While these everyday summer activities may not necessarily inspire idyllic childhood memories of summer, they will happily fill those long summer days spent at home. Work-at-home parents, in particular, need ideas for enjoyable summer activities that school-age kids can do on their own. If your kids are old enough to play outside unattended, don’t overlook outdoor fun like shooting a game of HORSE at the driveway basketball hoop or sending them out to play tag. Join the local library summer reading club. Try wordless books for new or struggling readers. Buy comics or magazines for your kids. Setting aside a certain time every day for reading helps get kids in the habit. Today it is easier than ever to download books to a phone, tablet or computer, but you can still do it the old-fashioned way and bring CDs home from the library. And don’t forget about podcasts, which can be even easier to access than audiobooks. Of course, there are puzzle apps and computer games as well, but, as with all electronics, parents need to keep an eye on the clock to be sure kids don’t get too much screen time. Working on it a little each day teaches your child how to manage long-term projects. The homework becomes an everyday summer activity rather than a monumental end-of-summer task. The purpose of summer homework is to keep kids’ skills sharp, so waiting until the end of summer may mean re-learning forgotten skills. Make a plan for summer homework early in the summer, and stick to it.
