Strategies to Continue Education Throughout Summer Break

Summer is synonymous with relaxation and fun. But did you know that it can also be a time for “summer slide”? That’s right! Summer slide is a real thing, and it’s not the fun kind with water and a swimming pool. Instead, it’s a term educators use to describe the learning loss that can occur when school is out. But fear not, dear parents! This guide is packed with educational activities for kids to keep their minds sharp and ready for the next school year. So, let’s dive in!

Explaining the “Summer Slide” Phenomenon

Before we delve into combating it, let’s understand what the summer slide is. It refers to the loss of academic skills and knowledge over the course of summer vacation. Simply put, when kids take a break from educational activities, their learning momentum can slide backward. But don’t worry, with the right strategies and resources, you can turn the summer slide into a summer rise with these educational activities for kids.

Ideas for Educational Day Trips

Day trips are a wonderful way to sneak in some education without your kids even realizing it. Museums, zoos, botanical gardens, and historical sites are rich with learning opportunities. Imagine your child exploring dinosaurs at a natural history museum or learning about different ecosystems at a botanical garden! Not only do these trips provide educational value, but they also create unforgettable family memories.

Online Resources and Educational Websites

Thanks to technology, learning can happen anytime, anywhere. Numerous online resources offer interactive and fun educational activities for kids. Websites like Khan Academy, National Geographic Kids, and Funbrain offer free content that can supplement your child’s learning in a variety of subjects. These platforms turn learning into an exciting game that your child would love to play.

Numerous online resources provide interactive and engaging educational content that your child can access right from home. Here are some top-rated websites that offer free educational activities for kids:

1. Khan Academy – A non-profit educational organization that offers free courses in math, science, computer programming, history, art history, and economics.
2. National Geographic Kids – Engages kids in the wonders of science, nature, culture, archaeology through games, videos, and interactive activities.
3. Funbrain – Provides hundreds of free interactive games, books, videos, and printables that help kids develop skills in math, reading, problem-solving, and literacy.
4. Starfall – Focuses on reading, phonics, and math – educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-3.
5. Coolmath – An amusement park of math and more… lessons and games designed to make math fun for kids.

Incorporating Learning into Daily Activities

Everyday activities can be an unexpected source of learning opportunities. Cooking together can be a practical math lesson, while grocery shopping can become an exercise in budgeting and nutrition. Even gardening can teach about science and the environment. Get creative and turn daily chores into educational activities!

Reading Lists by Age Group

Reading is a superb way to prevent summer slide. Create a reading list appropriate for your child’s age and interests. You could even form a small book club with their friends to make reading more social and fun. Not only will this improve their language and comprehension skills, but it also fosters a love for reading that could last a lifetime.

Promoting a love for reading is a fantastic way to prevent summer slide. To help you navigate the vast world of children’s literature, here are some great websites that provide book reviews and reading lists categorized by age group:

1. Common Sense Media – Offers reliable book reviews, age ratings, and content analysis. You can sort by age, genre, book type, and more.
2. A Mighty Girl – The world’s largest collection of books, toys, and movies for smart, confident, and courageous girls. A perfect resource if you are raising a mighty girl!
3. Guys Read – A web-based literacy program for boys to help them become self-motivated, lifelong readers. You’ll find tons of book recommendations here.
4. Book Trust – This UK based site offers a book-a-day recommendation, with comprehensive reviews and age suitability.
5. The Children’s Book Review – Reviews and categorizes children’s books for enthusiastic readers, teachers, and parents.

Remember, the goal is to make reading fun and enjoyable, so let your child choose books that pique their interest. After all, a child who loves to read is a child ready to learn!

Conclusion

In summary, these five effective strategies will help prevent the summer slide and keep your child learning throughout the summer. Remember, learning doesn’t have to be boring or feel like a chore. With the right educational activities for kids, you can turn summer into a season of discovery and growth. So let’s beat the summer slide and slide into the new school year, ready and excited for more learning!

