by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen in the late 1960’s, Futuro House resembles a flying saucer made from reinforced plastic. Perhaps innovation, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder? At Creekshaw, our builders still place a high premium on their timeless designs.
Visiting a place allows us to immerse ourselves in the environment, experience the neighborhoods, and assess the availability of essential services and amenities. Come and see for yourself what today’s innovative homes have to offer. Click here to schedule a tour today.
