Keep Summer Fun, Interesting and Full of Learning

Most of us can’t wait till summer and once it arrives, we wonder what in the world are we going to do with our kids while we work, attend classes, and manage the household. If your normal child care arrangement isn’t a year-round program, hopefully you have already arranged for summer care through a child care program, camp or with a nanny.

Regardless, we have some ideas on how you can keep your children busy learning and having fun this summer.

Field Trips:

  • Plan a weekly (or biweekly) trip to the library.

  • Park meet-ups with other families and classmates in the mornings or afternoons when it is cooler.

  • Free family museum days!

  • Visit your local fire station. Bake some cookies to take with you.

  • Take advantage of your local attractions: zoos, botanical gardens, puppet shows and theatrical productions for children, and movies.

  • Cuddle and play with some cats and dogs in animal shelters.

  • Virtual field trips such as the Underground Railroad and the White House.

Summer Learning:

  • Stock an area with plenty of writing and art materials.

  • Create sicker stories.

  • Go on a word hunt.

  • Use chalk in the driveway or on sidewalks to help teach shapes, colors and numbers.

  • Make a “feelings” book to teach your child about emotions.

  • Make screen time count by watching a learning show like “Magic School Bus Rides Again” or playing new games from learning apps WITH your child.

  • Designate one day each week for your child to help you cook a meal. Use recipes, measurements and safe kitchen tools.

If you have not confirmed a child care plan yet this summer, it is not too late. While there may be many camps and programs full, there are resources to help you find just what you are looking for whether it is full-time or occasional care.

Child Care Resources:

Field Trip and Education Resources:

What Should Parents Know About Childhood Mental Health?

Children’s emotions are mercurial, changing from one moment to the next and their behaviors follow suit. Young children respond to emotional and traumatic events very different than older children and adults which makes it hard to distinguish the difference between typical child development behaviors and ones that are cause for concern.

While some children are born with mental health issues, others that have been frequently exposed to traumatic circumstances and toxic stress such as family stress, prolonged poverty, poor child care conditions, abuse, chronic neglect, domestic violence, or parental mental health or substance abuse problems are very vulnerable. Because the early brain is developing at a faster rate than any other period, these negative life events can cause mental health problems to emerge quickly after they have happened or later in life.

What Are Childhood Mental Health Disorders and Symptoms?
Occasional challenging behaviors, while frustrating, do not indicate a mental disorder. However, children can show clear characteristics of anxiety disorders, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, conduct disorder, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and neurodevelopmental disabilities, such as autism, at a very early age. 

Parents and care givers should pay attention to serious changes in the way their child typically learns, behaves, handles their emotions and interacts with others during their day. Here are some behaviors to keep an eye on:

  • How do they play with friends or while alone?

  • Changes in appetite or sleep.

  • Repeated thoughts of death.

  • Any changes in speaking?

  • Signs of being upset, like sadness, crying easily and often, and loss of joy.

  • Once they are bothered, do they have a hard time rebounding and getting through the rest of their day?

  • Are they having problems in more than one setting, such as at school and at home?

  • Exhibiting behaviors associated with younger children, such as sucking their thumb or bedwetting.

  • Self-destructive behavior or talk of hurting others.

Toxic stress and other mental health issues, if not treated early, can impair a child’s self-esteem, their relationships with peers, school readiness, academic achievement, physical and mental health, as well as later cause them to make unhealthy life decisions and repeat some of the same behaviors with their own children.

Provide a Positive Environment for Your Child’s Mental Growth
The science around a child’s brain and development indicate that the foundation for positive mental health is formed early in life based on relationships with parents, caregivers, family members and peers. Here’s a few ways to help build sound mental health in your child:

  • Frequently demonstrate that you love your child and tell them “I love you” often.

  • Teach your child about compassion, and exemplify it in front of them.

  • Be understanding in situations with your child and others, and help them to learn patience and understanding with others.

  • Establish trust with your child at an early age.

