Fun (and Free!) Activities to Do With Your Child This Summer
Summer is right around the corner! Summer is celebrated around the country with fun, leisure, and special activities. With some planning and intentionality, you can make this a summer to remember!
The Key to a Fun Summer: Planning
At the beginning of summer vacation, you feel like you have all the time in the world. It’s easy to let a few weeks go by–but before you know it, the first day of school is right around the corner. Take advantage of your summer break with just a little planning!
Plan the Big Events First
Put the big items on your calendar first: vacations, day trips, visiting family, or other out-of-town trips. Summer camps can be a week or more out of your summer vacation, so these need to be scheduled in advance.
Reach out to friends and family for playdates. It takes collaboration to meet up with friends because they have schedules, too! Putting these get-togethers on the calendar early will help you take advantage of every opportunity
Don’t Forget About the Work
Summer is about fun, but work still needs to be done. Write out some household or yard projects, planning for no more than one a week.
Summer is an excellent time to include your child in these projects! Let them help you paint the fence in the yard, plant or weed the garden, or hang pictures on the wall. Putting these special projects on the calendar will help you feel accomplished at the end of the summer.
Look Up Local Events
Once you have planned the big items on your calendar, you can fill in the gaps with fun local things to do.
Social media pages, local news sources or magazines, and neighborhood bulletins can help discover local events, new parks, parades, and so much more! You can also search for “summer events near me” in a search engine.
Don’t Be Exhausted From Your Summer Break!
When planning your summer activities, be sure to schedule regular breaks. Your child shouldn’t be exhausted from their summer break–if they are, they may struggle when school starts. Be sure to schedule a few days off a week for leisure and to recover from busy activities. Take your child’s personality into consideration, too: some children need more rest, while others can handle more activity.
Ready for some fun and free summer activity ideas? Here are our favorites!
Tap Into the Library
If you haven’t discovered the resources in your neighborhood library, summer is the perfect time! Most libraries have weekly scavenger hunts, baby-kindergarten story times, arts and crafts events, culinary events, LEGO play dates, science experiments, and so much more!
Many libraries have reading challenges where kids can win prizes. These help children stay motivated, improve their reading skills, and keep their brains sharp during the academic break.
Most events at libraries are free and require no registration, so they are the perfect activity to add to your calendar.
Camp In the Backyard
Camping provides many wonderful childhood memories. Luckily, you don’t have to pack up your whole house or forfeit indoor plumbing when you camp in your own backyard!
Children are just as delighted with pitching a tent, roasting hot dogs and marshmallows over a campfire, and stargazing in their backyard as they are in the middle of the forest. Backyard camping is a low-risk activity because if things don’t go well, you can just go inside! But if your child loves camping, you can try an official campground later.
Watch an Outdoor Movie
Going to the movies can be expensive and you’re limited to what you can watch. But with just a projector, a big sheet, a speaker, and some blankets and pillows, you can have a memorable outdoor movie experience!
Invite over some friends or keep it small; go all out with a candy and s’mores bar or just pop some popcorn. The details are up to you! Either way, your kids will love watching their favorite movie outside.
Nature Hike and Picnic Lunch
There’s only so much video gaming and television watching that a kid can (or should!) do in the summer. Time to get outdoors and explore nature! Pack a picnic lunch and find a local hiking trail. Many parks in your area have walking paths or easy hiking trails. Even better, pick a park that has a splash pad and pack a swimsuit to cool off after your hike!
To make your nature hike more engaging and educational, bring along a bird or insect identification guide, print out a scavenger hunt page, or bring along a bag or cup to collect interesting nature items and flowers for a bouquet.
Enjoy the Water
Children of all ages love to play in the water, even if it’s just splashing in a shallow pool. While adults typically think of swimming in a pool as the main summer activity, this isn’t always possible from a time and financial standpoint. But that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on water fun! Here are some easy ways to enjoy water activities:
- Splash Pads: Many local parks have splash pads in addition to their playground equipment. For extra fun and creativity, bring some plastic cups or bath toys.
