As the school year ends, it’s easy for kids to want to forget about school and learning but the loss of knowledge that comes from not being in school is real. Known as the summer slide, this academic loss can be prevented. There are plenty of ways to keep summer learning fun so kids stay engaged and don’t lose important knowledge.

24 Ways to Keep Summer Learning Fun to Prevent the Summer Slide

What is the Summer Slide?

Rather than one at a playground or a water park, the summer slide is when students can experience a decline in academic skills when not in school. It has consequences for both families and classrooms. After studying 800 American parents and 200 teachers, data from Prodigy Education showed that when learning was paused for summer, nearly half of students lost academic ground. Research from NWEA, a nonprofit providing educational assessments, found students can lose an average of 1-2 months of reading and math progress during summer months. 

Prodigy Education data also revealed:

• 45% of their students showed noticeable summer learning loss after the break
• 80% of teachers had to reteach previous material
• 67% of teachers stated the need for reteaching disrupted planned lessons

Ways to Keep Summer Learning Fun 

The best way to prevent the summer slide is to find ways to keep summer learning fun. Below are 24 different ideas that keep kids motivated to learn when they’re not in school.

Make a Summer Bucket List

Summer in our house was always a balance of structured and unstructured time. Weeks with camp provided structure and other weeks where my kids were home, time was less structured.

During these weeks, we found ways to keep summer learning fun by crossing things off our summer bucket list. We went on outings to museums, spent afternoons at the pool, or met up with friends. We engaged in cooking or gardening projects and took public transit to explore museums in nearby Washington, D.C.

Creating a bucket list, provides structure to your unstructured time. By making a bucket wish list with your kids, you’re setting summer goals to achieve together.

Even though my daughter will be a college senior next year, she’s home working at an in-state internship for the first summer since starting college. Even before her school year ended, she was texting me fun things she wanted to do this summer.

Using Apple Notes app, I created a shared note for us to add things via our iPhones. It’s full of museums to visit, performances to see, trips to take, and new restaurants to try before she heads back to school for her senior year. I honestly love that she had the idea of making a bucket list for this summer just like she always did as a kid!

Do Something Learning Related Every Day

Kids thrive on accomplishment. Having a simple goal of doing something learning related every day makes the achievement visible and celebrated.

“Children need that sense of progress and achievement,” David Smith, CEO of Silicon Valley High School explains. “Without regular academic milestones, parents need to create alternative ways for kids to feel successful and engaged.”

Goals could include:

• Going to the library to choose a new book
• Learning a new word in a different language
• Listening to an audio book
• Planting something in the garden and observing its growth
• Use gross motor skills to play at the playground with a friend
• Visiting an amusement park and talking about the physics of roller coasters
• Completing a puzzle. Try Completing the Puzzle, a sustainable puzzle subscription that combines fun, learning, and eco-conscious living in one monthly delivery. A subscription includes a return-and-swap model so families can enjoy new puzzles each month without the clutter!

Use Screen Time as Learning Time

According to a study by Prodigy, 3 in 4 teachers recommend an online education platform for summer learning. Rather than unlimited device access, Smith suggests creating specific windows for educational content, creative apps, or video calls with distant relatives.

Use apps to track books read, learn about physics, journal daily, or master a foreign language. Free websites can be used to create personalized study plans for summer work or engage in interactive learning through online quizzes.

Here are 11 apps and websites that serve as great ways to keep summer learning fun.

Apps:

• Keeping track of books read with the BookIt! app. Kids in grades K-6 can work towards monthly reading goals set by parents and earn a free pizza from Pizza Hut each month in June, July, and August when they meet them.
• Using Duolingo to learn new words in a different language. Duolingo streaks are a fun way to keep users motivated to keep learning throughout the summer.
• Discovering physics in the real world using the Playground Physics app from the New York Hall of Science. For example, kids can record motion they see on a playground and watch the paths. Older kids can apply physics learned through class and perform calculations.

