Story baskets are an excellent tool for toddlers and preschoolers, but they can also be helpful for older children — practicing speech, storytelling skills, imaginative play, developing early literacy skills, and more. They can be as simple or as complex as you like and don’t have to cost anything to put together. Just use found objects from around your home and books you already own or can check out from the library to fill it. Simple, inexpensive, and a great way to encourage fun reading time!

What to Include in Story Baskets

When I fill up a story basket, I begin with the basket itself and the book I want to highlight. Next, I flip through the book and look for key characters or objects that help tell the story.

For example, in The Very Hungry Caterpillar it would be a caterpillar, a leaf, a lollipop, cheese, watermelon, and a few other similar items. Then, I gather as many of the items as I can find. I can usually do this by going through our toy and craft supplies to find play food, puppets, figurines, etc. These items go into the basket with the book. If I can’t find a key item, I will cut something out of foam or maybe use a picture from a magazine.

If my child is working on a particular skill such as beginning letter sounds or sight words, I will include relevant letters in the basket as manipulatives as well.

How might you use a story basket?

This depends on the age of your children. When I first began making story baskets, we started with one book and focused on the items to go with that. As my daughters got older, it became more of a themed basket with several books and hands-on items.

How to Use Story Baskets

Here are some activities that we’ve done:

Include a favorite book (one they already know) with a few props that go along with the story for your child to tell in their own words. Or they could follow along with the props as you read aloud.

You can put in random items and have your child make up a story using some or all of the items in their story.

Have your child pick out an object at random and tell or write something about it.

Leave the basket out for your child to discover. Change it out when it no longer seems to hold their attention.

Bring a story basket along on car trips, while running errands, waiting at the doctor’s office, and waiting in restaurants.

Allow your child to choose the book/items and YOU continue the story.

Some of our favorite preschool to early elementary books that lend themselves well to story baskets are:

• If You give a Pig a Pancake
• Goodnight Moon
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• The Gruffalo
• Fairy Tales
• Bible Stories

I’ve been doing this for years with my daughters and they are always a hit. We take a delight-directed approach in our homeschool, so I build story baskets and unit studies based on their interests. It’s like a treasure chest of learning centered around great books!

Have you used story baskets? Let us know in the comments!

Sara is a homeschooling mom of three girls. She writes at Heart and Soul Homeschooling, sharing ideas for learning that encourage creativity, curiosity, character, and connection. She is an author, speaker, and homeschool consultant. You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and her Amazon author page.

Check out more Summer Reading Ideas!

The post Use Story Baskets to Make Reading Come to Life! first appeared on True Aim.

Sound-it-out does not always work. Parents have forgotten helpful reading strategies and are no longer aware of using them. One example is rereading.

Rereading a word or sentence often clarifies what was just read. Adults do this without thinking about rereading as a comprehension strategy.

Help for Early Readers

Sound-it-out uses isolated sounds to read a word. Take my name, for instance. Carolyn would be ca-air-oh-lul-ya-nin. Try pronouncing that all together, and the result is nothing like my name. The word “math” sounds out to mum-ah-tah-huh. Isolated letter sounds alone do not comprise most words. There are just too many irregular words and letter blends for sound-it-out to be the only strategy, for even beginning readers.

Do children need phonics? Yes. Do children need to simply memorize sight words? Yes. Phonics is more than isolated letter-sound combinations. For instance, think of words that begin with stra (strawberry, stranger, strategy) and it is easy to see sounding out s-t-r-a for each word would require too much time.

There are many letter combinations children will learn, and some with have different sounds than isolated letter sounds, such as kn (knight, knee, knob). There are silent letters and special sounds for letter combinations. Frequently, q is usually followed by u, so the sound for qu must be taught (queen, quick, quack).

