 Tech Savvy Mama 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.
31 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
“It can be challenging for parents to strike that balance of giving their children some much-needed fun and downtime over the summer, while also ensuring they’ll hit the ground running when they return to the classroom,” says Dr. Joshua Prieur, Director, Educator Enablement at Prodigy Education. “As a parent – and also a former assistant principal – I know I’ve felt this pressure personally.”
Prieur believes summer should be a time for fun and recharging but there are always ways to gently incorporate learning and skills practice. His biggest tip for parents? “Don’t simply turn summer into more school. That can lead to burnout and resistance, which becomes counterproductive when they go back to school.”
There are many ways to keep summer learning fun and here are my 24 different ideas to 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
There are ways to build learning into daily routines,” Prieur says. “You just have to know where to look.”
Having a simple goal of doing something learning related every day makes the achievement visible and celebrated because as David Smith, CEO of Silicon Valley High School explains, “children need that sense of progress and achievement. 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. Two new titles I’m loving for summer are Whiz Kids: Human Body and Factopia. Factopia is full of 400 crazy connected facts verified by Encyclopaedia Britannica while Whiz Kids: Human Body is a new interactive children’s board book that explores inside the human body.
- Learning a new word in a different language. Mudpuppy’s Spanish to English Ring Flash Cards make learning on the go during the summer months easy.
- Listening to an audiobook
- 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
- Do 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! When purchasing puzzles, look for ones by Mudpuppy, particularly their Plant Anatomy Science Puzzle Set, Wild Food Chain, Animal Anatomy and Map of the World Geography Puzzle. Mud Puppy’s puzzles are gorgeous and integrate STEM and other important academic topics in a visually appealing way.
- Write a letter. Nothing motivates kids more to practice writing than fun stationary. Personalized stationary with their names, notecards with favorite characters, or choosing one from a rack at a local store can help get them started. I’m also loving the LEGO Stationary Creativity Set. ($26.99) Build, color, and create with the included gel pen, three markers, two sticky note pads, 25 coloring sheets, and a 10-piece LEGO duck build. Attach your duck to the markers for interactive play. Eco-friendly packaging makes it a perfect way to inspire young creators to write more!
- Interact with the world around you through immersive experiences. If you’re looking to inspire new learning about the world around you, I absolutely adore Enlightened Generation, a screen-free multisensory box of items curated by topic. Each box helps kids learn about wonders of the world like the ancient geoglyphs of Peru’s Nazca Desert, Moai Of Rapa Nui, and more— through a storybook, an activity, and a wearable item inspired by each destination. Each box is a treasure trove of items you’ll want to have in your home as you work to raise globally aware, curious kids through playful, hands-on, and meaningful cultural learning. Best for ages 3-10
- Pursue creative ventures in the visual arts. Created by Matt Ross, founder of School of Rock, One River School of Art & Design is a visual arts program that recreates authentic art studio experiences. It spans painting, drawing, digital design, photography, and sculpture. Taught through the lens of living artists rather than traditional academic-only techniques, it operates more than 15 locations across New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Texas, Illinois, and Oregon.
Play a Game
There are so many games that make learning fun, especially during the summer. Word games, card games, and even handheld games are highly portable ways to sneak in some everyday learning and learning on the go during summer travels. Here are some ideas of games that are fun and easy to pack, play poolside, or at home while enjoying the AC on a hot day.
- Word game- My First Bananagrams (ages 4+) or classic Bananagrams (ages 7+) are word-building games help kids develop a love of word games and word play in age appropriate ways
- Handheld game- Flipside is a fast-moving electronic handheld matching game that requires kids to beat the blocks. Kids flip to find the color then slide to match the lights in a game that requires quick reflexes and teaches spatial reasoning, color recognition, and memory skills. Best for ages 8+
- Card games- Bluey’s Card Game Series brings the fun to family game nights, flights, and playdates thanks to decks that feature two games in one. Choose from Bluey Charades, Bluey Crazy Eights, or Bluey Go Fish. ($4.99 each, best for ages 4+)
- Take on a building challenge. I was recently introduced to StickiKubes ($19.99) and was instantly addicted to sticking them together to stack them and build shapes! These mini stacking cubes stick to any surface (except fabric), letting kids create custom designs in 2D and 3D. Made from a safe polymer, they’re easy to clean (just rinse and they’re sticky again!) and come in 4 vibrant colors. With 125 cubes and a convenient storage tub, the fun never ends! Best for ages 4+
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.
“Parents also shouldn’t feel bad about allowing their children some extra screen time, especially on days when children have been outside a lot and need some time to recharge,” Prieur advises.
Here are 12 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:
- Exercise your creativity through The New York Times’ The Creativity Challenge. With 5 daily activities, each is designed to help you practice creativity or interact with it to make your mind more limber.
- 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
- Practice standards aligned math and English in a fun way thanks to Prodigy. Game-based learning will keep kids practicing curriculum-aligned math skills while playing a game they love.
- 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 8 tools that can inspire young makers this summer but please note that some require adult supervision, depending on the age and skill level of your child.
Clixo is an award-winning flexible magnetic building toy that promotes building, creativity, STEM, and open-ended toys. The flexible and strong pieces combine the magic of origami with the power of magnets to let kids build an infinite number of creations in 2D or 3D, empowering creativity and confidence.
Through its ingenious, research-based design, Clixo enables kids to learn science, spatial, and tactile skills from turning flat 2D shapes into 3D objects. The pieces also encourage experimentation, enabling kids to turn abstract concepts and creative ideas into tangible reality. Elements in the design also involve certain constraints, which help foster soft skills like creative thinking, patience, and persistence. Clixo is a great toy for the summer that also ensure kids keep learning as they play.
Raddish Kids
Cooking is one of the best ways to practice real-world STEM learning in a practical and tasty way and Raddish Kids keeps kids learning while school is out. Raddish Kids’ hands-on cooking approach provides a STEM learning experience that makes everyday meals fun, engaging and educational. Made for families and kids ages 4 – 14, cooking (including global cuisine) and baking kits nurture a healthy relationship with food and family.
All recipes are high-quality and chef-designed so meals are more than just exciting for kids, they’re dishes that parents actually would want to eat!
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!
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
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.
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
For STEAM enthusiasts, I highly recommend Ohuhu ‘s Honolulu Plus Series. Ohuhu makes high-quality art supplies that empower people of all skill levels and backgrounds to freely explore and express their creativity in an affordable way. Their Honolulu Plus Series features dual tip markers with a flexible rubber brush tip and chisel tip in sets of either 24 or 35 vibrant colors. The amazing colors blend seamlessly for clean, crisp, and smudge-free artwork, especially when used on Ohuhu Mix Media Pad for Multiple Techniques. I love that the tips or the markers are color coded so it’s always easy to find the right marker for your artwork and the ink is refillable for a lifetime of sustainable creativity.
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.
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