Summer break is right around the corner, and it’s time to think about how you can enjoy the summer season with your little ones. Whether you’re enjoying the benefits of summer camp or keeping your kids entertained from home, we’re here to give you some summer fun inspiration with these themed activities for you to try out this holiday season. After all, Parkland Children’s Academy is the most fun summer preschool in Parkland!
1. Ocean Bottles
With this engaging sensory activity, you can take the ocean home with you in a bottle! All you’ll need are a few plastic water bottles, some sand, blue food coloring, and some beads or small shells. Start by pouring some sand into the bottom of an empty water bottle and adding a few beads or shells on top. Mix some water with blue food coloring for a rich ocean-blue tone and top up the rest of the bottle with this water. You’ll want to leave a small gap for air at the top, but otherwise screw the cap on tight and you’re done! (For especially young ones, we recommend sealing the cap tightly with some hot glue.)
Children can tilt and shake the bottles, watching the beads and sand swirl and settle back into place. For a longer lasting swirl effect, you can mix half water and half clear glue instead. These sensory bottles are perfect for summer and make for a wonderful arts and crafts day when you decorate them!
2. Red, White & Blue Flowers
Young children, especially preschoolers, learn by seeing and doing rather than being told how things work. That’s why this fun science experiment is perfect for both summer education and for getting into the 4th of July spirit. All you need are some white daisies or chrysanthemums, red and blue food coloring, and some mason jars.
Cut the stem of each flower from the bottom up, leaving about an inch uncut at the top under the flower head. Mix food coloring and water in separate mason jars or cups and place them next to each other on the counter. Gently place one half of the stem in the blue color mix, and the other half of the stem in the red color mix. Now, all you have to do is wait! The petals should start changing color within the hour, but the longer you wait, the better the pigmentation will be.
3. Water Balloon Piñatas
On the hottest summer days, this fun water activity with keep your kids entertained and cooled down. You’ll need a toy baseball bat, some water balloons, and a length of string or twine. Fill up some water balloons and hang them around your yard with some twine. You can hang the water balloons from tree branches or washing lines— anywhere you have open! Once they’re set up, your child can enjoy bursting these balloon piñatas, and staying cool at the same time!
4. Sidewalk Chalk Jump
Nothing says summer like sidewalk chalk games on a sunny day, and these games are some of the easiest to set up. Aside from hopscotch and bean toss, you can also help your preschooler get comfortable with early numbers and letters. Write out some letters or numbers on the sidewalk, and you can play a jumping game! You say, “Jump on…” and then call out a letter or number to hop to. For some added difficulty for older kids, you can turn this into a Simon Says game!
5. Water Relay
This beach game is better played with friends, so it’s perfect for that summer day at the beach. Set up a few small buckets a short distance away from the water’s edge, one for each team. The object of the game is to fill your bucket with water by running to the sea and back, carrying water with each run. You can use anything as water carriers— large shells, a beach shovel, or plastic cups! Once someone has made the run back to the bucket, they can pass off their water carrier to the next person in their team. First team to fill their bucket wins!
Summer Preschool In Broward County
Looking for a summer preschool to keep the holidays fun? Here at Parkland Children’s Academy, we love to share the joy of summer both inside and outside the classroom. We run themed activities and games and have some fantastic field trip days planned for our summer camp. Contact us today to find out more about our engaging summer programs!