How to Keep Your Child’s Brain Active During Summer

 

Cook and bake. 

What better way to practice both your math and science skills than by making cookies? Think about the math required to follow detailed recipes for baked goods, or the potential to learn about time and temperature by simply setting the oven and timer? If you think about it, both cooking and baking are nothing more than a series of chemical reactions. During the summer months, I like to have a different child help me make dinner every night of the week. Not only does this give me one on one time with each of my children while teaching them how to cook, it also requires them to learn and/or use those math skills!

 

Have a reading hour. 

 Everybody needs a little down time every day (especially mom!), so it’s a great idea to have a designated reading hour to enjoy a good book. (I like the idea of using the hottest hours in the afternoon to go inside and take a siesta, but every family is different.) You can find endless book lists online to help you come up with a summer reading list for both you and your kids

 

Do science experiments.  

I love doing at-home science experiments. Our favorite one so far has been the classic mentos and diet coke explosion, but you can check out several websites or library books with other fantastic and easy ideas for learning in disguise.