Summer Bucket List

Fun learning activities the entire family will enjoy

Discovery Place Kids Rockingham

Parents everywhere face the same dilemma each summer – fill time with plenty of family fun, maintain a normal-ish schedule and prevent their children from becoming victim to the summer slide. Even with the additional COVID-19 challenges, much of this equation is the same. To combat summer blues, check out our Summer Bucket List for fun learning activities the entire family will enjoy.

Science

Boosting your child’s academic potential can be simple with a few household activities.

Let the kids take over the kitchen and explore the science behind baking. With the promise of their favorite dessert on the way, they might be more interested in chemistry than ever before! Explain the processes and watch them connect lessons from school.

Those family recipes you’ve been saving for a rainy day? They can teach your child different math skills. By measuring ingredients together, you’ll have the opportunity to bond over family history and learn about conversion and fractions. For teens, kick it up a notch and host a bake-off with different culinary challenges to make it even more enticing.

Nature

There’s no better time than this summer to release kids into the wild to explore nature’s beauty and experience what the outdoor world has to offer.

Put on your walking shoes and set forth on nearby trails for a family hike. Bring binoculars and have the family search for local birds to pass the time or make it a game and compete to see who spots the northern cardinal first. Try to find native plants amidst conversations about photosynthesis. While immersed in the trees, put your amateur photography skills to the test and preserve special memories of the day with photos that show off nature’s best backdrops.

If mountains and forests aren’t your thing, speed up your heart rate with bike riding. The CDC suggests an average 60 minutes of physical activity every day to get the kids – and you – moving. What better way to tour the city of Charlotte than by taking the family through the Little Sugar Creek Greenway?

With older kids, try geocaching, a popular outdoor recreational activity. They’ll have to use a GPS or maps to find hidden items located all over the city. It’s easily the most satisfying scavenger hunt.

Play

North Carolina weather is unpredictable but, in the summer, we know it’ll be hot. Stay indoors and keep cool with fun games and crafts. It’s time to get creative!

Encourage the fort builders of the family to let their imaginations build grand palaces and mansions with the couch cushions. Make it a lesson about engineering by seeing which creations are more structurally sound. Or, break out the popsicle sticks to recreate the world’s greatest architectural designs.

Act out scenes from the family’s favorite books to encourage your child to read this summer. Over time, this activity will help improve your child’s reading comprehension skills so they’ll be prepared in the fall for book reports and other assignments.

Check out more activities and projects from our Stay At Home Science series.

The joys of summer camp

We understand that summer looks a little bit different this year. We also know that kids still need an outlet for all that energy and inquiry.

Discovery Place is providing a safe, fun environment where kids can learn, explore science and socialize all while wearing masks and abiding by other important safety protocols.

For more about Summer Camps at Discovery Place, visit here.

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