- Water Balloon Fight: There are countless ways to enjoy water balloons on a hot day: games, races, battles, and more! Make it a neighborhood event or keep it small–either way, it’s sure to delight your children!
- Sprinkler: This old-fashioned backyard water fun never goes out of style! While there are hundreds of colorful blow-up sprinklers, any yard sprinkler would do!
- Squirt Guns: Another favorite that never gets old! Similar to a water balloon fight, you can make a squirt gun battle a social event or keep them handy for when boredom strikes.
Have a Nature Evening
Nature is full of beauty and magic at night, but children are often sleeping by the time it gets dark. But one night, plan a special night to soak up all the beauty and enjoyment of nature, even if it goes past their bedtime:
- Watch the sunset
- Catch fireflies
- Stargaze on a night with a full moon
- Find the constellations
No matter what your summer plans include, there’s always time to make memories with your children that will last a lifetime!
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!
What’s Next
Try These Fun Arts and Crafts With Your Kids!
When you have limited time with your children, you want to maximize your time with them. One of the best bonding activities you can do with your children is fun arts and crafts!
Children need lots of quality time with their parents. You’ll find that when you work together with your child on the same project, they will open up, ask questions, and tell what’s on their mind.
Arts and crafts are also a great way to practice fine motor skills. Coloring, cutting, and gluing are all builders of fine motor skills.
Plus, when the project is done, your child has something to feel proud of, play with later, and remember the quality time they spent with you.
These arts and crafts activities use materials that are likely already around your house, but a trip to the dollar or craft store is also a fun bonding experience. Here are some easy and fun arts and crafts activities.
Paper Squishies
Kids love stuffed animals, and you can create a personalized squishable friend with just paper, markers, and tape! Simply draw or print the front of an animal on one paper and the back of the animal on another paper. Color these however you choose, and then cut them out. Cover with tape, tape both sides together, stuff with a plastic bag, and tape the bottom closed. You have a cute, personalized, squishy toy!
Materials:
- 2x colored paper sheets
- White paper
- Black marker
- Transparent tape
- Glue stick
- Scissors
- Small plastic bag
Follow the assembly instructions here.
Pom Pom Shooter
This fun toy is simple to create but provides hours of entertainment for young ones. Just tape a deflated balloon to the inside of a toilet paper roll and use the balloon as a slingshot to fire colorful pom poms.
Materials:
- Paper Cups or toilet paper rolls
- Balloons, 12”
- Pom Poms, Assorted (for firing)
- Duct Tape (or heavy-duty tape)
- Construction/Scrapbook Paper
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Craft Knife/scissors
Find the instructions for this craft here.
Use your imagination to create unlimited games with these pom pom shooters! Try to get the pom poms in cups, shoot various targets, or play Nerf-like games with them.
Different colored pom poms create a unique opportunity to practice color identification, patterns (alternate two or three colors), and color sorting (getting only one color into a specific cup)
Paper Chain Octopus
Children love to cut and glue just about anything, so this is the perfect project for little artists!
Cut a cardstock or construction paper circle (or, for more fun, paint a paper plate!) to make the octopus’s head. Color eyes, and a smile, and decorate the octopus head however you’d like. Then, cut out strips of cardstock or construction paper and use glue to create four paper chains for octopus tentacles. Find the full instructions and template here!
Materials:
- Colored cardstock or construction paper
- Scissors
- Glue
- Markers
Coffee Filter Butterflies
The best crafts are made with supplies lying around the house. Coffee filter butterflies let you utilize everyday items and transform them into beautiful, cherished artwork!
Simply color a design on the coffee filters with washable markers. Then drip water onto the coffee filters with water (be sure not to oversaturate the filters or you will lose the design). Wait for the coffee filters to dry, then pinch them in the middle and secure in place by twisting a pipe cleaner around the center. Find the full instructions here!
Materials
- Pipe cleaners
- Coffee filters
- Washable markers
- Paintbrush
- Water
“Stained Glass” Suncatchers
Hanging artwork in the window feels extra special to young children, so these “stained glass” suncatchers are the perfect bonding craft to do with your child!
