10 Creative (and Fun!) Ways to Prevent Summer Learning Loss

Let’s admit it: In many ways, summer is as much a relief to adults as it is to kids. But as we enjoy the lazy days of swimming pools and sleepovers, there may still be one little worry in the back of our minds: the so-called “summer slide.”

While every kid’s summer learning gap depends on individual experience, it’s never a bad idea to encourage children to continue reviewing their skills and exploring the world around them. The best part is learning doesn’t have to be structured to be effective. Just a small amount of planning can help you find fun summer learning activities to keep kids engaged over break — and help them head back to school feeling motivated, confident and ready to learn. 

What Is Summer Slide?

Educators and researchers have used the terms “summer slide” and “summer learning loss” to describe the decline of students’ skills or academic achievements over the long summer break. While statistics vary, some theories speculate that age, as well as family income gaps, can contribute to the extent and impact of learning loss.

Regardless of your situation, when you introduce kids to skill-building crafts, museum outings and other kinds of summer learning activities, you’ll give them opportunities to:

• Reinforce school concepts 
• Hone social/emotional skills
• Develop new interests
• Ease the school transition in the fall

But all kids really need to know is: Summer is when you can do all the fun things you don’t have time for in school!

Fun Ways to Practice Reading and Writing

Experts agree that reading is one of the most important ways for kids to grow not only academically, but also socially and emotionally. Even if your kid isn’t a bookworm, you can still encourage them to practice reading and writing skills over the summer:

• Let kids choose “dessert” books for reading time. This includes comics, graphic novels, audio books or magazines that help kids stay engaged and make reading practice feel like a treat. For even more incentive, enroll in your local library’s summer reading challenge.
• Have kids read instructions out loud when they’re helping cook, learning a new game or building a toy. Kids will love to take the lead — and will practice their skills without even realizing it.
• Create summer memory books that document your adventures. Start by snapping lots of photos whenever you take a fun outing with your child. Back at home, either print out the photos or have your child recreate them with drawings on a piece of paper. Then, ask your child to write an accompanying paragraph about the adventure. At the end of the summer, you’ll have a collection of pages to make into a memory book!

Fun Ways to Practice Math and Science

Math and science practice may seem intimidating, but these can be some of the simplest ways to address your child’s summer learning gap:

• Have your child count and add up items at the grocery store. Or practice measurements and fractions while making recipes. Grocery shopping, cooking and even kitchen science experiments all have easily built-in treats and rewards.
• Make sidewalk chalk from a simple recipe. Take things a step further by selling the chalk at a stand. Your child can practice math by counting money and making change. They’ll also get a bonus lesson in entrepreneurship!
• Research the plants and animals native to your area. Then go on a scavenger hunt at a local park to see how many you can find. Make it interactive by downloading a bird call app or signing up for a ranger program.

Fun Ways to Practice History, Social Studies and Culture

While these kinds of skills may be more difficult to quantify, they’re essential to helping children build empathy, critical thinking and civic engagement:

• Plan a real or imaginary vacation to a destination near or far. Have your child research the culture and history of the location using the internet, guidebooks and/or maps. Explore activities and make an itinerary. Bonus points for totaling costs or cooking a recipe from your chosen locale!
• Research volunteer opportunities in your area to help your fellow community members. Organize a food drive with neighbors (bonus: count and sort cans!) and take them to a food pantry. Write letters to veterans, hospital patients or nursing home residents (bonus: practice spelling!). Participate in toy or supply drives for kids (bonus: shop within a budget!).
• Arrange (ahead of time) a visit to your local fire station, library or locally owned small business. Have your child prepare questions ahead of time and ask them during your visit. Back at home, discuss the most interesting things you learned, and talk about why each place you visited is valuable to your community. 
• Take a field trip to a local museum, zoo or historical village. Let your child lead the way, noting which exhibits catch their interest and what kinds of questions they ask. Then use your visit as a springboard for future explorations. You might be surprised at what your child’s observations can teach you!

Tips for Success

While it may never be a total breeze to convince your child to spend valuable vacation time on summer learning activities, there are ways to make the prospect more attractive:

• Follow your child’s curiosity. You know how kids always ask “why?” Instead of giving them a simple answer, let this question drive your summer learning itinerary. Dive deep into new types of activities, events and topics that help satisfy their endless curiosity and match their learning to their tastes.
• Divide summer learning fun into bite-sized sessions to ease anxiety and minimize pushback. This tactic does double duty as it also sets the stage for healthy future study habits.
• Make time to chat with your child’s teacher before summer break. Ask about your child’s areas of strength, as well as growth opportunities. Think about how to incorporate them both into your summer fun.
• Keep a list of things you and your child learn and experience over break. You can revel in your amazing summer accomplishments and bond over shared moments at a pivotal time in your child’s growth.

With an open mind, a positive attitude and a little bit of prep, it can be simple — and, more importantly, fun — to keep your child’s learning skills sharp over the summer. Once you reframe summer skills practice as enriching opportunities to explore kids’ passions, learning can easily transform into much-loved, memory-making fun.