Online tools and websites:

• Engaging AI learning tools like Brainly to help middle and high schoolers create a personal study plan for summer work and upcoming SAT and ACT tests
• Watching BrainPop animated videos to learn about any number of topics in the most fun way thanks to Tim and robot Moby
• Fostering language development through word puzzles like Wordle, Spelling Bee, and the New York Times Mini Crossword. My college-age daughter and her friends engage in daily NYT mini crossword battles to see who can finish the fastest!
• Digital journaling using the Journal app on iPhone which encourages kids to write daily
• Interactive Kahoot or Quizlet quizzes. Kids are used to using these tools in the for classroom learning but they can continue to be used at home during the summer to test knowledge.
• Challenging your child with coding through Code.org where projects can be completed in as little as 15 minutes or can be multi-step, multi-day projects depending on their age and interest.
• Helping your child understand current events in an age-appropriate way through The Juice. I love that articles in The Juice are written by journalists and educators so they’re short, interesting, about things going on in the world kids are hearing about and tailored to different grade levels. The Juice also has videos, infographics, quotes, and games that not only aid in comprehension but keep content fun and engaging.
• An Outschool class can be a great way to use screen time as learning time. There are thousands of fun and unique, interest-based classes on Outschool so it’s easy to find something fun, affordable, and engaging for every child in your family.

Get Creative and Learn Real-World STEM Concepts

Fostering creativity through crafting is one of the best ways to keep summer learning fun while teaching real-world STEM concepts in hands-on ways. These 5 tools that can inspire young makers this summer but please note that they require adult supervision.

Chompsaw from Chompshop

When my kids were younger, cardboard was their building material of choice because it presented endless possibilities. The only tricky part of building with it was cutting. Cardboard is too thick for normal scissors and depending on the age of your child and your comfort level, a box cutter isn’t always a great idea. Chompsaw by Chompshop to the rescue!

Unlike scissors or box cutters that fall short when crafting with cardboard, the ChompSaw features a rapid hole-punching mechanism that cuts through cardboard easily but poses no risk to little hands. Its built-in metal guard and lack of exposed spinning parts ensure that fingers, hair, and clothes remain safe, so kids can build freely and parents can rest easily. I wish this existed when my kids were younger! It would have opened up young engineers’ ability to design and build the coolest projects out of cardboard! 

xTool F1 Ultra Dual Laser Engraver

There are many benefits of using laser cutters as teaching tools, such as empowering kids to create through hands-on-learning while inspiring future entrepreneurs. The xTool F1 Ultra Dual Laser Engraver can help kids develop a wide range of STEM skills along with ones in art and design. It fosters creativity, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary learning through hands-on laser cutting, engraving, and coding. As kids engineer prototypes to engrave wood, acrylic, leather, or metal, they learn about material science and how the properties of the materials respond to laser cutting and engraving 

Cricut Maker 4

The Cricut Maker 4 is a smart cutting machine that writes, scores, engraves, foils, embosses, and more. It can cut over 300 different kinds of materials so it can be used for a wide variety of projects, like simple stickers and cards to more complex items like personalized apparel, wood decor, and even jewelry. 

Kids start by brainstorming design ideas, drawing shapes using the Cricut Design Space software, and learning to translate their ideas into digital designs. Experimenting with colors, fonts, layouts, and different materials like vinyl, paper, cardstock, leather, and wood keeps interest high as create unique and personalized projects. Using different materials and tools teaches basic design principles like balance, contrast, and scale and there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing designs come to life.

Cricut EasyPress 3

The Cricut EasyPress 3 is a heat press machine that can be used with a Cricut cutting machine to create various iron-on projects. Working with iron-on vinyl, applying the base materials, and using the EasyPress 3 to apply an even amount of heat requires dexterity and hand eye coordination. It also helps foster creative thinking, imagination, ability to follow instruction, organizational skills, patience, and concentration. Save $120 on the EasyPress 2 – 12×10 for $119. Valid through 6/30

Clawlab

Clawlab combines textile art and technology to elevate the tufting experience for seasoned textile artists and newbies alike. As tufting rises from niche craft to a celebrated medium of self-expression, especially among Gen Z and young creators, Clawlab’s Tufting Gun and Tufting Frame are functional and thoughtfully designed for modern makers. These products aim to inspire, empower, and streamline the tufting experience across art, fashion, and interior design by empowering creators and eliminating common frustrations in the tufting process.

If you’re looking for more ways to keep summer learning fun with STEM, the USA Science & Engineering Festival Lesson Plan Library features lesson plans for teachers and free videos for students wanting to learn more about science topics.

Samples were received to facilitate this post but all opinions are my own. Affiliate links are included in this post.

The post 24 Ways to Keep Summer Learning Fun to Prevent the Summer Slide appeared first on Tech Savvy Mama.

​