Cut out a shape from clear plastic, such as from an empty plastic food or fruit container or a lamination page. Using black glue, draw a stained glass design on the plastic. Wait until the glue is dry, and then color with colored Sharpies. Hang in the window with double-sided tape. You can find the instructions here.
Materials:
- black glue (white Elmer’s glue + black acrylic paint)
- clear plastic (from an empty plastic container, a plastic folder or an empty laminated pouch)
- sharpies (the more colors the better!)
- Double-sided tape
Creating keepsake crafts shouldn’t break the bank, and the focus should be on building a relationship with your child. These simple crafts will help boost your child’s confidence, practice their fine motor skills, and grow your relationship.
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!
What’s Next
Tips For Helping Your Child Nap Every Day Without Tantrums
If there’s one thing every parent can relate to, it’s getting your child to nap. Even if you consider your child a great sleeper, at some point, they will struggle to nap. When a child misses their nap, it can make them overtired, which only perpetuates the sleeping problem.
So how can you make it easier for your child to nap every day? Keep reading for age-specific tips!
Do Children Need Naps?
Babies and young children are learning about their bodies and the world around them every moment of every day. The way humans process and remember new information is during sleep. Because young children are constantly experiencing and learning new things, they need extra sleep to integrate and remember them.
Plus, the brains and bodies of young children literally grow during sleep! So if you want your kid to be strong and smart, adequate sleep is vital.
How Much Should My Child Sleep?
Babies, toddlers, and young children all benefit from naps throughout the day. How many naps or how long they nap for depends on their age.
- Newborns (0 to 3 months) need 14 to 17 hours of sleep per day. They take about four to six naps a day for about 30 minutes to two hours at a time.
- Babies (4 to 12 months) need 12 to 16 hours of sleep per day. Babies sleep for longer stretches at night. At 6 months, babies usually drop to two naps: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
- Toddlers (1 to 2 years) need 11 to 14 hours of sleep per day. Before the 18-month-mark, toddlers still take two naps. However, around 18 months they transition to one longer, afternoon nap.
- Preschoolers: (3 to 5 years) need 10 to 13 hours hours of sleep per day. Some children stop napping between 3 and 4 years old, but others will still nap regularly until age 5.
- School-aged children (6 to 12 years) need 9 to 12 hours of sleep per day. By the age of 6, children no longer need to take a nap, getting all their sleep at night.
Tricks for Helping Your Child Sleep
While every child is different, some general principles will help every child nap, no matter their age.
Avoid Overtiredness
While you might think that an exhausted child will sleep longer, this is simply not true. Exhausted, overtired children are in overdrive and will use this cranky energy to fight sleep. If your child isn’t getting the recommended hours of sleep (listed in the section above), then it’s likely that they’re fighting sleep because they’re overtired.
You can overcome overtiredness by setting firm boundaries on bedtime and nap time. It takes consistency, but setting a firm bedtime and nap time every day will help your child regain their lost sleep and settle into an ideal routine.
Time It Right
Children have natural wake and sleep windows, and taking advantage of when they’re naturally sleepy will make it much easier to get them to nap. Take note of when your child starts slowing down: choosing quieter toys, reading books, zoning out, or becoming easily irritable.
Babies and toddlers who take morning and afternoon naps will generally need a nap about two hours after waking up. Children this age should take a 1.5-2-hour nap in the morning and afternoon.
Toddlers and young children who only take an afternoon nap generally do best with their nap about a half hour to an hour after their midday meal. This is because the short-term energy from their food has worn off. Children this age can take a nap from 1-3 hours, depending on how many hours they sleep at night.
Be Consistent
It’s tempting to not require your child to nap every day, but there are a few problems with inconsistency.
First, your child will slowly build up a sleep deficit that will result in them being overtired. As seen above, overtiredness comes with its own set of challenges. Secondly, children thrive on consistency. If they never know when they need to take a nap, it’s easy for them to resist in various ways.