Another common assumption is that a child knows his or her letters by practicing capital letters. Most of reading is actually lower-case letters. Lower case letters should be taught before capital letters. Capital letters will be learned as children learn to write names, proper nouns, and begin writing sentences. A child who knows only “big” letters is not ready to learn to read. Lower case letters and their sounds are important to know.

Word-solving Strategies Beyond Sound-it-out to Use with Beginning Readers

The reason children need to know more word-solving strategies than sound-it-out is so they begin to self-correct when reading. A child who cannot self-correct while reading is not going to make as much progress as a child who can do so.

At school, if a child was reading aloud and stopped reading perhaps five or six times during one paragraph, I knew an adult at home was jumping in to tell the word to the child. Telling a child words is quick and easy, but will not help children to learn how to help themselves.

Yes, I told words sometimes. English language learners, newly emergent readers, and a child who had tried some strategies and was frustrated are some cases when I told a word. However, as a steady diet, telling children words does not help advance reading skills. There are many word-solving strategies that help for early readers. Every child will not “take” to every strategy, and should use the ones that make sense to that child. Here are a few to try.

1. Skippy Frog

Skip it, skip it, then go back and read it. Adults do this, also. When reading a news article or new information and finding an unknown word, we do not stop and give up. We do not put down the book, article, or newspaper. We keep reading.

This word-solving strategy is one children understand and like to use. I think it is second to sound-it-out. When reading, maybe the child puts a finder on the unknown word, finishes reading the sentence, and then goes back to try the whole sentence again.

This is reading a word in context as meaning is important in reading. Some children equate reading “fast” with being a “good” reader, so it is important to tell children that good readers use what they know to learn what they do not know.

2. Stretchy Snake

Look at all the letters in the word before saying it out loud. When a child gets to the first letter of an unknown word and stops reading, the child is not looking through the whole word. He or she has not learned to self-correct and gives up. Somehow the child knows the word is difficult or unknown and will say the first letter.

In this case, the child must be encouraged to look at all the letters in that word. Stretchy snake is one name for this strategy. Similar to sound-it-out and is done silently (at least at first). Looking at each letter, the child whispers the sounds in his or her heads. Often, just seeing all the letters and trying some silent sounds, the child will be able to say the word.

Adults automatically puzzle over the letters in a new or unfamiliar word, and can often then read the word. Of course, adults do not think about stretch snake when using this strategy as it has become automatic.

3. Noticing Owl

Find a little word in a big word. Ahh, the dreaded syllabication strategy, but more simply stated for children to find it useful. For instance, in the word Mississippi, the child can find miss, is, and sip. A hard word becomes more manageable.

At school, this decoding strategy might be called Chunky Monkey so children will chunk the sounds together. However, for emergent readers, this could be a difficult idea.

Children delight in finding little words in big words and often show the parent or teacher such discoveries. They find the fact owls can turn their heads 180 degrees (or more) fascinating. So, a little word can become a clue towards solving an unfamiliar word. They like to imitate animals, so twisting their heads while looking through a big word can help them to understand the strategy.

Results for Early Readers!

Parents are amazed at the reading progress children can make when several word-solving strategies are used. Children will begin to self-correct and help themselves learn to read. A mistake when oral reading is an opportunity to help a child learn a new word-solving strategy. Soon, children will automatically employ several word-solving strategies and make advances in reading.

Carolyn Wilhelm is a wife, mom, and grandmother. She has a BS in Elementary Education, an MS in Special Studies of Gifted Children, and an MA in Curriculum and Instruction K-12. She was a National Board Certification Middle Childhood Generalist 2004-2014. She is also a licensed, certified teacher in Minnesota through 2021. Retired, she now volunteers at an elementary school and runs TheWiseOwlFactory.com. 

Check out More Summer Reading Ideas Here!

The post Help for Early Readers: Strategies Beyond Sound-it-Out first appeared on True Aim.

One summer, it only required reading ONE book the entire summer. The kids ran out of motivation in the first week.

