Where I live, school is out for the summer. This is a great time for kids to pursue interests outside of the classroom. Traditional activities—like summer camps, family outings, and campfires—all make this break a unique opportunity for learning.

Wait—what? Learning?

You expected me to say fun, didn’t you?

The truth is that summer activities can be both.  

Summer camps offer children a chance to learn a variety of skills, such as canoeing, orienteering, or plant identification. Throughout the summer, most art museums and zoos have affordable programs available for kids.  Local college campuses might offer academic, space, or sports camps at an affordable price.  City libraries host Summer Reading Programs. Most of these give prizes for kids who read books but also invite authors and entertainers to give free presentations to families. Be on the lookout for Vacation Bible school too. Many churches offer these week-long theme related programs for free.

If you have a family outing planned, you will probably spend time traveling to and from your vacation destination. Instead of handing crowd control over to hand-held electronics, provide other options for your kids. In the car, a simple notebook can serve as a story or drawing game, where one person starts a story (or picture) and the next person adds a few lines before passing it to the next person, who adds a few lines, and so on. You can also bring a deck of cards for hotel rooms. Games like Rummy, Hearts, or Solitaire give kids a chance to practice strategy. Yahtzee is a portable dice game that teaches addition and multiplication. And games like Questions Only or Apples to Apples encourage a lot of social interaction and communication.

Make your next campfire an event to remember. Sing songs, play charades, do skits, tell fireside stories (invoking a rich oral tradition), or name the constellations. Focus on all the senses when you are in a campfire setting. What do you see? Hear? Feel? Taste? Smell. Add an extra dimension by asking what if questions. What if there were no electricity? What if we discovered a cave nearby? What if each ember carried magic? Such open-ended thinking is great for developing your child’s creativity.

There are endless other activities that families can do in the summer that stimulate children’s imagination. What are some of your favorites? Please list your ideas in the comments below. Who knows? You might help spark a new family summer tradition. And, be sure to sign up to receive updates of each new post on our Christian Children’s Authors blog. Follow us for new book news, free resources, parenting tips, and encouragement!

Lori Z. Scott

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