An added benefit of consistency is the parents and caregivers have predictable times throughout the day to rest or accomplish tasks.
Use Sleepytime Tech
There are plenty of excellent assistive tech devices that can help your child sleep. For instance, a simple noise machine that plays soothing sounds like the ocean, rain, or other white noise can help lull your child to sleep. Another smart device is to invest in a clock (like this one) that glows when nap time is over.
As children get older and transition away from sleeping every day, they may benefit from listening to a story in their bed. If they fall asleep, then they are tired enough, and if not, they at least get some rest.
Getting your child to nap can be a challenge! But the most important thing is to be consistent with a daily routine to avoid sleep deficits and tantrums.
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!
What’s Next
Try These Healthy, Kid-Friendly Snacks at Home
Every parent can relate to the frustration of their child frequently asking for a snack. Sometimes, it seems like kids want snacks every few minutes!
While it’s easy enough to provide packaged snacks or easy fruits like apples and bananas, this can get expensive quickly!
Plus, the ingredients and additives in many packaged snacks can make your child’s food cravings worse.
Dyes like Red #40, Blue #1, and Yellow #5 are found in many packaged snacks, especially those marketed to children because their vibrance is attractive. But these dyes are detrimental to human health: they are carcinogenic and are linked to behavior problems, ADD/ADHD, and so much more.
Other ingredients like sugar, seed oils, preservatives, artificial flavorings, and more, can have negative effects on childhood development, increase the risk of obesity, and more.
What Do You Need in a Good Snack?
There’s a lot of health and diet advice out there! But basic science concepts can be applied to choosing a healthy snack.
We all know that sweet things–sugar and sweeteners, but also substances our bodies process as sugar like wheat and dairy–spike our blood sugar. We get that burst of energy and feel alert and in a good mood, but it’s only a matter of time before we feel sluggish and cranky again.
This blood sugar roller coaster happens when there isn’t a healthy fat to slow the absorption of sweeteners. Not all fat is bad, and when healthy fats are eaten in moderation, are actually very beneficial. They keep you full for longer, so you actually eat less–which is good for your budget and waistline!
Not to mention, children need healthy fats to grow strong minds and bodies!
A good snack for children will combine something yummy and fun with healthy fat or protein to slow the absorption and keep your child full for longer.
Here are some fun, yummy, and healthy snacks that your kids will love!
Chocolate Hummus
While beans in a sweet dip may some like a bad mashup, don’t pass this recipe over before giving it a try!
This healthy dip can be served with a variety of sweet and salty dippers like fruit slices, pretzels, or crackers. The protein in the garbanzo beans or chickpeas slows down the sugar in the honey (or fruit dippers) so your child stays full for longer. Just blend these ingredients well:
- 1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans or chickpeas
- 1/3 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1/4 cup baking cocoa
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Yogurt Fruit Cups
Sweetened yogurt and fruit is a classic snack combination and irresistible for children and adults alike. The protein and healthy fat in the yogurt keep tummies full for longer than fruit alone. Plus, this snack is simple to prep and store a week’s worth of yogurt cups in your fridge for a super easy and delicious snack!
- 4 cups cut-up fresh fruit or berries
- 3/4 cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup granola (optional)
Evenly distribute the fruit amongst five single-serving cups. Spoon the yogurt evenly over the fruit. If using, portion granola into snack baggies to keep fresh until consumption. Keep refrigerated.
Peanut Butter Date Energy Balls
These energy balls are the perfect size for little hands that taste like a cookie without giving your child the sugar crash of a sugar-sweetened snack.
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 2/3 cup natural peanut butter
- 1/3 cup oats, quick-cooking or rolled
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp chia seeds
- 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips, dairy-free if needed
Soak the dates in warm water for about 10 minutes. Drain the dates and blend them in a food processor. Once smooth, add the peanut butter, oats, vanilla, and chia seeds. Blend until the consistency is firm but pliable enough to roll into a ball. Add more oats if the batter is too sticky, or add more peanut butter if it is too dry.