Then, they introduced a ticket system to earn rewards. That seemed fair, except it was based on the number of books read each week. The children had to read at least three books a week to even enter the raffle for the prizes. There were no parameters on length of books.

How to Host a Family Summer Reading Club!

My children quickly got frustrated when they were ready long novels and their peers were racking in the tickets reading short comic books. That is when we decided to host our own family reading club and ditch the dollar store prizes for real motivation and excitement.

Set the Date

Decide when everyone will begin and finish reading. Your reading club can last a week or the entire summer. Setting a schedule, gives everyone an opportunity to plan out their reading. Pick a reasonable amount of time. A few weeks is ideal.

If the club goes too long, it loses momentum. If it is too short, there’s not enough time to really get sucked into the world of reading.

Decide on a time frame that fits your schedule. We’ve done anything from ten days to six weeks! A mini reading club is a great for the winter months, when you just need a break from school! It’s also an option for when life gets busy with a new baby or move. The learning keeps going even when you can’t teach.

Family Summer Reading Club: Create a Point System

Next, you need to decide how readers will earn rewards. Since we have a large age span, we had to level the playing field a bit. Counting books didn’t work. We give points based on one short book or 20 pages of a longer book. This motivates the older children to delve into great literature without feeling like they have short changed themselves, as their younger siblings zoom ahead.

Here is our point plan:
2 points for a book or 20 pages read independently
2 points for a book read to a younger sibling
3 points for a complete audiobook
1 point for each chapter of family read-alouds

Family Summer Reading Club: Prizes, Prizes, Prizes

Now, here’s what the kids really want to know! What are the prizes? You don’t need expensive prizes. A family favorite reward, in our home, is a living room camp out. We set up air mattresses in the living room, read stories by flashlight, and watch a movie. It cost nothing, but it is always the most requested! So, living room camp outs cost 45 points!

Here are some other ideas:

• Treat from the dollar store
• Watch an extra show
• Dinner at the beach
• Play date
• Family hike
• Pick what’s for dinner
• Afternoon hike
• Family movie night, including popcorn
• Two days off of handwriting practice
• New book or audiobook
• Campfire dinner
• Day off of chores
• Afternoon at the park
• Make your own pizza party
• Ice cream cone
• $5 gift card to the dollar store
• Eat whatever you want for breakfast–yes, cookies count!

As you can see, most of these are very inexpensive. Most of them are free! The children are working more for experiences than plastic prizes. So this books club is cost effective and doesn’t create clutter. Both are big wins for homeschooling families.

Add it All Up

On the last day, collect the tally sheets. Give each participant their grand total and see who earned the most points. Celebrate finishing the book club. Pick something simple! The best part is spending the time together and celebrating in your accomplishments.

Set a time frame for redemption of prizes. This may seem unnecessary, but it prevents mom or dad from losing track of which prizes have been awarded. Nothing is worse than a child claiming a year later that he never got his prize, and you can’t remember if he did or not. This will keep up the excitement but also help transition back to everyday life.

How are you motivating your family reading this summer?

Jennifer Elia, homeschool consultant, mentor, blogger, and Amazon best selling author, is Founder of Sound Foundations Homeschool which is dedicated to giving homeschool moms the tools they need to thrive in their home education career. Jennifer provides one-on-one consulting, personalized and original curriculum plans, and practical advice for those just beginning their homeschool journey, as well as those who just need a little boost. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children whom she has been educating at home for the past 10 years. You can find Jennifer on Facebook and Pinterest.

Check out more Summer Reading Ideas Here!

The post How to Host a Family Summer Reading Club! first appeared on True Aim.

Some days you need to kick things up a notch, and one of the best ways to do that is by adding a little excitement to your summer reading.

Now, I’m going to assume that you don’t completely suspend all learning during the summer months. In our home, we have to keep the semblance of a routine for sanity’s sake. We can be lazy and enjoy summer for a few days, but then chaos sets in, the house is trashed, and no one has clean underwear. So, we opt to keep a general routine going during the summer.

3 Summer Reading Tips

One of the parts of our homeschool that stays with us all year round is reading. During the regular homeschool year, we are a part of a book club.

The kids read a novel each month and then meet for a “party school” to celebrate the book. But in the summer, those book clubs are suspended, and the enticement to read just isn’t as strong. So, over the years we’ve come up with some creative ways to add some excitement to our summer reading plan.

Head Down a Rabbit Trail

Have you ever read a book and the character mentions something in passing, and you wonder what they were talking about?

This happens to the kids often when they are reading books set in different cultures or different time periods. They would often stop in the middle of the family read aloud to ask questions, which lead to mini-investigations. We would look up the particular topic, and it would invariably lead us down a new “rabbit trail” of discovery. Many times we would get lost on this exploration for days. And, it was all because we “read it in a book.”

1. Summer Reading Tip:

Look for topics that might be interesting to investigate in your current reading. Listen to the questions your kids ask and feed their curiosity by going down your own rabbit trail.

Add a Little Magic Dust

Think back on your school days. What’s your earliest memory?

One of my earliest memories was in first grade. The entire class headed to the school cafeteria kitchen. We mixed water and salt until it dissolved and then we put it in an aluminum pie pan. The pie pan was then placed on a hot stove burner. We watched as the water evaporated, and the salt reappeared. At least, this is what I remember happening. I can still smell the air as the water heated. I can see the pan clearly in my mind, and I remember the principle well.

Hands-on activities that let children participate in their learning are great ways to help kids remember important principles. Just like my first-grade science experiment, kids can focus on the “how” and “why” and better learn the “rule.” You can do the same with a good book.

2. Summer Reading Tip:

Look through the book your child is reading. Are there foods mentioned that you could teach them to cook? What science experiment could you use to show why or how something worked in the book? Did your characters notice the trees, plants or animals around them? Could you go on a nature hunt for some of those mentioned?

Celebrate the Book and Its Characters

We have a rule in our house: you can’t see the movie until you’ve read the book. I’m adamant about it; my husband is a little lax. The point is that it is a way to create enthusiasm for a book. Don’t those previews look awesome? Well, let’s read the book and then have a family fun night at the movies!

Sometimes we all need to be inspired to read a good book. Maybe it’s not a genre we usually enjoy. Perhaps we’re just being lazy and want to watch YouTube videos all day. Whatever the reason, a little celebration can go a long way. So after each book we read, we have a “party school” and celebrate the book.

3. Summer Reading Tip:

What kind of fun snacks does your book inspire? Can you decorate like the era or setting? Do you have clothes you could use to dress up like the characters? Choose something the character did and see if you can replicate the idea at home.

It’s Summer, Take it Easy

By adding a little excitement to your summer reading, you can keep the summer fun and your home drama-free (well, it won’t help the mountain of dirty dishes or laundry, but you get the point). But, don’t let adding excitement become overwhelming to you as a mom. You don’t have to be elaborate, and you don’t have to do everything I mentioned. Just take a day or two to throw in a fun activity.

And, if you want to take it really easy, I’ve got you covered. Hop on over to Literary Adventures for Kids and check out our selection of online family book clubs. Just pick a book, and I have done all the work for you. Find rabbit trails, magic dust, and party school ideas at your fingertips. Your kids can even work through them independently.

No matter what you choose to do, remember that a little excitement can go a long way. Your kids will remember these moments more than they will their current YouTube sensation, and you will enjoy the way their faces light up.

Dachelle is a working homeschooling mom of 3 in the South. She is the owner of Hide The Chocolate, a blog about her adventures in homeschooling and parenting. She is also the author of dozens of online book clubs for kids from preschool to high school at her site Literary Adventures for Kids. You can often find her reading a good book (or even sometimes just an okay book) and enjoying a jar of Nutella — don’t judge. You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest

Check out More Summer Reading Ideas Here!

The post 3 Summer Reading Tips to Add Excitement! first appeared on True Aim.

Check out More Summer Reading Resources Here!

The post What Relaxed Summer Reading Looks Like first appeared on True Aim.

Summer Reading Ideas

Thanks to these amazing moms, we have over 30+ Summer reading ideas for you during this month’s Mom’s Library! Reading is SUCH an important activity for children, not just for the academy benefits, but because it also reduces stress (over 50% from reading just 6 minutes), increases emotional processing skills, and establishes a strong parental bond. Which post do you think will be your favorite? Come back and check them out when they are live! (posts will go live as they are published each week):

Read Through the Summer Using Virtual Book Clubs

Addressing Hi-Lo Readers in the Upper Grades

10 Enhancements to Make Summer Reading Adventurous

10 Ways to reignite your child’s passion for reading!

What Relaxed Summer Reading Looks Like!

Unique Summer Reading Strategy for Homeschoolers!

How to Add Excitement to your Summer Reading

How to host a family summer reading club

Strategies for Helping Children Read Beyond Sound it Out

Travel the World with Your Kids through Books

Using Story Baskets to Make Reading Come to Life

Each mom’s library series includes a fabulous giveaway! This month we are giving 4 sets of best selling books grouped by ages! You can check the list of them out below!

Mom’s Library Giveaway

4 lucky winners of the giveaway will receive one set of books:

Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Click here for more articles in the Mom’s Library Series!

The post (Giveaway) 30+ Summer Reading Ideas! first appeared on True Aim.

Many parents like to enjoy outdoor activities with their children, but it doesn’t take long to exhaust the parks and playgrounds in most areas. However, the vast majority of people in the US live within an hour or fishable waters, so consider grabbing a rod and reel and teaching your kids how to fish.

Fishing is not only a great way to get your kids away from digital screens and surround them with fresh air and sunshine, it provides a fantastic opportunity to bond with your youngsters too.

5 Easy Tips for Teaching Your Kids to Fish

To make sure your kids’ first fishing trip is a good one, you’ll want to embrace a few important tips and tricks:

1. Provide your kids with a rod and reel that suits their size.

Don’t hand your kids adult-sized rods and reels; they’ll only grow frustrated while trying to wield inappropriate equipment. Instead, set them up with rod and reel combos that are appropriate for kids. Typically, a 5- to 6-foot-long spinning or spin casting combo will suit most kids perfectly.

2. Target kid-friendly species.

Ignore the largemouth bass and walleye that draw the attention of advanced anglers – your kids are unlikely to catch these shy and wary species. Instead, go after the abundant and bold species in your local waters. Depending on your location, this will likely mean fishing for bluegill, catfish or perch. Teaching your kids to fish is a lot more fun when they actually catch something!

3. Use real baits rather than artificial lures.

Serious anglers often use artificial lures rather than live baits, but your kids should stick to worms, crickets and corn kernels. Not only will these types of baits trigger more bites for your youngsters, they’ll generate fewer snagged lines than artificial lures will.

4. Fish alongside your youngsters.

Above all else, you want your kids to have the opportunity to reel in a fish during their first fishing trip – that’s the most exciting aspect of the activity! And because you’re more likely to get nibbles and hook fish than they are, you should keep your own line in the water. When you hook a fish, hand your rod to one of the kids and let him or her reel in the catch (be sure to alternate between the kids to ensure everyone gets a chance to battle a big fish).

5. Don’t forget to obtain a fishing license before heading to your local pond or lake.

Most states allow children under 15 or 16 to fish without a license but be sure to consult the relevant local authorities to ensure you stay on the right side of the law.

If you’d like to learn a few more tips and tricks about teaching your kids to fish, check out the comprehensive review of the topic over at Outdoor Empire. There, you’ll learn a few more ways to ensure you provide your kids with the best equipment and that you select a good fishing location, among other things.

