Four creative ways to keep children learning over the summer holidays

By Sarah Marsh and Lisa Spiller

The arrival of the holidays doesn’t mean learning has to stop. Here are some fun ideas and resources for broadening young minds over the break.

Lagooz Swimming Facility for indoor Sports

It’s time for students to kick off their school shoes and pack up their textbooks because school’s out for summer. But the arrival of the holidays doesn’t mean learning has to stop – in fact, it can provide many opportunities to broaden young minds.

From family trips to museums, new literature or fun experiments in the kitchen, it’s  not about following the rigid curriculum but rather discovering ways to get young charges excite about learning.

LEARN A LANGUAGE

A family holiday abroad is a great opportunity to learn a language or practice existing skills. You might not be up for Spanish verb quizzes over dinner but you could have a go at teaching youngsters useful phrases and expressions. Have fun going through the Spanish alphabet with eager young linguists using a guide.

There’s no better way for older students to absorb a language than spending the summer immersed in it. There are various organizations that offer summer language courses, but if you want something a bit closer to home, you could get your children to write to other students around the world with Pen Pal Schools, an online learning community where people of all ages can connect and practice their language skills.

DISCOVER THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Encourage children to move from the sofa with a trip to your local park or recreation ground. Engage younger children with a mini-beast hunt, getting them to look for insects and bugs and then draw an annotated picture of them. 

Feed young minds by finding a sunny spot for a picnic where you can explore healthy eating; this is a major focus of the primary personal, social and health education (PSHE) curriculum. You could bring fresh produce, such as lettuce or herbs, and ask children to identify them. What do children think makes a balanced meal? Get them to sort the foods in the picnic by how healthy they are, or have fun by getting them to make Lego vegetables.

Teenagers can explore the great outdoors by doing a treasure hunt with a twist. Geocaching, where you use a mobile device to find hidden items, is a great way for them to keep fit and brush up on navigation skills. You can register for a free geocaching account and then all you need to do is use your smartphone’s GPS to search for a geocaache hidden near you. Once you’ve found the geocache, sign the visitor book and register your find. Another way to combat the problem of vegetating teenagers is through sport. 

GET READING AND WRITING

Literacy skills can dip over the summer – it’s known as the summer slide – but you can keep children up to speed by simply stocking up on some good books. If you’re stuck for inspiration on what to buy or borrow, check out these handy guides including the best animal friendship stories, superheroes worth reading about and new poetry book every child should discover.

As well as reading, writing can also fall back over the break. Practice can be as simple as challenging children to compose weekly food shopping lists or note down the television programmes they want to watch throughout the week. If you’ve had a particularly jam-packed summer, why not give the children a blank postcard and at the end of each week as them to write a note to their teacher about their favourite day on one side, then draw a picture of it on the other. This is a really nice way to keep a diary of what they got up to over the break.

To enroll your child/ward at Lagooz Schools (Creche, Nursery, Primary, College);

Visit us at Plot 11/12, Omotoye Estate Road, Mulero Bus/Stop, Near NYSC Camp Iyana-Ipaja, Orile Agege, Lagos or 31, Coker Street, Funmilayo Bus Stop, Orile Agege, Lagos.

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