Summer Fun Learning - Create Your Own Camp Activities to Teach and Entertain

Create Your Own Camp Activities for Fun and Learning at Home

Whether you're just battling summer boredom or if you want to keep learning going over school break with a little fun on the side, these activities can help. Summer learning needn't be demanding, and the schedule shouldn't be rigid.

The key to keeping your kids interested and entertained while they learn is to make it fun. Does your child hate to read? Try other ways of sharing great stories from books. Take turns, act out the story, and make a tent using blankets over your kitchen table. Make this cool fake campfire, and read by it's imaginary light. "Cook" these nifty bacon and egg candies over it's "warmth" during a break between books.

Have chores to do during camp time? Turn everyday chores into learning fun.

More Ways to Sneak Learning into Summer Camp Activities at Home

1. Have your children pick a name and a mascot for your summer camp at home. Make a creative sign to hang on your door or refrigerator that shows your mascot and camp name.
2. Keep Reading Going Over the Summer Breakwith a variety of reading activities.
3. Nurture your young child's language skill development with these language games.
4. Plan a back yard adventure and have your kids take along a note pad to make field notes as they go. If your children are not yet writing, let them cut pictures from magazines to represent what they've seen. They can paste these in the notebook and discuss their choices with you. Encourage your child to talk about his discoveries by asking open-ended questions and statements such as:
   • "Tell me about the picture you chose."
   • "That's a great picture! Tell me about it."
   • "What colors do you see in this picture?"
5. Work on sight words with these printable flashcards and tips for making it fun.
6. Have older children? Try these easy ways to enjoy and reinforce reading at home.
7. Familiarize yourself with early math concepts that your child will learn in school. Use multisensory methods to teach your child math skills such as how to count and solve basic problems.
8. Make your own multisensory teaching materials for math, reading, and writing.
9. Use ordinary playing cards to help your child practice addition and subtraction. To add, lay down two cards, and demonstrate how to add the numbers on the cards by touching each symbol on one card and then the other as you count aloud. As your child masters counting the symbols on two cards, add another card. For subtraction, lay down two cards and demonstrate counting the symbols on the larger card aloud. Then, say "the number minus the other number" and count backwards the amount on the lower card. Then say, "the bigger number minus the smaller number equals _____." Play the game at a pace your child is comfortable with, and then increase the speed over time.
10. For older children, practice multiplication using playing cards by laying down two cards and having your child multiply the numbers on them. Increase the speed as your child feels more comfortable with the game.
11. Try these fun math crafts that teach early number concepts. When camp is over, talk with your child about the things you did together. Encourage your child to share her details about the camp with a grandparent or friend in a letter or by telephone.