Trying a new approach with the kids this summer break

I’d heard about the benefits of learning during summer break to ensure kids start off the new school year in a strong way and without much loss of the previous school year’s knowledge. So, these past couple years, we’d buy workbooks with appropriate grade-level worksheets.  At first, I just went to the book store and picked out some fun colorful books.  Last year, I decided to make the trip with the kids in tow so they could pick out the workbooks that most appealed to them. I figured if they pick out the workbooks, they will be more involved in the process and more likely to actually work in them.  I really liked workbooks when I was little but then again, I loved playing school! Our daughter seems to be more interested than our son in these summer workbooks but even she loses motivation after doing a number of worksheets. 

So this year, I decided to come up with a new approach. I still want our kids to continue learning as summer break in the United States is long - about 11 weeks! In comparison, I only had 6 weeks of summer break, growing up in the Netherlands! While most likely this new approach means more work for me, hopefully it will also mean a whole lot more fun for the kids and more learning taking place because they're actually enjoying it!

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This is my plan:

1. Focus on art and creativity - instead of spending money on pre-printed workbooks, I splurged and created an attractive, portable art kit (see the picture above).  One that we can take to the park, camping or just to the backyard. I stocked it with some new and exciting art supplies that beg to be played with!  A sketch book with heavy paper, a watercolor set, a pencil set that also comes with a kneadable eraser and charcoal and some colorful brush tipped markers. I was able to find most of these supplies on either amazon or at our local art supply store. The cute bag is actually an insulated lunch bag I found at Michaels for only $4 (perfect for drippy watercolors).  They will be able to use the sketch book as a journal to record our summer experiences as well as explore through drawing and painting.
   
2. Reading - our kids love the summer reading program our local library offers. They love to pick out the little prizes and the game board to keep track of their reading!  And yes, it helps that they really enjoy reading! 
   
3. Math - okay, I admit that I don’t have a well developed plan here.  I do believe strongly this is an area we need to continue working on this summer.  Got any ideas?  I’m thinking: play problem solving or strategy games, ask the kids to help me with everyday math (cooking, shopping, clock reading, etc.) and create homemade math problem work sheets that maybe incorporate their names in word problems or will at least be written in mom’s or dad’s handwriting!
   
4. Science - bugs anyone?  Okay, our son will love this part of summer learning!  Plus, we have a cool science activity book already on the shelf. Hands-on science is SO much better than just reading about science, don’t you think?   
   

Maybe I’ll look back at this post in two weeks (the start of our summer break) and think “What the heck was I thinking?!” or “When are we going to do all THAT?!” Maybe it will be a complete flop… But it seems worth trying, right?  Out with the workbooks and “in" with the fun!  Yep, that’s the plan!

What are your plans for your kids’  summer learning?  Do you feel kids need to work on school related activities during summer break?