Add the chocolate chips and mix with a spoon. Portion batter into 1 tbsp balls and store in a container in the refrigerator.
Frozen Yogurt Bark
If your kid is always wanting ice cream or popsicles, try swapping out this frozen yogurt bark instead. It gives your child the same enjoyment of a sweet frozen treat without the sugar and artificial flavors.
- 2 cups vanilla yogurt
- 1 cup blueberries
- 1 cup sliced strawberries
- 1 cup granola
Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Spread the yogurt evenly on a baking sheet. Then sprinkle the berries and granola evenly onto the yogurt. Freeze for at least 3 hours, or until firm. Break into pieces and keep frozen until serving.
Growing children need to snack throughout the day to meet their dietary and energy needs. It’s your job as a parent to choose snacks that keep them healthy.
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!
What’s Next
These Are the Developmental Toys Your Kid Needs
Children learn primarily through play. Playtime is their “job” that develops the skills they need later for their actual schooling and occupations. When you see playtime as education, then you’ll want to provide your child with toys that grow their brains, bodies, and language skills.
What Toys Do Children Need?
While it’s tempting to give your child toys that are technology-based or rely on trendy characters for their appeal, the majority of toys that children need are educational ones
Toys shape your child’s understanding and interpretation of their world. If every toy has lights, noises, music, or some technology component, they won’t be satisfied with anything that isn’t interactive in later years.
Children who play with open-ended toys (that is, toys that can be used in more than one way, like blocks) are more likely to be curious, have excellent problem-solving skills, and content.
If toys are like food, then open-ended toys are like the nutritious parts of a meal and tech toys are like dessert. They can be permissible, even more than once a day, but shouldn’t be your primary nutrition source.
The Three Developmental Categories
You must remember that your child develops in three primary areas: cognitive (which includes emotions), physical, and speech/language skills.
Cognitive development includes areas like problem-solving, decision-making, abstract thinking, and emotional regulation.
Physical development would be both gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills are big movements, like walking, running, jumping, climbing, etc. Fine motor skills involve picking up or manipulating small objects purposefully.
Speech and language skills include growing a vocabulary, developing sentence structure, and comprehending what others are saying.
A developmental toy will encourage growth in one or more of these areas.
Best Developmental Toys for Babies
The best developmental toys for babies are those with high-contrast colors. This is because their vision is still developing, so toys with bright or high-contrasting colors (like black and white) and bold patterns will grab and keep their attention. Playmats with mobiles are great for newborns, while blocks, stacking rings, and rattles are good choices for older babies.
Toys with various textures are another excellent option, as babies want to touch everything–and put it in their mouth! Many wonderful sensory books provide different textures and crinkly or squeaky sounds. However, ensure that toys and books don’t have any small pieces that a baby can choke on.
Once your child begins to be mobile, push and pull toys will help develop their gross motor skills. For speech and language development, simple books are the way to go. Baby books don’t even need a story; books that show pictures of everyday objects help them learn new words. Pointing to the objects and giving your own commentary is sufficient.
Best Developmental Toys for Toddlers
Children at this age crave toys that develop their cognition. Puzzles with large pieces, blocks, and matching games combine cognitive development with gross and fine motor development.
Toddlers also begin to love creating their own artwork. Simple art supplies are an excellent way to develop sequencing skills (first dip the paintbrush into the paint, then paint the picture), fine motor development, and creativity. Age-appropriate supplies include crayons, paint sticks, paint brushes, or markers. Just ensure that any art supplies are non-toxic, as children often try to taste them.
To develop your toddler’s speech skills, puppets, dolls and action figures, and kitchen sets let your child utilize their growing vocabulary. Age-appropriate books introduce new words, help build sentence structure, and reinforce their understanding of words they already know.
Best Developmental Toys for Young Children
Pre-K children have more developed cognitive, motor, and language skills and can do highly coordinated activities. They can do many of the same activities as toddlers but on a higher level. For instance, puzzles with interlocking pieces, magnetic tile pieces for building structures, and Duplo or LEGO blocks.
