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Wednesday, July 2, 2014

5 Fun and Frugal ways to keep your little ones active!





I get it, it is Summer. The season of being able to do nothing and just take it easy.



Not so fast!
Our little bundles of joy have turned into beautiful children that require our help as they learn new things everyday. Yes, I said everyday. Children need to continue learning outside of school. Their minds need to be engaged and encouraged. Two months is a LOOOONG time. A child often will lose much of what they learned that school year during the Summer downtime. Don't let that happen. 

If you have a little one like me, these two months are vital!

I'm going to share some frugal, easy, and fun ways to keep your kids' brains active and full of knowledge.


1. Almost every backyard has a pool of some type of the summer. Integrate math and science into your pool fun. Have your kiddos estimate the temperature of the water. Then take a thermometer and take the temperature.  Discuss different ways to make the water colder or hotter. Then do it. Bring the pool into the shade or poor ice cubes into it. Bring the pool into the sun or add warm water. Retake the temperature.
2. Bake up a storm! Baking includes fractions and elapsed time. Perfect for enhancing your child's math skills. 

Click {here} to get the recipe for these scrumptious cookies.

3. Everyone goes to the beach (whether lake or ocean) over the summer. This is the PERFECT time to study wild life. Bring a notepad and a camera with you. Have the kids write down their observations of marine life, bugs, and birds. Include the animals' physical features, movements, sounds, etc. Discuss what type habitat each animal might live in. Take quick snap shots of the wild life. 

4. Take those wonderful snapshots and edit them with FREE picture editing software. Easily overlay with text. Have your kids come up with adorable captions for pictures. Turn those captions into writing prompts. Your kids should be able to create wonderful fictional stories using their picture's caption. 



5. Bring your little ones to a park or just go for a walk. Explore different textures of the grass, leaves, trees, etc. Talk with your children about the textures. Compare the textures to other items in nature. 


I'd love to see some of your kids enjoying summer using these suggestions! Follow me on IG and use the hashtag #summersmiles.

Photo Credits to Kristen. She is an inspiration to me! Her talent is special and I am blessed to call her family.
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6 comments:

  1. Great ideas!! When parents ask me what else they can do at home or request extra homework/worksheets, I bring up alternatives. One of them is playing board games as a family because not only will there be teamwork and problem solving, there are a ton of board games that require math. I also tell them to bake bake bake in the kitchen. Most times they are shocked that I'm suggesting those things, but I would much rather students (and my own kids in the future) do these things than some extra homework worksheets!!!
    Ana
    Mrs. Bentin's Blackboard

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    1. Hi Ana! Yes, board games are awesome. Math, reading, and social skills all mixed into one. I agree, hands on activities over worksheets!

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  2. Great Ideas! I love the idea of baking! I don't mind messes (as long as they are cleaned up eventually!)....so we are going to try to bake something next week! Baking is also a great idea for a rainy-day. I love playing board games as well with my little ones. Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Yes.. Baking is such a great idea. It involves team work, math, reading, following directions,and so much more. Plus it has a yummy treat at the end!

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  3. Great ideas! Sometimes it feels like I am busier during the summer, keeping my own kids busy, than during the school year. I love every moment watching them learn and discover new things.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Kim
    Teaching Math by Hart

    ReplyDelete