Which is better: video games or books? The conversation presented to parents often pits these two hobbies against each other. They’re in an epic battle, dueling for your child’s attention, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. You want to see your kid succeed and have a wonderful childhood with a balance between education and fun. You can have both for your family. The secret is to make learning fun.

Now, most kids will only do additional homework mandated by their teacher, but as parents, we can make learning fun! You know your kid best. You know what they’re passionate about. You’ve spent hours trapped inside a Minecraft conversation, struggling to understand what’s even going on. In a desperate attempt for five minutes of silence, you hand over the video game controller only to wrestle with mom guilt later for not handing them a book.

Ditch that mom guilt! GameTruck has your back. Maybe you have an avid reader looking for a fun, new genre. Perhaps you have a kiddo struggling to engage with reading as books are “boring.” No matter which group you find yourself in, we’ve got a list of action-packed and educational video game books for kids to hold you over till your next GameTruck party. Utilize this list to help immerse your child into the reading world.

A Hole New World

Age: 8-12

Summary: Minecraft-inspired YouTube star PopularMMOs brings everyone’s favorite characters to life in a thrilling adventure to save their friend, battle the undead, and escape the hole new world they’ve crashed into with one unfortunate misstep.

All things considered, A Whole New World is a great video game book for kids that combines their favorite streamers, video game settings, and an action-packed story!

Ava in Codeland

Age: 4-8

Summary: A little girl must use her coding skills to save her video-game home in this adorable debut picture book. Ava thinks living in a video game is pretty cool. She and her cat, Pixels, spend their days riding breakfast rollercoasters and heading to underwater discos. And if something isn’t exactly perfect, Ava can reprogram the world to be just the way she likes it. But then the game’s villain, Max Hacksalot, comes along on his magical pirate unicorn and breaks all of Ava’s code.

In short, Ava in Codeland is a wonderful video game book for kids that features girls within the gaming and STEM space.

Glitch

Age: 8-12

Summary: Izzy has an incredible secret – she can enter the world of her new video game! She meets Rae, a robot who says Izzy is destined to save Dungeon City from the Big Boss. How is this possible?! And how can she fight for this virtual world when she’s got a whole real life to keep up with: her family (though she could do without her mom’s annoying cat), and her best friend, Eric. Things get even weirder when Izzy loses a life while inside the game, and she starts to worry about what might happen if she gets a Game Over for good. Meanwhile, Eric has been super upset with Izzy since she’s been keeping secrets and bailing on their plans. Can Izzy survive Dungeon City and save their friendship?

Altogether, Glitch is another video game book for kids that features a main female character and includes a virtual world within it’s pages.

The Boy Who Thought Outside the Box: The Story of Video Game Inventor Ralph Baer

Age: 5-10

Summary: Crazy about Wii, Nintendo, X-Box, and PlayStation? Meet the inventor whose work made them all possible: Ralph Baer, creator of the first home video game system! Today, the video game industry keeps growing, with ever more platforms available to fans. But how did the very first system come about? Read re. 

Finally, what separates this book from the others on this list, it that it is a historical non-fiction video game book for kids to educate on the history of gaming consoles, and hopefully, see themselves as being capable of achieving history too!

Excellent Ernesto Cousins 3/Wrestlevania

Age: 10-14

Summary: In this next installment of the new play-your-way adventure tale, players encounter a haunted arcade on a deserted boardwalk. Upon entering, the reader finds themself absorbed into one of two video games in which the reader determines the course of action, ultimately controlling whether they live . . . or die!

During a late-night stroll on your boring summer beach vacation, you discover a derelict video arcade managed by a ghostly attendant. Presented with a magical game token, you select one of two games you wish to play, the Excellent Ernesto Cousins 3 or Wrestlevania.

Once you place the token in the slot, you have to make choices to advance through the games, and your decisions control whether you beat the game–or die. Both games feature unique challenges and life-like game play that will delight readers, and the most important choice in either game for those now trapped inside them, is the one that will keep them alive.

