How to Make Learning Fun This Summer: 100+ Amazing Activities
I’m excited to share our favorite educational summer activities for kids ages 2-8. I hope they’ll soon be your favorites too!
Learning outside can be so engaging for kids. There’s plenty of space for playful and creative activities, and you don’t have to worry about making a mess. Plus, you get to be outdoors in lovely hot weather! (Can you tell I love hot weather?)
When I was still teaching, I always looked for ways to teach outdoors. One year I was in portable building. I loved taking the kids outside for silent reading time. Another year, I remember going outside with sidewalk chalk. I had the kids write on the sidewalk about… something – I can’t remember what!
But I remember it was fun and engaging for them to be outside instead of stuck in the classroom.
As a mom of three, I like to take learning outdoors with my own kids. They love being active and doing the kind of fun activities you can only do outside. Whether it’s a nature scavenger hunt, birding with kids, or even having a lemonade stand, it’s easy to wrap in some learning.
You can easily do it the other way around, too.
You can take a skill you’d normally practice inside, and turn it into a super-fun outside activity. The kids won’t even realize they’re learning!
Educational Summer Activities for Kids
Recently, we’ve organized and shared over 100 of these ideas for taking learning outside. So browse the categories below, and then you’ll find a group of related educational summer activities that are sorted by skill or subject.
30+ Sidewalk Chalk Activities
You can turn many paper and pencil activities into sidewalk chalk activities. There are also a ton of great educational activities specifically meant for sidewalk chalk.
We rounded up our favorite sidewalk chalk literacy activities to give you plenty of inspiration.
20+ Pool & Water Play Learning Activities
I can’t remember doing any water activities at school, but here at home my own children love them. Any excuse to get wet in the heat of summer! There are so many fun ways to incorporate water play into learning activities, too.
We pulled together an amazing list of literacy activities for the preschool and kindergarten set. There are letter recognition games, sight word activities, and even some word building.
So get out the water table, squirt gun, hose, or kiddie pool, and dive into these engaging water learning activities!
20+ Beach Learning Activities
Even a day at the beach can have a learning component. You can learn about the beach itself in a fun science activity. Or, you could use the beach as the perfect setting for engaging beach learning activities.
Don’t forget the sunscreen!
20+ Sandbox Learning Activities
Another favorite here at home is the sandbox. Preschoolers, especially, will love the sandbox learning activities we found. When learning looks like play, kids take away a whole lot more.
We’ve sorted these ideas into subjects for you – there’s something for everyone.
10+ Outrageously Fun Outdoor Educational Activities
Finally, we’re topping off this list with a group of outrageously fun outdoor educational activities. These ideas didn’t fit neatly into one of the other categories. Yet, they’re all super-engaging ideas the kids will be sure to remember.
I can’t wait to try a few more of these educational summer activities with my own kids. We’ve done several already. Which one will you try first?
