summer activities Archives

As the school year comes to a close, families eagerly anticipate the long, lazy days of summer; it’s a time for relaxation, outdoor activities, and family fun. However, the transition from structured school days to a more flexible summer schedule can sometimes lead to a regression in academic skills for children. This doesn’t have to be the case! With a little planning and the right tools, parents can help their children prevent academic regression and maintain or even enhance their skills over the summer break, ensuring they return to school ready to succeed. Here are some strategies that can help.

1. Incorporate Learning into Daily Activities

One of the best ways of preventing academic regression during the summer months is to weave learning opportunities into everyday activities. Here are a few ideas:

Use Learn to Draw Books by eeboo to help prevent summer skill regression

Outdoor Exploration: Nature walks can turn into science lessons. Encourage children to observe and discuss plants, animals, and insects they find. To make critter discoveries even more exciting and educational, check out the Learn to Draw Animals book. Recommended for children age 7+, your budding artist will work on fine motor skills, spatial awareness, and have fun while expressing creativity.

Best Pals Diner Pretend Play that fosters executive function an essential component of academic skills

Picnics: Enjoy a picnic rain or shine with Best Pals’ Diner Pretend Play. Children will love pretending to have an outdoor dining experience using guest checks, play money, food and beverage choices. Add your own play food for an imaginative new restaurant in your backyard! This activity fosters executive function, creativity, and social interaction, a perfect activity for preventing academic regression this summer.

Cooking and Baking: These activities are not only fun but also educational. Measuring ingredients can help with math skills, following recipes can enhance reading and comprehension, and discussing the process can boost language development. Make pretend food preparation more engaging with Scented Dazzlin’ Dough, which offers a variety of vibrant colored modeling dough that is scented. The resistive dough will strengthen fingers as the children mold “food”. Use cookie cutters to “bake” creative play cookies.

For hands-on cooking experiences with an adult supervising, Stepwise Breakfast and Lunch Cookbooks provide simple esteem-building activities that help children of varying abilities and ages experience cooking. The cooking instructions are arranged with one task per page and are clearly illustrated.

Scented Dazzlin' Dough, helps prevent summer skill regression — Dazzlin’ Dough

2. Maintain a Routine

SchKIDules; creating a summer schedule helps prevent summer skill regression

Keeping a consistent routine helps children feel secure and can make the transition back to school smoother. A daily schedule that includes time for reading, playing, and structured activities can help maintain the rhythm of learning. Try the SchKIDules Home Collection Combo Pack to help children understand and follow their summer routines. The 72, 2×2 inch pieces are magnetic and laminated. The SchKIDules Sensory Expansion Pack includes 12 activities such as swing, tunnel, chewing, etc. that can be added to the child’s daily routine.

3. Engage in Sensory Activities

Sensory play is not only fun but also crucial for development. It can help with sensory processing skills, fine motor skills, and even emotional regulation; essential components for academic success and perfect for preventing academic regression this summer. Here are a few suggestions:

Sensory Play: Fill bins with rice, dry beans, or sand and hide small toys or letters for children to find. Children love the Mini Animal Assortments; they are an inch or smaller and promote a pincer grasp. Choose Farm Animals, Sea Life Animals, and Wild Animals with 16 animals in each set, or choose an assortment of animals with 12 pieces. This activity can help with tactile processing and fine motor skills, sorting, and verbalization skills. You can add more fine motor skill work by using Gator Grabber Tweezers (ages 2+) that come in a set of 12. For success, the child must use a thumb/index finger grasp to squeeze the tweezer to pick up an object.

Sensory On the Go Camping Fun is designed for the preschool-age child to explore all of their senses, with a camping theme. The child employs fine motor skills and imaginative play in a way that will capture their interest. Parents love the “take-along” feature of this toy that comes with a handy, sturdy carry case that goes into the car, to the park, or to grandma’s house.

4. Promote Physical Activity

Physical activity is essential for overall health and can also support academic skills by improving focus and reducing stress. Encourage outdoor play, sports, and exercises that children enjoy. Products like the Yoga Dice: A Fun Game of Rolling and Posing can provide both fun and physical exercise for children ages 6 and older. This movement game helps children try out 36 yoga poses. It is a great game for facilitating motor planning and focus of attention!

Parachute activities bring group giggles and fun! All you need is a colorful parachute and a lightweight ball, like a beach ball or foam ball. The adult leader can direct movements to increase shoulder range of motion (“big up/down”, “little up/down or shake”), strength and stability; facilitate gross motor transitions (“bring the parachute to the ground and now stand up again”); and improve focus of attention and following directions. The ball on the parachute bounces on top as the movement of the children directs its course. Don’t let the ball fly out of the parachute!

5. Encourage Reading and Storytelling

Reading is one of the most effective ways to prevent academic regression. Create a summer reading challenge with rewards for completing books. Encourage storytelling and creative writing to further enhance language skills.

Books: Therapro offers a variety of books that can make reading more interactive and engaging. Consider the Interactive Reading Books series, which includes books designed to develop vocabulary, sequencing, and comprehension skills. With these books the child begins with matching, identifying, and labeling of objects. Next, the child reads the sentences with pictures, then without pictures and in random order. Meet the Word Family and Who’s on First? are 2 books in the series that work on pre-reading skills, taking children through sequential steps until they are reading words without pictures.

