Do you need some Summer learning activities to stop the Summer slide? Many times when kids don’t do anything academic over the Summer, they can lose 1-2 months of learning from the school year! Here are some cheap, yet fun games you can play with your child over the Summer.  Many of these items you probably already have at home or can find at the Dollar Store.

You can use red plastic cups for more than just parties. This game is great for sight words, math facts, letters, etc. Kids have fun just trying to stack up the cups, but add a squirt gun and this game is a blast. Have your child read the sight word on top and try to knock it off by squirting it. They can then read all the way down to the bottom of the tower, trying to knock them all over. This is a kid favorite!For another fun water game, grab these long pool squirters from The Dollar Tree. Simply load them up with water and practice  writing numbers, words, letters, etc.

When I think of Summer, I think of water balloon fights with my sisters. Why not use some of those water balloons for your Summer learning activities? Simply write some sight words, letters, numbers, etc. on the sidewalk or driveway. You can tell your child a word and they have to find it and throw a water balloon at it.

I would recommend writing the words further apart. As you can see, my 1 balloon splashed over 2 words.

This could be one of the easiest of the Summer learning activities I have suggested. I’m sure you have some magnetic letters around the house. You can throw them in a bucket of water and let your child scoop out some letters. They can read the letter, say the sound, build a word, etc.

Bozo buckets is always a fun and challenging game. I found these ping pong balls at The Dollar Tree and used the red plastic cups again instead of buckets. This makes it harder too! Simply read the letter on the ball and try to throw it in a cup. You can keep score and give your child 1, 2, or 3 points depending on which cup they land in.Just because it’s Summer, doesn’t mean you can’t incorporate a bit of learning into your everyday fun activities. All of these games can easily be differentiated for whatever skills you think your child may need some extra practice on. If you’re looking for more games to play during the Summer, you can read my previous blog post about some Summer Centers. It’s full of reading and math games to help your little one avoid the Summer slide!