Keep Your Kids’ Brain Active in Summer

Kids adore summer months and are looking forward to them as they are full of sun, fun and free time. Scientists, however, agree that during this period most kids experience a so called “summer loss”, which means that kids might lose or forget up to 25% of what they have learnt during the academic year. In order to minimize the negative effect of the summer break experts suggest that some brain activating activities are to be introduced into summer daily routine.

Here are some tips on how to help your kids’ brain be active during the summer break.

• Turn reading into an enjoyable process

There’s no doubt the reading is one of the fundamental skills that opens the world of knowledge, adventure and imagination. The sooner you teach your kids cherish and relish books the better it is for their future development.

Use a chance to visit the local library where you can find a wide collection of books for kids of different ages, let your kids choose the books that they like. Thus, they will be more motivated to turn to reading themselves or to ask to read to them aloud. If you read a book to a toddler or preschooler, always show them the pictures as they help to develop imaginative thinking.

Talk with kids about what you are going to read about trying to anticipate the story or ask kids to remember what happened before, helping to develop their memory skills. You can download and use our kindergarten fun worksheets for reading to make this process during summertime even more entertaining and fascinating.

• Incorporate maths activities into daily chores

Surprising enough, but kids are much better educated when parents and teachers do that by using the things around them. For instance, the world around is full of things that can be compared to different basic shapes. Try this nice opportunity and teach your kids to compare objects around them to basic shape forms. Show an example and then ask your little ones to find objects of a certain shape.

You will get surprised how eagerly and willingly kids try to find as many objects reminding a triangle or a rectangle, for example. Or you can ask you kids to count how many spoons and forks you need to lay the table for dinner or how many birds there are at the playground. If you need to revise some of the numbers or basic shapes, on Kids Academy website you can find a wide range of free kindergarten worksheets.

• Develop motor skills through sensory activities

It is hard to deny the fact that both motor skills and sensory activities are vitally important for kids’ development. Why not to combine those two and have fun with your preschoolers or kindergarteners in summer?

Kids adore playing with sand at the beaches, so ask them to draw numbers, letters or even pictures on the sand. Or on a rainy day when caught at home let your kid use flour to create funny pictures. These simple activities will reinforce kids’ knowledge as well as motor skills. Moreover, a lot of fun is guaranteed! Kids Academy preschool activities will also give kids lots of practice and pleasure during summer days.

• Explore new places

Summer is the best time to explore the amenities nearby. Find out the information about local museums or zoos, which are sure to offer different educational and entertaining programs for kids of different ages. It is a nice opportunity to introduce toddlers and preschoolers to the world around them and to the nature.

Kids will have a lifetime experience when they see hens and geese, sheep and cows in the real life. Toddler printable worksheets by Kids Academy will also offer a lot nice pictures of different animals and objects and teach them to define things in the world around them.

Summer is a nice time when you and your kids can have a lot of fun and excitement. It won’t require a lot of effort to make this process a bit more educational and beneficial for your kids’ development. Don’t miss the chance and use it the fullest with Kids Academy!