The Homeschool Resource

• Summer can feel long for kids, leading to boredom often filled by excessive screen time; maintaining mental and physical engagement through planned activities can help alleviate this issue.

• A mix of creative hands-on, educational indoor activities (like art, science, puzzles, cooking, and coding) and around the home outdoor explorations (such as gardening, nature walks, and star gazing) helps keep those summer months both educational and fun.

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The summer months can seem long and endless with bored children in the house. Their boredom often comes from the sudden lack of the school year’s structured routine. Without the daily engagement of classes, extracurricular activities, and social interaction with friends, kids can struggle to find meaningful ways to occupy their time. Oftentimes, screen time is used as a substitute for those enrichment activities, however, it is unhealthy as an all-day, everyday activity. Addressing this seasonal boredom often requires a balance of planned activities, independent exploration, and social interaction to keep children mentally and physically active.

What I like to do during the summer is have my children spend a little bit of time every day, or at least every weekday, keeping their brain sharp with some summer learning activities. Every summer we have some individual projects that each of the children works towards. For example, one summer we let them delve into instruments, letting each pick which instrument they would like to learn how to play. They spent a little time each day learning that instrument through online instruction and by the end of summer, they were able to play a short song together. While we do choose and set summer long projects together, we also like to do smaller activities to help them keep learning and growing over those long summer months. Here are some hands-on learning ideas to keep your little ones engaged and occupied.

Indoor

While many people view summer as the outdoor months, here where I live, much of the summer is just too hot to stay outdoors for extended periods of time. Therefore, many of our summer activities are ones that we can do indoors. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Creative Art – Art nurtures creativity, encourages self-expression, and supports emotional development. For children, it helps improve fine motor skills, fosters imagination, and builds confidence. It also offers a great opportunity to enhance their cultural awareness as they branch out into art techniques used around the world. One of our favorite sites for creative inspiration is Kinderart. They feature many different art projects with step-by-step instructions broken down into grade levels.
• Science Experiments – While some science experiments should be completed outside, there are many experiments prime for doing inside. Experiments featuring buoyancy, magnets, colors, growing crystals, and tons of others are perfect ways to engage your child using items that you already have at home. Here is a webpage highlighting 76 easy science experiments by We are Teachers.
• Puzzles – Doing puzzles enhances a child’s learning by developing critical thinking, concentration, and problem-solving skills. Puzzles of any kind are also known to improve memory and promote patience and perseverance. While jigsaw puzzles are one of my girls’ favorites, my son loves word puzzles such as Sudoku, word search, and crossword puzzles. Nat Geo Kids has some great puzzles of all kinds for your kids to enjoy while learning more about the world around them.
• Cooking and Baking – Both cooking and baking teach kids practical life skills while reinforcing academic concepts such as math, reading comprehension, and science. Cooking together as a family teaches responsibility and teamwork. Cooking also encourages kids to try new foods, and to make healthier choices all while creating meaningful memories. For some awesome recipes specifically made to cook with kids, try this Taste of Home webpage.
• Coding and Robotics – Coding and robotics can help develop a child’s critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills while engaging them in logical reasoning. These activities also support math and science learning through hands-on exploration of technology and engineering concepts. STEM activities can help prepare students for a technology-driven future. There are many coding sites such as Scratch, CodeMonkey, and Code that offer free coding classes and activities that are both fun and engaging for children. There are also many robotics kits and circuits available for purchase that allow your child to build and code their own robots or make their own unique circuit. These kits are made for especially for kids and are easy to follow.

Outdoor

 The outside world offers many opportunities for hands-on learning experiences. These can be lessons and experiments that you set up and oversee in your own backyard or local park or time when you allow your child to explore nature and the world.

If you are looking for some hands-on outdoor activities for your kids, here are some of our favorites.

• Bubble Making – Playing with bubbles engages multiple senses and fosters imaginative play in kids (and adults). My kids love making their own bubble solution and using multiple tools such as wands, straws, homemade wire frames, and differently shaped cookie cutters to make bubbles. Making large bubbles are my kids favorite, but bouncing bubbles are also fun. Here is a link to a bubble solution recipe.
• Gardening – Gardening with kids is an enriching activity that fosters a deeper appreciation for nature. Planting seeds, tending to the plants, and observing their growth over time teaches kids about the life cycle of plants, local ecosystems, and where food comes from. It can also encourage kids to try the fresh fruits and vegetables that they have grown themselves. Saying that they have grown food themselves will also give your child a sense of accomplishment and independence.
• Outdoor Art – As stated before, art nurtures creativity and helps to build fine motor skills, imagination, and confidence in kids. Taking art outside and doing it on a bigger scale enhances those skills even more. Sidewalk chalk, shadow art, splatter painting, and painting with wheels or bubbles are just a few ideas on how to take art outside.
• Nature Walks – Nature walks promote physical health, mental well-being, and provide kids with a deeper connection to the natural world. Whether walking around the backyard or visiting the local park, nature walks promote physical activity and support gross motor development. As kids explore trails, observe wildlife, and engage with their surroundings, they develop curiosity, observation skills, and a sense of wonder. And nature walks are not limited to simply “nature” but can include historical sites and walks through their local city. Each provides their own unique learning opportunities and engagement activities.
• Star Watching – Looking up at the night sky inspires a sense of wonder for kids and adults alike. Astronomy enhances learning by sparking curiosity, imagination, and a love for science. Viewing the stars, planets, and galaxies lead children to complex concepts such as gravity and space. It encourages critical thinking and inquiry, prompting kids to ask big questions and seek answers through observation and research.

                 Actively engaging children in the learning process with hands-on activities allows them to explore concepts in a more concrete way. This helps to deepen their understanding of their world and helps them to retain more of the lessons learned. Many hands-on activities promote critical thinking skills, problem-solving, and creativity as kids will often need to experiment, make decisions, and adapt their approach. Additionally, hands-on learning fosters a sense of independence and confidence while supporting the development of fine motor skills and coordination. Overall, this type of learning meets the needs of different learning styles and creates a more enjoyable learning experience for everyone

I hope that this blog gave you plenty of ideas to keep your little ones busy and their brain’s working during those long summer months. If you found this blog helpful please consider subscribing to and liking this post as it will help to grow the community as well as let me know which type of posts are more beneficial for you. Are looking to take your daily learning outside of the home, check out my blog Feel Free to Roam. If you are interested in creative worksheets to use with your children, check out my TeachersPayTeachers store here.

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Have you come across different engaging summer learning activities for your kids? Leave a comment down below to help out fellow homeschooling familes find something that they may enjoy.