More information:

Experiential Learning Supports Your Child’s Development

Movement is as critical for brain development as it is for gross and fine motor skill development. Since memory and movement are linked, the more times your child experiences specific activities they are also learning about skilled movements such as holding their own bottle or how to open and close a door.

From birth, you can help your child with their mental and physical development by providing them with a safe place to move and experience their surroundings and senses. The more free-movement (rolling, scooting, running, skipping, hopping, etc.)  children have, the better for the development of their frontal cortex which is the location of higher order thinking.

How Can You Encourage Your Child to Move?

Infants:

  • Parents and caregivers should interact with babies often. For example: touching their baby’s faces and hands, guiding the baby’s hands to touch the parent’s face, gently moving their legs like a bicycle, etc.

  • Give your baby daily tummy time. Place toys just out of their reach to encourage them to stretch and begin to crawl.

  • Hang interesting and colorful mobiles in their crib that has your baby wanting to reach or kick towards it.

  • Play music and dance with your baby.

Toddlers:

  • Don’t try to restrict their movement. They need to try a variety of activities that help them learn gross motor skills. For example: play catch with a soft, small ball, let them kick a soccer ball around the house or outside, help them roll on big yoga balls while on their tummy, and etc.

  • Big building blocks, stacking cones and rings, and large floor puzzles are good for both fine and gross motor skills as well as creativity and problem-solving.

  • Find activities that promote cross lateral movement, such as hand clap games that stretch from one side of the body to the other or kicking a ball with alternating feet. These activities work both sides of the body evenly and involve coordinated movements of both eyes, hands, and feet.

Preschoolers:

  • Challenge your preschoolers to contests: hopping, balancing on one foot, crab-walking, etc.

  • The park can be a great place to encourage more activity such as dribbling a ball or hanging upside down on monkey bars.

  • Preschoolers love rough-and-tumble play like wrestling and climbing on you.

More information:

Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS)

Movement Can Increase Learning in Children – Michigan State University

On the Move: Zero to Three

Spring Has Sprung So Shake Off the Winter Doldrums and Get Outside

Children of all ages love to play outdoors where they can run, spin, swing and be free. With the cooler temperatures fading, it’s the perfect weather to enjoy the sun – and even the rain – during the day.

Scraped knees, bumped heads and other mishaps are going to happen during playtime. But, with the tips below, we hope to help you address safety concerns and prevent serious injuries so that everyone has fun during outside play.

If you child attends a child care program, it’s always a good idea to inspect the outside play area. Other questions you can ask are:

  • How do the children travel to and from the play area?

  • Is the play area completely fenced in, with no holes or areas where children can squeeze through?

  • Are gate entrances secured while the children are in the play area?

  • How often is the play area and equipment inspected for damage or harmful objects?

  • How many children are allowed in the play area at one time, and what are their ages?

  • How many teachers supervise the children during play?

  • Is there a first aid kit stocked and available for the play space?

  • When traveling to nearby parks, do children need to cross a road? If so, how do the teachers handle this and what are the children taught?

General Tips for Parents and Caregivers for Outdoor Safety:

  • Never leave children alone outside.

  • Establish a play area and rules: Stay away from the street; grab an adult if a ball rows into a street or out of the play area; never wander off alone; tell an adult if they need to use the restroom; never eat anything, like berries, plants or mushrooms found outside; and, always stay in sight of their caregiver.

  • Check the outside play area regularly to look for any broken equipment, sharp branches or glass, trash, animal wastes, and etc.

  • If the playground has slides, check the temperature on the slide surface before allowing your child to go down it to prevent burns.

  • Keep sand boxes securely covered to keep animals out.

  • When riding on anything with wheels – scooters, tricycles, bikes, skates and skateboards – always wear a helmet in good condition and safety pads as needed.

  • Never leave a child alone during any kind of water play, even with a water bucket or table. It only takes a few inches of water for a child to drown.

  • Keep your children hydrated. Lots of water for drinking!

  • Apply sunblock liberally.

  • Use bug spray to help keep mosquitos and ticks away.