Author Bio: Jon Sutton loves to spend time in the woods and on the water. His life has revolved around outdoors since his early childhood days when he caught his first bluegill in his local pond. Since then he has grown into a full-fledged angler targeting salmon and bass during his free time. He also enjoys hiking, camping, and traveling. He is currently a content manager for Outdoor Empire.

The post Teaching Your Kids to Fish: 5 Easy Tips! first appeared on True Aim.

It’s that time of year again when the weather is warming up and people are heading outside to enjoy the fresh air! This means fun outdoor games, playing on the beach, and sipping ice cold lemonade in the sun. It’s also the time of year that we end up with sunburns.

How to Treat Sunburns Naturally

It’s hard for some of us to avoid and it can be even harder finding something that actually works to treat it. I’ve put together a list of three all-natural remedies that you can use to treat your sunburn right away. No need to suffer through it when these three easy steps will help offer immediate relief. Let’s get to it!

1. Apply tea to the sunburn for 5-10 minutes.

I’m talking about regular tea with the dark brown color. Simply brew up 4 large tea bags (or 6-8 small ones). Allow it to cool for 15 minutes and add 2 cups of ice. Now grab an old wash cloth (it will stain) and dip it into the mixture of tea and ice.

Wring out the washcloth and place it on top of the sunburn until the washcloth gets warm. Once the cloth is warm, put it back into the mixture and re-apply. Keep doing this for 5-10 minutes until the pain stops. Tea will also help to speed up the healing of your sunburn.

2. Apply aloe vera ice cubes to the sunburn several times a day.

To make the aloe vera ice cubes you will need a bottle of aloe vera gel and a silicone ice cube tray. Simply fill the ice cube trays up with the aloe vera gel and allow to freeze. Once they are completely frozen, pop the frozen cube out and gently rub the aloe vera cube onto the sunburn.

Aloe is a great remedy for sunburn because it soothes the skin while adding in much-needed moisture. This will also help to speed up the healing of your sunburn. Personally, this is my favorite way to treat sunburns naturally. Plain aloe vera gel works great if you’re in a pinch, but the coldness of it feels great to your skin.

3. Apply apple cider vinegar to the sunburn several times a day.

Be sure to use the RAW apple cider vinegar for this treatment. This remedy will help take the burning sensation away almost immediately. Be sure to shake the bottle well before each use. Simply use a cotton ball to apply the vinegar to the sunburn several times during the day.

I also like to follow up this treatment with a little coconut oil to help hydrate the skin. Coconut oil is solid at room temperature so you can gently apply it easily to your sunburn.

You can use any one of these steps above or you can also use a combination of the three.

Try them all and see which one works best for relieving your sunburn. It’s great to keep these remedies on hand throughout the summer for quick and easy treatment.

The post How to Treat Sunburn Naturally first appeared on True Aim.

5 Tips to Encourage Your Kids to Read this Summer

1. Join Reading Challenges

Libraries across the country set up summer reading programs for kids. Kids love these challenges! Some kids enjoy participating in a community activity while other kids get a kick out of the challenge itself.

Make a point of wandering into your local library and signing your children up for the summer reading program. While you’re there, ask the librarians if they know of any other challenges being offered by local businesses, like our FREE online class:

2. Read Every Day

Find a block of time for you and your kids to read every day. This can be an hour after lunch as part of a quiet time routine or time just before bed. Pull out books for you and your children to enjoy during this quiet hour.

You can set up this time a couple of different ways. If you have all older children, pull out the books and read. On the other hand if you have all younger children, use this time to read aloud picture books to your kids. Perhaps you have  a mix of ages. Then try spending 15-30 minutes reading books silently before pulling out a chapter book to enjoy with your children.

Which ever way you go, enjoy a daily quiet hour or so curled up with a good book this summer.