Library: Make going to the local library a special activity. If your child doesn’t have one, sign up for a library card. Exploring all kinds of books will help your child develop a love of reading. Most local libraries also offer free activities in the summer where your child can join other children for fun reading-related fun! These activities encourage active listening, turn-taking, and focus.

6. Keep it Fun

Most importantly, ensure that learning activities are fun and not seen as a chore. Mixing educational tasks with enjoyable activities will keep children engaged and motivated.

Ending the school year on a high note and transitioning into a summer of fun and learning is possible with a bit of planning and the right tools. By incorporating Therapro products into your summer activities, you can help prevent academic regression and ensure your children are ready for the new school year. Enjoy the summer, stay engaged, and make the most of this special time with your children!

For more ideas and products to support summer learning, visit Therapro. Let’s make this summer one of growth, fun, and unforgettable memories!

Guest Blogger: Filomena Connor, MSOT-Retired

Allyson Locke M.S., OTR/L & Sarah Glovasky M.S., OTR/L

Summer is fast approaching but that doesn’t mean kids need to lose the skills they developed over the last academic year! Last year, we posted a blog filled with summer activity ideas geared toward preventing the “summer slide”. As therapists, we know summer activities provide numerous opportunities to develop and keep skills sharp for the upcoming school year. So we are bringing back the topic with this new post. New this year are more activity ideas and contributions from Sarah Glovasky M.S., OTR/L! As always, appropriate supervision is recommended!

Get Messy!

Messy play is a great way to develop the sensory skills needed for important school tasks like handwriting and social interactions. Summer is the best time for these messy activities because they can be done outside leaving the mess outdoors. An added bonus is that it is usually warm enough for a quick wash with the hose before going back inside. A few ideas to try:

Hide objects (like rocks, sticks, or mini animals) in a pile of mud, shaving cream, or leaves. How fast can you find them? How many can you find in 10 seconds? Not only is this a great sensory activity it helps strengthen the visual perceptual skills needed for academic tasks like reading!
Stomp in rain puddles, roll down a grassy hill, or skip through a soft patch of dirt. These big body movements help develop the vestibular and proprioceptive systems which are so important for self regulation!

When it is too hot or too rainy to go outside there are still plenty of opportunities for sensory exploration that are a bit less messy!

Make a sensory collage with items found in the recycling bin or use the Sensory Collage Kit! How many different textures can you incorporate? What textures do you like to feel? As a bonus, ripping, crumpling and rolling paper, tissue, and cardboard are all great ways to strengthen the muscle of the hand. For more ways to use recycled materials check out Second Hand Therapies.

plastic container scooping water and dumping it into a yellow bin filled with water, an example of an activity for keeping skills sharp in summer — **Jug Scoop**
From: *Second Hand Therapies: Recyclable Strategies & Useful Tools*

Make Art!

Art projects afford great opportunities to develop the small muscles in the hand. This muscle development is critical for academic tasks like writing with a pencil and cutting with scissors. Get creative with your art projects, try:

3D Art. Three dimensional art helps kids build form and space concepts. Building a fairy castle outside is a great way to learn about size concepts. Inside, building with blocks, clay or even pillow cushions is a great way to explore how these concepts work. To add a sensory component try using scented dough!
Tie-Dye Prints: This is a great outdoor activity! First color an old bed sheet or large piece of paper with washable markers. Next use a spray bottle, filled with water, to squirt the drawing. Watch the colors mix and swirl together! Using a spray bottle not only helps build the muscles in the hands it is also great for bilateral coordination! For a smaller scale version, use an eyedropper to wet the paper!
Draw pictures in the dirt or other mediums like pudding (great for kids who like to explore with their mouth!) Use a stick, rocks, or fingers to draw with! We still love the Ed Emberly drawing books when you need drawing inspiration, stencils are another helpful tool! Drawing is so important for early writers and is great for visual perceptual development!

Play With Bubbles!

Many skills can be targeted with simple bubble activities. Eye hand coordination and oral motor development are just a few! Blowing bubbles is also great for attention and regulation; to learn more about this check out the book M.O.R.E.: Integrating The Mouth With Sensory And Postural Functions. For fun with bubbles, try:

Making Bubble Art! Make bubble paint by putting a small amount of bubbles and a dab or two of food coloring in a bowl (use different bowls for different colors). Use a bubble wand and dip it into your favorite color. Blow the colored bubbles right at plain paper and watch the designs come alive!
Play Catch! Chasing after, stomping on, and catching bubbles are great ways to get some extra energy out. It is also a great way to develop eye-hand coordination and the visual skills needed to complete academic tasks like copying from the board. To make bubbles easier to catch try using Touchbubbles!
Make A Mountain of Bubbles! For a fun indoor activity, fill a small dish bin or other similar size, shallow bucket with lots of dish soap and a few inches of water. Use a straw to slowly blow into the water to make a mountain of bubbles. To really work the muscles in the mouth try a long straw or one with lots of twists like the Krazy Drinking Straws or Connector Straws.

With these fun activity ideas the learning doesn’t have to stop when school is out. Keep skills sharp and be ready for the upcoming school year!

Tag Archives: summer activities

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