5 Fun Ways for Parents to Encourage Kids to Read During Summer

Summer is a wonderful time for kids to relax, explore, and have fun. While taking a break from school is essential, it’s also crucial to keep our reading skills sharp. Reading during the summer helps us improve our vocabulary, imagination, and critical thinking. Parents play a vital role in encouraging their children to pick up a book and embark on exciting literary adventures. This article will explore five fun ways for parents to engage their kids in summer reading, making it an enjoyable and enriching experience for everyone involved.

Create a Cozy Reading Space

Setting up a cozy reading space at home can entice children to dive into the wonderful world of books. Find a quiet corner in your house or create a reading nook by arranging soft pillows, blankets, and a comfortable chair. Decorate the space with colorful posters and string lights to make it inviting. Allow your child to choose their favorite books or take them to the library to select new ones. By dedicating a special place for reading, you’re providing a cozy retreat to inspire your child’s imagination and make reading a relaxing adventure.

Organize Family Reading Time

Make reading a family affair by setting aside dedicated reading time daily. Choose a specific time when everyone can gather together and enjoy their books. This shared reading experience creates a bonding opportunity and reinforces the importance of reading in your child’s mind. Encourage your child to share their reading and ask questions about the story. Engage in conversations about the characters, plot, and favorite parts of the book. By actively participating in family reading time, parents can demonstrate their love for books and instill a lifelong passion for reading in their children.

Join a Summer Reading Program

Many libraries and educational organizations offer summer reading programs specifically designed to keep kids engaged during the break. These programs often include reading challenges, rewards, and exciting activities. Encourage your child to participate in these programs and help them track their progress. Set goals together and celebrate milestones achieved. Summer reading programs motivate children to read more and provide opportunities to connect with other young readers, attend book clubs, and explore diverse genres. This supportive community can enhance the reading experience and foster a sense of accomplishment.

Incorporate Reading into Everyday Life

Reading doesn’t have to be limited to books alone. Encourage your child to read and explore mediums like magazines, newspapers, or even websites sharing age-appropriate articles. Take advantage of daily activities to incorporate reading. For example, involve your child in meal planning by having them read recipes and choose ingredients. Have them read maps, brochures, or informational signs when going on a family outing. By integrating reading into everyday life, you demonstrate how reading is essential for acquiring knowledge and understanding the world around us.

Plan Book-related Activities

Make reading interactive and fun by planning book-related activities. Choose a book your child enjoys and organize a related craft or project. For instance, if they’re reading a book about space, create a solar system model using craft supplies. If it’s a mystery novel, organize a scavenger hunt with clues from the story. You can also watch movie adaptations of books and discuss the similarities and differences. Such activities make reading more exciting and help children develop a deeper understanding of the story and its themes.

Two Fun Family Friendly Holiday Experiments

The holidays are around the corner and I have some family friendly holiday experiments

These experiments will amaze your family. They use household materials and are quick and easy to do.

Watch the video below to get step-by-step instructions on how to do the experiments.

These activities come from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. If you like the content please subscribe.

Enjoy these fun family friendly holiday experiments!

Two Halloween and Fall STEM Activities for Kids 

Halloween is my son’s second favorite time of the year. He likes to dress up and go to all the fall festivals in our area.

We love to try various STEM projects at home. Every year we combine STEM and Halloween/Fall activities to make this time of year more festive.

Today we have two Halloween/Fall STEM Activities for you. They are called Magic Potion and the Vomiting Pumpkin.

Both of these activities involve chemical reactions.

Below is a video showing you step-by-step how to do both science experiments.

The video comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures. Please subscribe if you like the content.

Ultimate Guide to Accelerating Your Child’s Memory & Learning

My Struggle with Learning

I made good grades in high school and graduate school. My college GPA was average. While trying to achieve success in school, I used rote learning. Rote learning is the memorization of information based on repetition.

With every study session, utilizing repetition felt like I was beating information into my brain. Finally my brain said, “Okay, I have it memorized.”

Studying was not a fun event for me. There had to be a better way.

The Solution

When I became pregnant, I didn’t want my sons to have the same experience as myself. Therefore, I started doing research on learning techniques and memory tricks.

I found that you can remember information quicker through your body and location. There are also brain tricks to learn Bible verses or speeches quickly.

Additionally, I learned that babies’ brains soak up information at a faster rate during the ages of 0-3.

My son uses memory tricks in his studies. For example, if I give my oldest son a list of 20 spelling words, in 20 minutes he will be ready to take the test.

