Keep your mind as bright as the sun throughout June with these fun summer learning activities!
Providing your kids with self-guided learning opportunities shouldn’t be difficult! Below are four summer learning activities to spark creativity with your kids this month.
1- Lemons
2- Zoo
3- Catch
4- Making
BONUS: scroll to the bottom to purchase the June Sunshine Choice Board or Calendar for even more creativity ideas and activities!
4 Fun Summer Learning Activities
Week 1: National Lemonade Days
Being in the South, June means lots of bright sunshine and hot hot days! What better to quench your thirst than homemade lemonade? June 6-13 is the week of lemonade days, but there are so many other fun summer learning activities kids can do with lemons!
Photo by Julia Zolotova from Pexels
You could:
- Add frozen cut lemons to your water, tea or clear soda. Cut the lemon into circles or triangles, freeze them for a couple of hours, then add the frozen pieces to your favorite drink. I personally love frozen lemons in unsweet tea or Sprite.
- Create “invisible” ink and send secret messages! Squeeze the juice of 1 whole lemon into a small dish. Using a Q-tip or small paint brush, write the secret message on a piece of paper. Once the paper dries, apply low heat (a hair-dryer works best) to reveal the secret message.
- Create lemon stamp art. Cut a lemon in half and dry the cut side by pressing it onto a paper towel. Then, dip the cut side into tempera or acrylic paint. Next, press the paint onto a piece of construction paper or card stock. What fun shapes and colors can be added to the artwork?
Download 4 free June Interactive Notebook pages to encourage your kids to create, write, and draw while completing these summer learning activities.
Download for free below!
Week 2: Create a Zoo
June is National Zoo & Aquariums month. When I visit the zoo, my favorite animal to see is the sloth. I love their cute faces and how slow they move. Have kids answer the questions below to get started with this summer learning activity:
- Have you visited a zoo? What was it like?
- What was your favorite animal to see and why?
- What does your animal need to survive?
- Why is your animal in the zoo? Is it endangered or need a special place to recover from injuries?
- What are three fun facts everyone should know about your animal?
This week, have kids use recyclable objects to build their own zoo animal exhibit. Then, assist them while doing research on KidzSearch to learn more about the animal. Have them write down a few fun facts to share with “visitors” to the zoo. Here are some exhibit ideas to start:
- A cardboard box becomes an open air exhibit. Cut out pieces on three sides so that visitors can see the animal. Color the back of the box to look like the zoo habitat.
- A toilet paper or paper towel roll becomes a tree branch. Using brown crayons or brown construction paper, decorate the paper roll to look like a branch. Add cut paper leaves or real leaves from outside.
- A small coffee can becomes an arctic exhibit. Draw and color a piece of paper to look like water, ice-burgs and rocks for the arctic animals. Then, wrap the paper around the coffee can secure it with glue or tape. Apply blue paper to the inside walls of the can to give the look of water.
The sloth is my favorite animal! Tell me your favorite and tag me in a picture of your zoo exhibit on Instagram.
Week 3: Play Catch Week
One of the most popular summer games is baseball! June 14-20 is Little League / Play Catch week. Of all the summer learning activities on this list, this week’s is possibly the most active. Instead of simply playing catch with a baseball, take the opportunity to learn about distance and velocity by tossing various objects.
Photo by Kamille Sampaio from Pexels
Have kids start with their list of objects, a measuring tape or yardstick, and a stopwatch. Then, two people partner up to toss the object. Someone else records the distance between the partners and writes the measurement beside the object on the list. On the recorders count, one partner tosses the objects to the other while the recorder uses the stopwatch to log how long the object stays in the air. The recorder then writes the time beside the distance.
Don’t forget your free interactive notebook pages!
Keep tossing objects, measuring and timing. Have kids make an hypothesis next to each object listed. You can try different throwing techniques and objects, then make comparisons.
Possible objects to toss and test:
- Water balloons
- Eggs (hard boiled or not, your choice)
- Small watermelons
- Ball of paper
- Ice-cubes
What easy enrichment ideas do you have? Share what you want to see in the comments below!
Week 4: Week of Making
Did you know the National Week of Making is federally recognized. President Obama signed the proclamation in 2016 to encourage people to support fields of invention, production and design.
During National Week of Making, we recommit to sparking the creative confidence of all Americans and to giving them the skills, mentors, and resources they need to harness their passion and tackle some of our planet’s greatest challenges.
Office of the press secretary
United States White House
This week, have kids explore their imaginations and interest to create their own fun summer learning activities. Here are a few ideas to get your kids making:
- Create a video teaching a sibling how to draw something
- Make their favorite dinner or dessert
- Invent something to help people in need
- Design a new style of shoes or hats
- Use photography skills to document something they are making
- Create a new video game to support struggling readers
- Use Code.org to practice coding while making a game
