5 Ways to Engage Kids in Authentic Learning

Summer’s here which means it’s time to let the kids explore! 🌞 These 5 ways to engage kids in authentic learning are a great place to start.

As parents, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that kids need to spend summer on lessons that make sure they are academically “ready” for the next school year. While workbooks and lessons can be helpful to reinforce skills already taught, they should never overshadow the power of creativity, curiosity, and connection. Summer is a great time to teach through unstructured play, exploration, and social interaction.

Here are 5 ways to engage kids in authentic, real-world learning experiences:

🍳 Cook Together: Let kids get hands-on in the kitchen! Cooking teaches math (measurements), science (chemical reactions), sequential order, and patience. Plus, they get to enjoy a tasty treat at the end.

🎭 Create a Story or Play: Soak in a production after encouraging kids to write their own stories or put on a little play. This sparks imagination, builds language skills, allows them to understand different emotions, and gives them a chance to express themselves.

🌱 Gardening or Planting: Gardening connects kids with nature and helps them understand responsibility, patience, and the cycle of life. Plus, it’s a sensory activity that engages sight, touch, and smell.

🎨 DIY Creative Projects: From building a cardboard fort {my niece's favorite activity, as pictured} to making homemade slime to hammering together scrap material for a compost bin, hands-on projects stimulate problem-solving, imagination, and fine motor skills.

🤖 Explore STEM Activities: Build simple machines, conduct science experiments, or explore coding apps together. Hands-on STEM activities encourage critical thinking and problem-solving in a fun and engaging way.

Learning to collaborate, communicate, and empathize with others is just as important as academic knowledge.

Make sure to take time for lessons like these. They make learning fun while also building essential skills that will last a lifetime.