This Summer, Leapfrog have been running a Summer School on their facebook page with loads of great daily ideas of run yet educational activities for children to help keep their little brains ticking over this summer. Lara is getting really excited about starting school this summer so we have been doing some of the Leapfrog Summer School activities together.
Last week we were on holiday together with all of my family in Cornwall and yet, every day, there were learning opportunities for Lara. Every minute of the day brought new experiences and she lapped up every new learning challenge. Here she is planning what she was going to write in her postcard back to nursery, one of the writing challenges from the Leapfrog summer school.
Since we got back from holiday, Lara and I have started building a scrapbook of her trip which acts as a form of travel diary - another one of the Leapfrog Summer School ideas which you can do even if you aren't going away this summer.
The Leapfrog Summer School asks you as a parent to pledge to spend as little as 20 minutes a few times a week to help encourage your child to write, read, listen or learn with a fun activity such as playing i-spy (great for travelling together as a family this summer). There are pledges to help your child write or read a poem, or to fill in a wordsearch - most of the activities have free printable activity sheets to help you out if you need further inspiration.
For me, Lara's preparation for school isn't just about reading and writing - I'm also trying to encourage her creative side too. We have filled our dining room with 'doodle drawers' of craft materials such as ribbons, play dough and glitter and have given her free reign with a glue stick (!!!) to let her imagination run wild. This really helps bring out the best in Lara and this weekend she sat for a full two hours to make a card for her best friend made out of glitter glue and pencil sharpenings!!! For Lara this was also a learning opportunity because she really wanted to write on the back of the card herself and I could hear her sounding out the letters to write about Shooting Stars (we had taught her about these on holiday).
So, if you are looking for a little more inspiration for activities with the kids this summer, take a look at the Leapfrog Summer School for some quick and easy learning ideas.
Last week we were on holiday together with all of my family in Cornwall and yet, every day, there were learning opportunities for Lara. Every minute of the day brought new experiences and she lapped up every new learning challenge. Here she is planning what she was going to write in her postcard back to nursery, one of the writing challenges from the Leapfrog summer school.
Since we got back from holiday, Lara and I have started building a scrapbook of her trip which acts as a form of travel diary - another one of the Leapfrog Summer School ideas which you can do even if you aren't going away this summer.
The Leapfrog Summer School asks you as a parent to pledge to spend as little as 20 minutes a few times a week to help encourage your child to write, read, listen or learn with a fun activity such as playing i-spy (great for travelling together as a family this summer). There are pledges to help your child write or read a poem, or to fill in a wordsearch - most of the activities have free printable activity sheets to help you out if you need further inspiration.
For me, Lara's preparation for school isn't just about reading and writing - I'm also trying to encourage her creative side too. We have filled our dining room with 'doodle drawers' of craft materials such as ribbons, play dough and glitter and have given her free reign with a glue stick (!!!) to let her imagination run wild. This really helps bring out the best in Lara and this weekend she sat for a full two hours to make a card for her best friend made out of glitter glue and pencil sharpenings!!! For Lara this was also a learning opportunity because she really wanted to write on the back of the card herself and I could hear her sounding out the letters to write about Shooting Stars (we had taught her about these on holiday).
So, if you are looking for a little more inspiration for activities with the kids this summer, take a look at the Leapfrog Summer School for some quick and easy learning ideas.
