Summer Learning for Children and Toddlers

It's summertime and school's out! That doesn't mean learning should stop over the summer, though. These summer learning ideas are great year-round, but certainly lend themselves to long, lazy summer days with the kids. You can use them every day, or just on the weekend. These activities can be used from less than one year all the way throughout childhood. My 9-year old still loves to do these fun learning stations with my 2-year old. Ready? Let's jump in!

Sign Language or a Foreign Language - pick one new word per day or even per week for beginners and up to 20 new words per week for more advanced children. BabySignLanguage.com/Dictionary is a great resource for beginner sign language words! Some great early words to learn are: food, eat, water, drink, help, potty, and all done. Next, look up words for favorite objects like ball, dog, fan, cat, fish, baby, doll. toy. Farm and zoo animals are always fun, too!

Math - for a little one, math is as simple as counting and grouping (same colors, sizes, shapes...) Once they get a little bigger, you can begin simple addition and subtraction and then progress to larger numbers and finally multiplication and division, and decimals and percentages.

Science - Science for a little is almost indistinguishable from outdoor play! Weather, bugs, plants, animals, space, planets... all science!

Art - finger painting, sponge painting, coloring, markers, clay, collage...

Manipulatives - larger Legos, Mega Bloks, Duplo, Play Doh, puzzles, blocks, magnet tiles, connectors, lacing tubes, blocks all build hand eye coordination using fine motor skills.

Music - I recommend getting some good musical instruments for children to play with, but you can also make your own! Drums, shakers and simple tissue box guitars are always a hit.

Worksheets - I am not against using worksheets in the summer. I love to use the grade level workbooks you can buy at the store. Other good options are cutting books, maze books, and puzzle books. I also recommend a subscription to Highlights magazine, or you can even make your own worksheets!

Movement - Whether indoors or out, it is imperative to get your little (and yourself!) moving around regularly. If it's not too hot outside, head out to a park or an outdoor play area for the ultimate in running, jumping, climbing, rolling, tossing, swinging and more. Plan to head out early in the day (before 10 am is best for summer time) to get the best temperatures and less direct sunlight. You can also go out later in the evening, such as after dinner, but be aware that you may have a tired, cranky and possibly more accident-prone kiddo and be willing to cut the play time short if you need to get home and get to bed.

If it's too hot for outdoor play, there are plenty of ways to get movement in indoors too! You can find some really good brain break videos on Youtube (Click here for my playlist). I also highly recommend Cosmic Kids Yoga for parents and children alike.

Swimming - Last but not least on the list today is swimming. In my opinion, everyone should learn to swim and the earlier the better. Not only is learning to swim great for safety at the pool, lake, beach and any other body of water, but swimming is a fun, active way to beat the heat too! Don't forget the sunscreen!

Still looking for more summer learning ideas? Stay tuned for more!

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Do you have any more summer learning tips? Leave them down below!