Help prevent the Summer Slide

Summer is right around the corner, its time to come up with a game plan before those kids are ruling the roost and calling all the shots this summer. Its hard to compete with electronics and video games when it comes to summer time, but if you want to prevent the dreaded summer slide you need to do a little skills review this summer. This summer beat those boredom blues with some fun math activities your kids are sure to love.

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School's out for summer.....now what??????

 Here are a few of our Favorite ideas that will keep your little ones having fun all summer long!

Be sure to visit Simply Sprout on Pinterest for more ideas

Cool down with some Watermelon fun!

With the weather heating up and temperatures soaring during the day we thought you might like a few ideas to reinforce those letter skills and cool down at the same time. Here are a few of our favorite watermelon activities that we found, see more on our Pinterest Board.

1. Watermelon playdough is so easy to make and lots of fun to play with
2. For snack time whip up some watermelon rice krispie treats
3. Watermelon waffles are the perfect way to start out a summer day, reinforce all of those W words with these wonderful watermelon waffles!
4. Reinforce the letter W by making it into a watermelon, use tissue paper to cover a cardboard cutout of a W, these pictoral representations of letters help little ones to use visual cues to help them remember letter sounds.
5. Primary Watermelon activity kit, great summer review for Pre-K to first grade6.paper plates to create some watermelon math problems, on the back have your students write a word problem to match.
7. For a refreshing drink on those hot summer days make some watermelon Kool Aid, mix with sprite zero, serve in a  mason jar with a slice of frozen watermelon on the side.

A few other fun ideas to keep cool this summer, Place water balloons around the back yard, tie an index card onto them and write a letter on each one ( or number), have little ones try to pop them in abc order (or number order) for increased difficulty turn the timer on, see if your little ones can get faster with each round.

PRIMARY KIT!

When the outdoor fun is over and you are looking for some activities when the rain starts rolling in check out our Watermelon themed activity packs for both primary and intermediate. 

They offer a great review of skills for those hot summer months!

INTERMEDIATE KIT!

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Good Job Jars: Printable Tag

Theme of the Week: Responsibility

Now that summer has officially started, relaxation can begin right?  Marcy and I are like polar opposites when it comes this (and it's why I adore her!).  She takes things as they come, doesn't need a schedule (in fact loathes them), and surely does not need a set routine in the summer.  I on the other hand relish in organization, consistency, and knowing what is around the bend (or at least thinking that I do!).  She sounds a lot cooler, right?!  So now that summer break is upon us, I told her that our household would be instituting "themes" for each week.  She probably laughed on the inside, but was kind enough to smile on the outside.

I tried to think of themes that were educational, character building, and ones that I could use at home and in my classroom.  This week's theme is RESPONSIBILITY.  Having a two and a half year old at home will cause you to laugh a lot, and also want to pull your hair out.  With long summer days ahead, and a new baby at home, I thought it was important to start out with this theme.

There is a lot of redirecting going on around here, and at times I feel as if I only say, "No" or "Don't do that". However, there are a lot of great things that our toddler does as well.  So we made a Good Job Jar.  Each time our son does something that warrants significant praise, he gets a pom pom put in his jar.  We have had many discussions about good decisions and responsible choices.  We have the jar out for display, so that he is reminded that he does great things throughout his days.  When he fills his jar we will celebrate!

This is probably against a thousand and one child psychologists' recommendations, but it seems to really motivate one little boy.  Teachers have used this concept for years in their classrooms, and praise is a powerful tool.  I love when my students (and child) receive compliments from others.  It makes us teachers (and mamas) beam with pride!

Right click on the tag below to copy and paste it into a Word document.  Then you can adjust the size to fit the jar of your choosing.

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Summer is Sizzling with Fun

You have probably seen by now tons of cute ways to kick off the summer with a great bucket list of ideas.  The idea is simple, keep kids busy!  The actuality is quite the opposite.  It's week one of summer vacation, and this mama is already scratching her head.  A little brainstorming ahead of time, can help alleviate the "I'm bored" statements of tomorrow.  Sit down as a family and think of some fun, educational, out of the box, near and far adventures that you can do over these dog days.  Whether it be a trip to a local museum, a BBQ at the pool, or a scavenger hunt at home, you'll be sure to make some fun summertime memories.

Decorate a bucket and allow the children to add their submissions.  This will be your go to for outings with your family and friends.

Since learning doesn't take a vacation, make your memories count with this colorful and fun Summer Bucket List Journal.  A great daily or weekly activity that will become a wonderful way to cherish this summer for years to come.

 

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