Close Out Your Summer Break with Reading Fun!

Host a Reading Marathon to close out the last weeks of summer!  Invite your friends to library play dates, keep a list of the books you read and have a party for every time you read 26 books.

Paint over sized boxes to create a special reading fort.  Add to the fun by bringing out some snacks for a reading picnic in your backyard.  

Bring books to the playground.  Sit together in the shade before you head home for a great wind-down activity.  However you do it, be sure to add reading to your summer schedule.

Many school aged children graduate one grade at reading level, but enter the next grade below grade level due to a lack of summer reading experiences. In the long run, these children read at a lower level when compared to other children who have rich summer reading experiences.  

As parents, you have the power to make reading a part of your child’s summer schedule.  Along with camping, cook outs, days at the pool and beach combing, you can  help make reading a part of what makes summer special!  This love of books will follow your baby through adulthood.

Outdoor Fun!

Looking for something to do outdoors? Let your child make a bug catching habitat by poking holes in an old peanut butter jar. Help your little one fill the habitat with leaves for food and sticks for climbing, then encourage him to search nature under rocks, in a field or at the park.  You can even make binoculars by gluing 2 toilet paper rolls together.  Be sure to sit back and watch as your little one embarks on his expedition of the great back yard. 

Not into bugs?  Check out, “It Looked Like Spilt Milk,” by Charles G. Shaw, then sit outside and compare cloud shapes.  No matter what your child’s energy level or interests, there is something for her outdoors.  In a world full of favorite TV characters, Weekly Featured Apps and You Tube videos, it is important to turn off the electronics and get outside. 

Non-directed play, commonly called “free play” where children make up the rules and adults are mere spectators, is quickly diminishing from the childhood experience.  This type of open ended imaginative play is a valuable learning tool for young children.  It encourages logical thinking and reasoning skills, develops a love of nature and allows for free and original thought.  Playing outdoors is also fantastic exercise for little ones with countless opportunities for fine and gross motor development. 

Whether your a get messy, dirt digging family or a cloud watching at sun set type of clan, make sure to get outside and Jam in the outdoors daily!