Because I incorporated my research about babies brains, oth my sons learned the alphabet, phonics, numbers 1-10, colors, and shapes by 20 months.

Below are frequently asked questions I get from parents and educators.

How Can I Study In a Smart Way

There are many smart ways to study. My favorite way is to use the Pomodoro Technique.

Our brains start to lose optimal focus after 25 minutes. Therefore, in order to have optimal concentration, try to break tasks into 25 minutes of focused blocks of time.

This is also called the Pomodoro Technique and will help your child focus on the task at hand.

After 25 minutes has ended, have your child take a break. After the break, they can come back to the task for another 25 minutes.

How Can I Memorize Anything Quickly?

One of the best ways to memorize information quickly is to use memory tricks. I previously mentioned that while in school, I use rote learning to study and memorize information.

Rote learning is boring and it takes longer to learn new material. Additionally, it does not use your child’s creativity and imagination.Many times, children forget the information once they take the test.

A more effective way to remember information is with memory tricks. We use various memory tricks to learn vocabulary, definitions, the periodic table, poems, Bible verses, facts, lists, etc.

An example of a memory trick you probably used in school was “Please Excuse My Dear Aunty Sally” for order of operations in math class.

Using memory tricks is a more effective and fun way for your child to remember information 2 or 3 times faster.

Children will begin to like studying even when they dislike the topic they are learning about.

How To Get Better At Reading Comprehension

There are a variety of methods children can use to get better at reading comprehension. I will tell you three steps to introduce to your child today!

The first step is to do a Picture Walk. 

Before your child starts reading, have them should flip through the book and look at the pictures, captions, bold words, charts, diagrams, headings, and questions in the back.

This will give them a feel for what the book is about. Their brain will be ready to receive the information they are getting from the book.

The second step is to read carefully.

This means reading slowly, making notes in the margins, and doing some highlighting. They don’t have to do a lot of highlighting.

The third step is (instead of doing a lot of highlighting) to have your child practice active recall. 

After reading the book, they should look away and see if they recall the main ideas in the text. This ensures they know the information in the book in various environments like the bus, at home, or in school.

They will also do better on tests and have a better understanding of what they are reading.

How To Get Better Grades in Math

The secret is Interleaving.

Interleaving is the practice of mixing various problems, questions, or concepts within a topic your child is trying to learn. This is more effective than practicing one type of question or problem repeatedly.

So, I will use multiplication as an example.

Imagine a child has just learned the multiplication tables. Once they learn it, have them do a mixture of practice problems with three multiplication, two addition, and three subtraction problems.

When they take a test or when they have various math problems, they will know WHEN to use the operations. This creates mastery because not only will your child know how to do one mathematical operation, they will know WHEN to do it.

This will help them do better on word problems as well.

Many times, this is difficult for kids in school because in text books, they teach kids one concept at a time. However, at home you can give them practice problems of various concepts within a subject, whether it is math, science, art, language arts, etc.


How To Stop a Child From Procrastinating

One way to stop procrastination is to make a plan by creating a procrastination prevention chart!

Hear me out.

You will create two columns on paper. One column will be labeled Distractions. The other column will be labeled Solutions.

On the Distractions side, write behaviors that cause your child to procrastinate like “Smart Phone.” On the Solution side, write how to prevent the Distraction like “Put smart phone in another room while studying.”

Let’s keep going.

In another row write….

Distractions = “Noise in Home”

Solution = “Wear Noise Cancelling Headphones to Block Noise”

In another row write…

Distractions = “Sibling talks to me while studying”

Solution = “Create Do Not Disturb Sign for Door”

This is a way for your child to preplan solutions to distractions while they are studying. It will help them focus more while studying and become an independent problem solver.

Here is my ultimate solution to learning struggles kids may have in school

The tips given is a great. Additionally, I want to share with you The Ultimate Guide to Accelerating Your Child’s Memory and Learning: 65 Quick Learning Tips, Memory Tricks, and Study Hacks Resulting in Less Study Time and Stress

Click the image below to purchase the ebook…

You will learn the following and so much more…

  • One proven way kids can do well on standardized tests
  • 5 ways to create a distraction-free study environment in the home
  • How to help kids become independent learners
  • One mistake kids make when they have a writing assignment
  • One mistake parents make when reading aloud to kids
  • How children can learn facts fast and effectively
  • 3 types of books that will teach children problem solving

You will also get other resources like…

  • 130 FREE Science Experiments, DIY Art and STEM Project, and Learning Games
  • 5 Fun Road Trip Activities for the Whole Family
  • 5 Podcasts make your car a learning machine for kids


Gardening for Kids – Tour our Garden

Today’s post is very personal. You will tour our home garden. This is a great gardening for kids lesson.

