Sneaky Ways to Keep Your Child Learning This Summer

Smiling sun wearing sunglasses with a beach reflection reads a book.

Sneaky Ways to Keep Your Child Learning

Find a way for a child to express him/herself in a creative manner that can be presented to the family.

Kids have been reading, writing, and doing math all school year long.

There are many sneaky ways to keep children learning this summer that are fun and don’t involve shoving academics down their throats.

The key is to find an outlet for a child to express his/her creativity.

Some young children may enjoy experimenting with different art media, playing with different types of paint, pastels, and colored pencils, and creating masterpieces that can be hung up somewhere in the house.

Other kids may enjoy playing “restaurant,” which allows them to design menus, count money, and practice verbal communication skills by taking orders as a waiter or waitress.

It also allows them to learn good sanitary habits when handling food.

Use multimedia to create something that is both audio and visually expressive

Let a young child read his/her favorite book and record it. Save the recording to the computer and let her listen to the story.

This can inspire a child to create original stories and turn them into an audiobook series. If several children are in the family, they can brainstorm ideas for characters and settings.

Younger kids can write down their ideas and then act them out in front of others.

Older kids can write their stories on a computer. An excellent way to present a story creatively is through Google Slides/Presentation, where all kids can simultaneously work on it from remote locations.

So, if you are on vacation, in a hotel room or on the beach, and have Internet access and a portable electronic device handy, a child can spend time creating eye-catching, creative products.

Kids can be stars and make fun, silly videos with kid-friendly technology.

Older kids love making all kinds of videos. With the ability to record decent-quality videos with smartphones and easily import them into kid-friendly programs, kids can make these videos and readily share them with others.

There is an app that is free with Mac products called Videostar.

Recently, my students enjoyed doing a project in which they worked in groups to create a music video explaining the workings of a human body system of their choice, its associated parts, and functions, along with a brief description of a disease related to that system.

Parents can sneak in learning in different ways both at and away from home

Parents can give a child an option to visit a museum of his/her choice based on unique interest.
Physical activity stimulates neurological connections using the multiple intelligences. Signing up a child for different sports or sports-related camps works the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, along with developing interpersonal communication and problem-solving skills.
Other great activities children can do in the comfort of their own home include science experiments, puzzles, and board games.

During these summer months, it is important to try to limit your child’s “useless” tech time, such as chatting on social media and playing video game marathons.

For more information on empowering your child and assisting in his/her maturation, decision-making, overall development, and becoming super healthy, check out Doug’s official website: www.douglashaddad.com

Douglas Haddad is a public school teacher, nutritionist and the author of parenting/child guidance book Save Your Kids…Now! The Revolutionary Guide To Helping Youth Conquer Today’s Challenges and co-author of Top Ten Tips For Tip Top Shape: Super Health Programs For All Professional Fields..

Helpful Articles

This post originally appeared on our July/August 2014 Magazine