Summer is here! Are you ready? These practical tips about summer learning for kids will help you set up a season full of fun, hands-on play. Whether you have toddlers, preschoolers, or school-age kids, you can make this summer the best one yet!

Name Your Why

• Are you a work-at-home parent, looking for independent activities so you can get your to-do list done?
• Maybe your kiddo needs a little extra support during the summer to get ready for next school year?
• Or perhaps you just want to spend time making family memories than planning them?

If your kids are anything like mine, you might want to go into the summer with a few planned activities in your back pocket. We certainly intend to have lots of unstructured free play, outside time, and afternoons at the pool — but we also know that TOO much downtime can lead to bickering and frustration for everyone.

Our Fun Summer Learning Plans

Every summer, I like to choose a few themes to guide our family summer learning. This year, we’ll be spending a month on space exploration to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. We’ll also be doing a habitat study about deserts and jungles, learning about plants and animals, weather, and more.

Throughout the summer, we’ll be reading good books, going on fun family adventures, and experiencing hands-on sensory play and science experiments together.  And you can follow along with our summer learning on our Instagram feed!

Planning Your Own Summer Learning {FREE Printables!}

• When I put together a themed learning unit, I like to start with the library. I open our library website and search for books related to the topic. We know we can count on authors like Anne Rockwell, Gail Gibbons, Leo Lionni, Eric Carle, and more. I also like to take my girls into the non-fiction section so they can experience the research process.
• Once I have a large stack of books, I grab a sheet of paper and start jotting down activity ideas. I typically use the following categories to get started:
  • literacy
  • math
  • fine motor
  • gross motor
  • creative play
  • arts & crafts
• Then, I open up a Pinterest and create a new board for the theme. I usually search for activities that don’t come naturally to me, like creative play and arts & crafts.
• I make a list of any additional materials I need to pick up on my next run to the store.
• Finally, I type up all the activities and print off a copy for the fridge.

Each weekend, I make a family schedule for the coming week. I look at the open pockets of time and choose 5-7 ideas from the activity guide as a “back-up” for the bored or bickering moments. Since my girls are old enough to have an opinion, I usually ask them which activities they would like try and make sure that we do those first. 🙂

As a working mom, I also make sure to select a variety of options — something we can do together, something my kids can do independently, a literacy-based activity, something open-ended, and something we can do outside!

I print off any handouts, gather materials, and put everything in one spot so it’s easy to grab whenever we need it. I also like to leave a stack of related books next to the couch for my kids to peruse whenever they have a free minute.

Summer Learning Printables!

• You can download our FREE flexible summer schedule template (includes 20 additional activity ideas).
• We also have a summer learning planning page in our FREE Resource Library that you can use to put together your themed activity units.
• Rather have it done for you? Check out our Summer Survival Kit, and get six of our Family Activity Guides (6 themes, 240 activities total) to keep your kiddos learning all summer long!
• Want to chat more about it? Schedule a FREE 20-minute call with me to talk through all your options.