smart summer challenge fun learning ideas: week 5

It’s almost week #5 of our Smart Summer Challenge–the campaign we’ve created to let all parents know the important–and totally fun–role they play in their children’s summer learning!

Like I’ve said before, it doesn’t have to be a huge and complicated activity; it can be short, sweet, and meaningful–done in the span of a great game or read-aloud . . .

. . . and even if you missed the previous weeks, it’s not too late to jump on board now. With a calendar full of ideas and prizes every week, there’s no reason not to join us. And you know who really benefits from your participation? You got it–your kids!

Here are some ideas for week #5, our Water Fun Week:

• Create a poster of the food chain of the sea

• Play a game on the sand–like Tic-Tac-Toe
• Make your own Pet Rock Fish

• Identify something for each letter of the alphabet that is connected to the water

• Play Go Fish! with sight words, letters, rhyming words, or numbers
• Create Family Cards to play Go Fish! with–and make your family happy, happy!
• Read a fiction and non-fiction book about sea life

• Make a craft that includes your favorite sea animals

• Make a jellyfish using curling ribbon and streamers and a plastic bowl (like Candace’s family!)
• Use play-doh to make your favorite fish from literature — make it a fast finger challenge!
• Use socks to make fish or jellyfish puppets or stuffed dolls

• Read 3 books about the sea life

• Do research on your favorite sea animal
• Create a brochure about the sea animal
• Write your own book about sea life

• Invent a new way to catch a goldfish

• Design your own fishing rod
• Use Legos or blocks to create a sea-scape
• Figure out the quickest way to dry off a washcloth or beach towel

• Visit a splash park, fish store, pool, lake, or creek

• Collect seashells and treasures by the water
• Sort the treasures (like MaryLea’s family!)
• Paint the treasures (like MaryLea’s family!)

Remember, The Smart Summer Challenge is simple–it’s a challenge for all parents to pledge to incorporate at least one learning activity into their child’s day over the summer vacation. That’s it.

The learning activity can be as simple as reading a book or as involved as packing up the crew and taking a hike. It’s as involved as you want it to be, and our focus is to help parents realize the important role they play in helping their kids avoid the summer learning slump.

Here’s our calendar to print and hang on the fridge:
Smart Summer Challenge Calendar 2011
 

And if you are up for joining us in the Smart Summer Challenge–which we hope you are!–here’s what you can do:

Step 1: The first step is to “Like” the Smart Summer Challenge on Facebook, if you have an account. We’ll be using the FB page to share ideas, questions, and successes from challenge participants.

Step 2: If you are a blogger, we would love for you to grab our “Smart Summer Challenge” Badge for your sidebar and/or Smart Summer posts. Grab the code on the right sidebar!

Step 3: Each week, from June 27 through August 5, we will be posting daily activities on our blogs. We would love if you would blog along as often as you wish (even once a week is great!) and share what you are doing to keep the learning going over the summer.

Step 4: On Friday of each of the Smart Summer Challenge weeks, we will post a themed “linky” on our blogs where you can share your recent or archived posts. If you do not have a blog, please feel free to share your activities and pictures on the Smart Summer Challenge facebook page! We will highlight posts from participants on our blogs and on facebook.

We hope you will visit and comment on each other’s posts so we can all learn together! You can find the Smart Summer Challenge linky each Friday here, on teachmama.com or on PinkAndGreenMama or NaturallyEducational.com.

Don’t forget to check out the we teach Summertime Learning eBook for even more cool summer learning ideas on we teach–you can download the whole thing for free and you’ll have a good 30 ideas!

Interested to know what kind of prizes we’re giving away to participants? Here are a few. . .

• $100 to your local book shop or toy store of choice, thanks to Juice in the City
• $150 to your local book shop or toy store of choice, thanks to Juice in the City
• $150 to use at Rosie Hippo
• $200 gift pack of LeapFrog products
• $200 to use at Guidecraft
• and more!

Looking forward to making this a Smart Summer for everyone–and for more ideas, visit my pals, Candace at NaturallyEducational.com and MaryLea at PinkAndGreenMama!