School’s out for summer! But…the learning (and teaching) doesn’t stop! Many of you will be busy tutoring, teaching summer school, or challenging your own children at home. There are plenty of fun and easy ways to prevent the summer slide and ensure that students stay engaged, review previous skills, and learn new skills this summer. These summer activities are no prep for you so you can still have time to relax and enjoy the summer!
Speaking of sitting back to relax and enjoying your summer, I have just the thing that will save you time (and money). Give ETTC Premium a try this summer and scroll and save all of the activities you want to use this next school year. Better yet, join as an annual member and you can bundle your own personalized packets of materials for this next school year. Put the pages you need in a packet and save the files to your computer.
Summer Activity 1. Scavenger Hunt
Students love to get outside and explore in the summer. Encouraging students to go on a nature scavenger hunt is a fantastic way to inspire curiosity and build vocabulary this summer. When outside completing the scavenger hunt, students build teamwork, investigation, and science skills. After the scavenger hunt, ask students questions about other things they noticed outside or have them create their own scavenger hunt for a friend!
Summer Activity 2. Compound Words
Teaching students compound words builds their vocabulary and helps them build their confidence when spelling. A compound words summer activity encourages practice with important literacy skills. This fun cut and glue activity is always a favorite as students match the correct picture with the word.
Activity 3. Comparing Shapes
When students learn about 2D and 3D shapes, it helps them build awareness and understanding of the world around them. A 2D and 3D Shape Comparing activity helps students identify and organize information and objects. This coloring activity is great to use as a review. Talk about and discuss the characteristics of the different shapes as you complete it together.
Summer Activity 4. Two-Digit Addition
As students learn addition, they develop a better understanding of the relationships between numbers and understand how quantities relate to each other. Students often need extra practice as they build their addition fluency. A Three in a Row Addition Game is a great way to keep students engaged while learning and practicing addition skills.
Summer Activity 5. Number Sets
Teaching number sets to students helps them practice one-to-one correspondence and to understand the relationship between numbers and quantities. Using small objects, such as erasers, is a fun way to turn the Making Number Sets 1 – 20 counting activity into a hands-on resource! Another option is to place the paper in a dry-erase sleeve for students to use over and over again with a dry-erase marker. This will help build counting and number sense skills!
Activity 6. Design a Sign
Students love to be creative in the summer! A Design a Yard Sign activity is a great way to incorporate independent thinking and creativity into summer learning. Encourage students to consider ideas and concepts that are meaningful to them and maybe even conduct a little research to create an informational sign! Allowing students to have a choice when selecting their topic builds their independence and increases participation and engagement.
Summer Activity 7. Gross Motor
Research shows that movement improves focus, creativity, and mood. Incorporating movement activities into summer learning is beneficial for students and can improve learning outcomes. Gross Motor Challenges are an exciting way for students to be active and have fun together. Extend this summer movement activity by sharing corresponding animal facts when completing each movement.
Summer Activity 8. Comparing Numbers
When students compare numbers, they build their number sense. Activities that encourage students to compare numbers help them understand the relationship between numbers and their values. Using the alligator mouths on a Comparing Numbers summer activity helps students visualize the comparison of the numbers.
Activity 9. Graphing and Tally Marks
Graphs help students organize and compare information. Teaching students to create and analyze graphs is an important math skill. As students complete a Graphing and Tally Marks activity, they build a foundation for more complex math skills.
Summer Activity 10. Opinion Writing
Students love to share their thoughts and ideas during the school year. So, of course, they love to do this in the summer as well! A Summer Opinion Writing activity encourages students to think through their thoughts and provide reasoning for their responses. Teaching writing to students helps them share their ideas and thoughts with others.
Summer Activity 11. Word Scramble
A summer word scramble is a fun way for students to build problem-solving, vocabulary, and phonics skills. The illustration portion of this activity provides students with a creative outlet and encourages higher-level thinking skills. Encourage students to use the summer words in a sentence or a story after completing the word scramble!
Activity 12. Flower Parts
Summer is the perfect time to teach students about plants and flowers. A flower parts and needs activity is a great way to introduce a flower unit or review content that was taught during the school year. You might even consider planting some seeds with your students and encouraging them to build their observation and investigation skills while watching the seeds grow!
Summer Activity 13. Time Capsule
Create a time capsule with your students that allows them to share some information about themselves! This activity encourages creativity and individuality while also allowing students to get to know each other during summer school.
Summer Activity 14. Bar Graph
Teaching students how to create and analyze bar graphs allows them to compare sets of data. Create a bar graph of delicious summer treats. Students will love to talk about and share their opinions of the best summer treats after completing this activity!
Activity 15. Digraph Maze
Review and practice digraphs with a fun spelling maze! This is a great summer activity to complete individually and then check with a partner. Using a maze or game to practice phonics skills this summer is a fun way to keep students engaged.
Summer Activity 16. Choice Board
A Science Choice Board encourages students to use independent thinking and also keeps them interested in what they are learning! It can be difficult to keep students focused on learning in the summer, but when they are given choices, they take ownership of their learning and want to participate in activities.
Summer Activity 17. Letter Writing
Encouraging students to write letters improves their language and communication skills. A Letter For You activity encourages students to reflect on their previous school year. Writing this letter gives students an opportunity to share ideas and experiences from their year while providing advice to the incoming students for next year.
Activity 18. Capitalization
It’s important that students understand and practice the rules of capitalization in order to make their writing clear and effective. It can be difficult for students to remember all the grammar rules, so practicing with a capitalization activity this summer is a great way to keep those skills sharp!
Summer Activity 19. Nouns and Verbs
Teaching students about nouns and verbs helps lay the foundation for sentence building, writing, and comprehension. Nouns and verbs are some of the basic building blocks of language and it’s important for students to be fluent in these two parts of speech. A nouns and verbs activity is a great way to review and assess students’ understanding of these concepts.
Activity 20. Summer STEM
A STEM activity with water is perfect for summer learning fun! In this Summertime STEM activity, students create the ideal water slide. The activity encourages higher-level thinking, creativity, and critical thinking skills. Students will love to work with a team and share their creations with the rest of the class!
These summer activities for primary students are the perfect solution to use for teaching new concepts, continued practice, review, assessment, or homework. Use them in a way that works best for you and your students this summer.
Check out the complete assortment of summer activities included in each grade-level packet.
At ETTC, our goal is to support you every step of the way, all year long. That is why our resources don’t stop here.
You can continue to find monthly activities for the remainder of the year with our monthly packets for every single month. Monthly packets are available by the month or in Year Long Bundles.
Alternatively, you can explore our wide range of summer worksheets for even more choices.
Written By: Sarah Cason
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