3. Strew Books

Summer time is full of play and mischief. It’s also full of bored children wandering around the house looking for something to do. Grab the opportunity to strew books you think your children will enjoy around the house.

Leave art books near the art supplies. Strategically place a science experiment book in the kitchen. Leave a book on birds near the living room window. Grab a few chapter books for kids to read on trips.

Good books are the perfect cure for bored children!

4. Book Club

For a time my mother had a once a month book club day for the family. Every child was assigned a sibling. Sometime during that month, the child found and purchased a book to give to their sibling. Needless to say, she helped us find an appropriate book. Everyone got the gift of a book on book club day.

Try hosting a family book club yourself this summer. You’ll create strong bonds between your children, a giving spirit, as well as encouraging a love of reading all through hosting a family book club.

5. Bingo

Have you ever played Bingo using books? It’s a ton of fun! In each square, you place a description of a book. For instance you may assign the kids to read an animal book, a book with a red cover, or  a book featuring an elephant.

The goal is to get a BINGO (5 horizontal, vertical, or diagonal squares in a line) or a black out (you cover the entire board). It’s your choice!

Here’s a BINGO sheet for you to use. Fill it out to reflect the books you want your kids to read. You can use specific titles or generic descriptions such as a red cover, award winning book, or history book. It’s up to you!

Use these 5 tips to encourage your kids to sit down and read this summer. Your children’s reading skill will improve, you’ll encourage a love of reading, and everyone will have fun.

How do you encourage your kids to read during the summer?

The post 5 Tips to Encourage Your Kids to Read this Summer first appeared on True Aim.

5 Fun Educational Summer Activities

Summer Reading Programs

Libraries and businesses around the country encourage kids to read. Kids are rewarded for reading a number of books or a number of hours reading. Avid readers adore these programs, but they also encourage your reluctant reader to read. And they motivate a non-reader to learn.

But don’t just send your kid to their room to read. Make it a family activity with everyone curling up on the front porch with a good book. Show kids you value reading enough to spend an afternoon reading.

After all, more is caught than taught!

Butterfly Catching

Chasing butterflies with a net keeps kids going for hours.The kids follow the butterflies from flower to flower, hunting them as they go. Once a butterfly is caught, carefully examine the insect with a magnifying glass before letting it go. Keep a nature journal detailing the types of butterflies you’ve discovered.

Now that the kids are interested in butterflies, put a butterfly feeder in the yard. Keep track of the different types of butterflies attracted to your feeder.

How many different types of butterflies live in your region?

Make a Kite

Add a STEM activity to your summer by making kites. The first challenge is to make a kite which can fly. Start with a simple windsock kite. Does it fly? Now try adding decorations and change the shape. Does it still fly?

Encourage the kids to make a traditional diamond shaped kite. Can you get it up in the air?

Making and testing kites will keep your kids busy and learning all summer long!

Grow Flowers

Kids love growing flowers. You can dig a small plot in the yard or use pots. My suggestion is to do the easiest method for you. Purchase a few different types of seeds to start. I like to start my seeds in small paper cups filled with potting soil. Put them somewhere sunny and warm until they sprout.

As the flowers grow, point out the changes in the plants. Show the kids a diagram of the various parts of plants, such as roots, stems, and leaves. Don’t be surprised if your kindergartner uproots a plant in order to study the roots more closely! Once the flowers have grown to a good size, replant them into your plot or the pots.

You may even attract a few butterflies!

Use the Sun as a Compass

Point out to your kids that the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west. This makes it possible to find which direction is north using only a stick and two rocks. Send your kids running outside to find their sticks and rocks and follow these easy directions!

It’s a fun way to introduce orienteering to your children.

There’s no better way to spend a summer afternoon than reading a book, chasing butterflies, making kites, growing flowers, or learning orienteering with your kids. Just think of the memories you’ll share!

What fun educational summer activities do you enjoy with your kids?

The post 5 Fun Educational Summer Activities first appeared on True Aim.