Gardening is an activity that my son and husband love to do.

It is a great bonding activity for them.

It is also a wonderful science project for kids.

My son wanted to show you our garden which has fruits and vegetables.

In the video, you will see the food they have grown, our compost, and our homemade automatic watering system.

The video comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures.

Please subscribe if you like the content on the channel.

Please enjoy that gardening for kids tour!

Real vs. Fake Money Experiment For Kids

We have a fun experiment where your child will learn how to tell the difference between REAL vs. FAKE MONEY.

This is a fun financial literacy activity for kids.

Your child will love this activity and will learn a lot as well.

Did you know there are secret images and print on real US money.

We will show you how to find these secrets.

Watch the video to learn how.

The video comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures.

Please subscribe if you like the content.

It has over 135 STEAM projects and learning games.

Have fun with this Real vs Fake Money Experiment for kids.

Thats all for today!

Andrea

Water Bot – A Fun Beginners Robotics Project For Kids

Today I have a fun beginners robotics project for kids. It is called the Water Bot.

My son did the project mostly on his own. He needed my help when it came to using the glue gun.

We were able to put the Water Bot in our bathtub and watch it go!

This project came from Super Charged Science.

In my opinion, it looks more like a motorized boat.

Below is what you will need for this project…

AA batteries

foam blocks

AA battery pack (in electronics kit)

alligator clips

Hot glue gun

Below is a video showing you step-by-step how to build the Water Bot.

It comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures.

Please subscribe if you like the activities on the channel.

Enjoy this fun beginners robotics project for kids!

5 Fun Road Trip Games + Activity Pack

July 4th is coming soon and I know many of you have trips planned!

Today, I want to give you 5 more fun road trip games (I gave you 15 Road Trip activities in a previous post).

Also, I will tell you how to access a downloadable Road Trip Activity Pack with 16 games and activities for your next vacation.

Let’s get to the road trip games I promised you first.

The first one is the License Plate game.

Your family will search for license plates from as many states as possible.

This is a fun competitive game to keep you on your toes!

Second is the Color Car Hunt game.

You will find cars in various colors, like blue and red, while on the road and record it.

The third activity is the Road Trip ABC Game.

Your child will find objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet.

Next, is the Road Signs game.

In this game, you identify as many road signs as you can.

The last activity is for kids to design their own license plate.

This is a fun art project for kids!

Road Trip Activity Pack

I have created a downloadable Road Trip Activity Pack with 16 fun games and activities.

It includes all the activities mentioned above, plus 11 more, with colorful digital printable sheets.

It is a digital file so you will have to print the activity sheets before your next trip.

I have also included games like Tic Tac Toe, Connect Four, and Hangman in the packet.

Additionally, there are road trip games mentioned in my previous post like the Shape Game and Finish the Story activity.

If you want to check it out, click here.

There is a minimal cost for the Road Trip Packet at $4.50.

I hope you enjoy the fun road trip games.

We will be using it on our next trip for sure!

Super Science Glass Magic Trick – Fun Stem Project for Kids

Today we have a fun stem project for kids. It is called the Science Glass Magic Trick.

This experiment is fun and easy to do. It is a great activity to do in front of family and friends.

Children will turn a glass of water upside down without a drop of liquid spilling.

Kids will be amazed at the results.

Below is what’s needed for this experiment

Drinking Glass

Water

Index Cards

Below is a step-by-step video on how to do this fun stem project for kids.

It comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures.

Subscribe if you like the content on the channel.

Have a great time with this fun stem project for kids.

 Mystery Message Science Activity For Kids

We love a fun and quick science activity for kids!

In fact, I have one for you today.

It called the Mystery Message.

Your child will write a message that no one can see.

Then either the child or parent will reveal the answer through STEM magic.

Below is what’s needed for this experiment

Cotton Swab

White Paint

Paper Towels

Food Coloring

Below is a video showing you step-by-step how to set up the Mystery Message.

The video comes from my son’s YouTube channel, Corban’s Fun Learning Adventures.

We have over 100 science experiments, learning games, and DIY Stem Project.

If you like the content, please subscribe to the channel.

That’s all for today.

Enjoy this fun science activity for kids.

Andrea