5 Affordable Ways to Keep Your Kids Engaged This Summer

Summer can give your children a fun break from school that reinvigorates their spirits. But while your kids’ spirits soar, are they losing the skills they worked so hard to build?

Engaging summer activities can make summer exciting while exercising your children’s brains. These five affordable activities can definitely pack a learning punch!

Encourage Reading

Reading is enjoyable, educational, and affordable. Your children can give their library cards a workout by reading as many books as they want. Plus, your local library may even have a summer reading program that makes reading even more fun by offering incentives. If you live near a Barnes & Noble, have your kids join the Free Book Program to keep them incentivized (and save you a little money, too).

Start a Garden

Gardening can get your kids out of the house and into nature. Not only can they learn about a plant’s growth cycle, gardening can also help teach children more about insects, soil, and nutrition. Not to mention, if it really takes off, you could end up saving some money on produce!

Start a Rock Collection

Whether you give your child a set list of rock types to collect or just encourage your child to collect interesting rocks and identify their types, collecting rocks can feel like a scavenger hunt. That fun scavenger hunt also presents some great learning benefits by giving children insight into geology.

Plus, collecting rocks can provide an enjoyable activity that makes any family outing even more fun.

Volunteer Together

Volunteering together can give your children insight into issues in your community and raise their social conscience and awareness. While not all volunteer activities will directly relate to classroom learning, volunteering can still be a powerful experience that can shape your child’s growth as a person.

Have Your Child Keep a Journal

Summer is fun! Having your child record that fun in a journal can provide excellent writing practice. Years down the road, reading your child’s journal can also be a great way to reminisce about all the fun you enjoyed as a family.

With these five activities, summertime can still be learning time.