5 Fun Ways to Stop the Summer Brain Drain
You may have heard of the Summer Brain Drain, or “summer slide”, the phenomenon where school-aged children not only stop learning new concepts but also lose much of what they learned during the previous school year while on summer break.
The two main learning categories that suffer the most are reading and math. Concepts learned in these subjects, especially in younger children, are more susceptible to loss without regular practice.
The good news: these basic skills are not hard to maintain nor difficult to keep teaching.
Through gameplay, children can remain engaged in reading and math over the summer and be fully prepared for the upcoming school year.
Check out these five fun games that will help build skills and curb academic decline without feeling like school is still in session.
Perfect for reinforcing sentence structure and vocabulary, this adorable game consists of rolling the dice to move a sheep and collect clover tiles. Use the words on the tiles to form silly sentences and earn points!
2-4 players • 30 min • 5 & up
Focus: Vocabulary
2. Spell Trek
Keep those spelling skills fresh while taking a road trip around the world! Players help animals find their missing vowels by using vowel tiles to complete word cards and continue around the game board.
2-4 players • 30 min • 6 & up
Skills: Vowels, Spelling
3. Letter Slide
This perfect summer game allows players to spell as many four-letter words as they can using either the first two or last two letters shown on the card that has been turned over. But hurry, time is running out! Be the first player to cover all the letter spaces on your slide board first to win.
2-4 players • 20 min • 7 & up
Focus: Spelling
4. Acorn Paws
Lend a paw and earn your share of acorns as the park squirrels gather all the loose acorns and divide them up! Players select cards from their hand trying to receive the most acorns from the day's collection. The player with the most acorns at the end of 7 rounds wins the game.
2-4 players • 15 min • 7 & up
Focus: Division
5. Grill Party
Learn “more than” and “less than” concepts by placing and swapping food pieces on the game grill to match situations on your food cards. Be the first to match all your cards to win. Perfect for the lazy days of Summer BBQ’s while reinforcing math skills.
2-5 players • 20–30 min • 8 & up
Focus: Algebra
Ready? Game on!
Games are a great way for kids to brush up on the basics while having fun at the same time. Whether it’s a game geared specifically toward refreshing kids’ math skills or an activity that helps them brush up on vocabulary, there are plenty of ways to keep kids learning and help them flex their brain power all summer long.
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