The Hardy Boys: Trouble at the Arcade

Age: 6-9

Genre: Chapter Book

Summary: The first book in the chapter book refresh of the classic Hardy Boys series. In Trouble at the Arcade, nine-year-old Frank and eight-year-old Joe Hardy discover trouble lurking at the local arcade and decide they make pretty good detectives–just like their dad!

Since The Hardy Boys is a beloved classic series, it only makes sense to include it as a video game book for kids.

AlphaBit

Age: 2-4

Genre: Baby 

Summary: Inspired by classic video games of the ‘80s and ‘90s, this clever board book sets out to level up the ABCs. Within these pages lies an alphabet adventure, rendered entirely in striking 8-bit artwork. Young gamers will love guiding their daring hero through the story to learn new words, discover hidden pictures, and find the missing treasure in an epic quest that will have kids and adults ready to press restart!

Lastly, this fun book will help get toddlers, infants, and parents connecting over educational material presented in a fun video game book for kids!

Escape from a Video Game: The Secret of Phantom Island

Age: 8-12

Summary: Young gamers control the action in this interactive new series from the bestselling author of Trapped in a Video Game. With more than 30 endings and an unlockable bonus adventure, The Secret of Phantom Island promises hours of screen-free fun.

Cooper Hawke and the Secret of Phantom Island is the greatest video game nobody has ever played. The treasure-hunting adventure was supposed to set a new standard for gaming. Then, just one month before its release date, it fell off the face of the earth. Now, for the first time, you get a chance to play the mysterious game–from the inside.

As you outsmart enemies, solve puzzles, and explore the island’s hidden areas, you’ll discover that there’s more to this game than the world realized. Escape from a Video Game is an innovative pick-your-plot story that promises two adventures for the price of one! The main adventure builds critical thinking skills by rewarding young readers for solving puzzles and making sound choices with non-stop action and huge plot twists.

Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior

Age: 7-12

Summary: Book 1 of the international best-selling 8-Bit Warrior series that introduces the journal of Runt, a young Minecraft villager who dares to dream of becoming a Minecraft warrior! The first volume of this best-selling unofficial Minecraft adventure series begins with Runt, our 12-year-old hero, about to choose his future vocation at the Minecraftia school. His options are less than thrilling: farmer, crafter, miner. But what this noob really wants is to be a warrior like his hero, Steve. So when he learns that the five best students in school that year will get the chance to start warrior training, it’s ON.

Game Over, Super Rabbit Boy!

Age: 5-7

Summary: Pick a book. Grow a Reader!This series is part of Scholastic’s early chapter book line, Branches, aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. 

Super Rabbit Boy is the strongest, bravest, fastest animal in all the land. . .and he’s also the star in a video game! Animal Town is in trouble! Meanie King Viking has created a dreaded robot army to spread No Fun across the land. On top of that, he has stolen the happiest and most fun animal ever, Singing Dog. There is only one person who can save the day – Super Rabbit Boy!

Code It! Create It!: Ideas and Inspiration for Coding

Age: 8-12

Summary: Girls can design the perfect coding-powered project for themselves in this informative, interactive book published in partnership with the nonprofit organization Girls Who Code that guides readers through the brainstorming process, provides inspiration, and teaches basic coding concepts. Illustrations.

Secret Coders

Age: 8-11

Summary: Welcome to Stately Academy, a school which is just crawling with mysteries to be solved! The founder of the school left many clues and puzzles to challenge his enterprising students. Using their wits and their growing prowess with coding, Hopper and her friend Eni are going to solve the mystery of Stately Academy no matter what it takes!

Slacker 

Age: 9-12

Summary: Cameron Boxer is very happy to spend his life avoiding homework, hanging out with his friends, and gaming for hours in his basement. It’s not too hard for him to get away with it . . . until he gets so caught up in one game that he almost lets his house burn down around him. Oops. It’s time for some serious damage control – so Cameron and his friends invent a fake school club that will make it seem like they’re doing good deeds instead of slacking off. The problem? Some kids think the club is real – and Cameron is stuck being president.

Escape the Underdark

Age: 8-12

Summary: You awaken in an underground cell, stripped of your armor and your sword. Your fellow prisoners inform you that you’re trapped in the Underdark, soon to be taken to the great drow city of Menzoberranzan and sold off as a slave. But word is that demons are stirring in the underworld’s depth. Perhaps you can use that to break free, fighter.

Arcade World: Dino Trouble

Age: 5-8

Summary: Two best friends in a town taken over by video games have to outsmart digital dinosaurs in the first book in the Arcade World graphic novel chapter book series. Life in Normal used to be, well, pretty normal. Kids went to school. Kids did their homework and chores after school. And then kids met up at the local arcade, called Arcade World. Arcade World was the weirdest, coolest place. It had a collection of video games that no one had ever heard of, like Dino Trouble or Hot Dog Time. And no one held more high scores than Travis Better and Journey West. But one day, the video games in Arcade World came alive. Now, there’s a whole new normal in town–as Normal becomes a dangerous Arcade World.

In conclusion, it’s not video games versus books. Just like GameTruck parties, video game books are the cool new thing! Both avid and “books are boring” readers are bound to find a book for gamers like themselves, and don’t be afraid to pick one of these up for yourself too! Happy reading! 

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The school bell has finally rung to welcome a new academic year. While the kids are busy during the week, what about the weekends? Do you need family-focused activities? Then this is for you! Just because school is here doesn’t mean the fun has to stop. A season change shouldn’t stop the creation of family memories. Whether you’re spontaneous or a planner, this list has affordable ideas for both types of people. 

• Chili Cook-off – Kids Help Make
  • Gather your friends and family for a fun dinner or lunch together! Break out your best chili recipe for a chili cook-off. Have your kids help you prepare and cook the meal. This delicious idea will help kids learn valuable life skills such as cooking, washing dishes, following a recipe, and serving others. 
  • Additional note: instead of a competition, you could ask everyone to make a different type of chili. Someone could make a hot chili while another makes a sweet chili that way, everyone is bound to have one that they will like.

• Host a cookout or fall party!
  • Host a cookout or fall party – imagine being able to have adult conversations in peace and quiet. Imagine us “old people” beating the kids in laser tag or having your kid teach you about their favorite new video game they’ve been dying to get. This is a GameTruck party. We offer more than just video games, gelly ball, and laser tag; we strive to build belonging and community through memorable play. Let us help you host a fantastic cookout or fall party that everyone will love! 

• Art Project – Pumpkin Art or Wreath Making
  • Help your kids get crafty this season with different art projects! From pumpkin art to wreath making to candle making, there are many crafts to prepare for fall. Pumpkin art is an excellent idea for when you need a cheap, unplanned activity for the kids to do. All you need are pumpkins of any size and paint supplies. You’ll have cute decorations unique to your family when they’re done. 

• Play Video Games
  • If your child is a gamer, this idea will make their week! Embrace your inner nerd and pick up a controller. Have your child teach you how to play their favorite game. Allow them to assume the role of a teacher as they show you how to play the game. Gaming with your child builds memories both in and outside the video game and can generate fun conversations with your kid. Even if you’re not the best gamer, they will appreciate the effort and bonding time over something they love with you. 

• Thrifted Costume 
  • Have some family fun with thrifty at your favorite second-hand stores. This idea is great for creating fun memories, affordability, and spontaneous Ness. Before you start, decide on a budget. How much is each person allowed to spend on their costume? Next, decide if you want to do special categories like the 80s or leave it open for imagination. Then head to your favorite stores. Be sure to take lots of pictures to post on social media to have friends and family vote for the costume they think is the best and the silliest. 

Just because school is back in session does not mean the fun has to stop. Dedicate a weekend or multiple ones to trying something on this list!

Have your next party with GameTruck here! Checkout more fun activities for your family on GameTruck!