Children at this age benefit from tripod scooters, balance bikes or tricycles, or bicycles with training wheels to improve their gross motor skills. For fine motor, you can choose more challenging art projects, such as paint-by-numbers, scissor activities, stickers, or tracing.
Keep reading age-appropriate books to develop your child’s language skills. They may also benefit from an interactive toy that teaches letters, letter sounds, numbers, a second language, and more.
Choosing the right toys for your child is just as important as choosing the right foods. While everything is alright in moderation, you still want your child to eat their fruits, veggies, grains, and proteins. Don’t give your child just tech-based toys–instead, choose a variety of toys that develop their cognition, motor skills, and language skills.
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!
What’s Next
The Importance of Stories at Bedtime
Parents and teachers intuitively know that children benefit from being read to, but is regular storytime really that important?
Studies have proven that reading to children benefits them immediately and in the future! Children who are read to have:
- Better language skills – Quality literature improves language understanding, grammar, and sentence structure
- Increased vocabulary – Quality literature exposes children to a wide vocabulary and better understanding of words
- Improved literacy – Research shows a strong connection between reading aloud to children and advanced literacy skills.
- Emotional bonding with parents – positive connections are made between a parent and the child during read-aloud
Here’s how to find time throughout the day to include reading with your child. Be sure to read to the end to learn the best time of day to read to your child!
Reading in the Early Morning
Every child is different. Some children are sleepy and want to cuddle first thing in the morning. If your child is an early-morning cuddler, then this is an excellent time to read with your child! Cozy up with a blanket, some books, and something to drink or eat. This will quickly become one of your favorite parts of the day and cherished memories.
Even if your child is jumping off the couch in the early morning, you can still have early morning reading. It can even be an excellent way to teach your child self-regulation. Children want to engage with you and may be willing to snuggle up with you and a good book.
Reading in the Mid-Morning
By mid-morning, babies are ready for their first nap of the day. Taking just a few minutes to read to them before naptime is a signal to them that it’s time to sleep.
Young children may have burned through their breakfast energy and are poking around for something to do or eat. Children need to engage with their parents frequently and often turn to their parents to help them regulate their emotions. If children begin to whine or get mischievous, it can be easy to turn to technology or snacks to get through the morning.
However, remember that children want to engage with you, not technology. Reading will give them the emotional regulation their bodies are craving and may become less needy for technology or snacks. Often after reading, children are regulated and ready to choose their next activity with cheerfulness and independence.
Reading Before Nap Time
Babies, toddlers, and young children will often take a nap in the early afternoon. This is another perfect time to sneak in some reading!
As your child starts to slow down, choose quieter activities, or zone out, initiate some reading time. Take the child to a cozy spot such as their bed or a rocking chair, and read one to three books. This further relaxes your child, gives them a visual timeline of when it’s time to nap (“This is our last book!”), and helps them fall asleep faster.
Reading After Nap Time
Some kids struggle to wake up from a nap. They can be grouchy, sleepy, or whiney. But cuddling and reading a book while eating a snack is sure to chase away the nap-time blues!
Similar to early morning reading, cuddling with your child and reading a book helps ease them into wakefulness again. A healthy snack or drink also helps gently raise blood sugar and mood so they are cheerful after reading together.
Reading Before Bed
If you’re looking for the best time to read to your time, science has concluded that reading before bed is the best time to read with your child. In one study, reading at bedtime significantly lengthened total nighttime sleep duration. If there’s one thing parents want, it’s for their kids to sleep deeper and longer!
With sleepiness to keep them relaxed and fighting sleepiness to keep them alert and engaged, reading at bedtime gives you the best bang for your buck. Reading with your child before bed helps establish a stable routine, promotes bonding, and gets them into a sleepy state of mind to fall asleep–and stay asleep!
Crestwood Preschool Academy is proud to offer an outstanding educational and fun curriculum that prepares your child for kindergarten per state academic standards.
Contact Crestwood Preschool Academy today if you’re looking to give your child a head start in school!