More information:

Playground Safety from KidsHealth

The National Safety Council

Grow Your Own Healthy Eater

Keeping food and all meal time experiences positive help your children be more willing to try food and become adventurous eaters. Experts say that children often develop picky eating by modeling their parents’ fussy eating habits or when parents create a negative eating environment by using food to reward, punish or bribe a child. Some children are naturally more sensitive to taste, smell and texture. However, even if they do not like a food once, you should keep serving it to them at least another 10 - 12 times.

Just remember, you are in charge of buying – or growing – the food and control what, where and when food is provided. Involving your child in some of the decision making, such as picking out a vegetable to go with your dinner or a fruit for the week’s snack, as well as letting them help in the preparation and cooking of food could entice them to be more willing to eat those foods.

It’s the same with creating a garden. Let them help you grow some food your entire family can enjoy. The garden can be as small or as big as you want it, and in the ground, containers or a garden box. Let the planning process be something that you do with your child, including the decision to grow from seeds or plants purchased from your local nursery or farmers market. Once you have your basic plan together, you need to figure out what you want to grow. Tomatoes, blue berries, spinach? Be sure to pick one or two items that you want your child to try and some that you know they already like.

There are many resources on the Web to help you figure out exactly what will grow best in your garden and how to maintain it. During your planning, be sure to think about garden maintenance as well so they can learn how to take care of the garden – watering, weeding and spacing – as well as watch the veggies and fruits grow. If you grow your garden without pesticides, some of the fun will be picking and eating straight from the plant!

Tips for gardening with children:

  • Be patient. They will want to play in the dirt, look at the seeds or feel the plants, and spill the water before it gets to the garden. They’ll surely pick a green tomato too.

  • Explain what you are doing in easy to understand words and have them mimic your actions when planting and harvesting.

  • Make your planting rows obvious to deter your child from walking on or digging in areas where new plants are starting to grow.

  • Stay realistic about what your helper can and will do. While they can help with most everything, their attention span will not be as long as yours so once they help for a bit, it’s okay for them to wander off to play.

  • Read books about gardening and different types of gardens: urban gardens, country gardens, sensory gardens, flower gardens, etc.

  • Take trips to botanical gardens, local farmers gardens, and dairy farms.

  • Eat what you grow and make sure that they see you eating it too.

Resources:

Making Early Literacy Fun

Language and literacy development start at birth, and is largely dependent on your child’s everyday interactions. The more time you and others -- such as grandparents, siblings, and child care providers -- spend singing, talking, telling stories and reading to them, the better their skills will be.

Simple things like a walk along your street or a trip to the grocery store can turn into a vocabulary lesson: point out colors in leaves or fruit, make up a silly song about vegetables or count cars. It all helps your child learn words and their concepts while having fun or just having mom or dad’s attention.

Early literacy looks different at six months than it does at six years. However, it’s important to know that it is never too early to start. The goal at the earliest ages, and every age, is for your child to have positive experiences and learn to love books, music and learning so that they want to keep learning. Help make the development of language and literacy skills fun and enjoyable to help set the stage for the later years.

Here are some ideas:

  • Fingerplay is brief stories that are often rhymes that use finger movements to help tell the story. Think of “Eensy-Weensy Spider,” “Where is Thumbkin?” and even “The Wheels on the Bus” to help you realize what fingerplay is. You can even make up your own stories with fingerplay, and should encourage your child to help act it out with you. Search the Web for more fingerplay activities or ask a librarian for book suggestions.

  • Play word and sound games that help your child understand that letters make different sounds that can be put together to create new words. For instance, if they like to say baa-baa, change the letters to make it la-la, then ma-ma and ha-ha. Have them repeat it back to you. Try pairing your game with an alphabet book or cards.

  • Scribbling, drawing or writing? Well, before young children can learn to write they begin scribbling, which shows that they understand that making marks on a page has meaning. The marks often turn into a story they created, then pictures that you can more easily identify and eventually into words. Help your toddler through this process by having plenty of engaging materials (crayons, markers, paints and paper) available.

Resources: