Give your students a summer packet to help prevent the summer slide. Keep reading for some ideas of what to include.
Why Give a Summer Packet?
Keeping our students’ brains fresh and active prevents them from forgetting what they have worked hard to learn throughout the year (also called the summer slide or summer learning loss).
Summer packets can provide different activity ideas or challenges for students to complete.
What is a Summer Packet?
There are many variations of summer packets. Each teacher will put together a different packet for their students.
Summer packets usually have concepts worked on throughout the year so that the concepts can be reviewed.
Summer packets should be a mixture of worksheets and student activities or challenges.
Having lists of activities will save you paper and provide more hours of learning for students (and most are more excited about activities than worksheets).
Keep In Mind…
Each student comes from a different family background.
Some families will have a cabinet of art and science supplies readily available; some may not.
If certain items are needed for an activity that isn’t common, you may not want to include them on the list.
Furthermore, some students will be completing the packets independently.
Try to keep summer packets reasonably independent.
Adult help may be required for some activities (getting supplies for science experiments, etc.)
Stress to your students that they need to ask an adult before doing some things (STEM challenges, art projects, etc.)
Things to Put in a Summer Packet
Handwriting Practice
Every student could use more practice with their handwriting.
Handwriting sheets are a great way to give your kids an activity in the summer packet that they already know how to do and that they don’t need help with.
Both cursive and printing can be practiced in a summer packet.
Check out these handwriting practice sheets to add to your summer packet.
In addition, there are options for fun facts handwriting practice and growth mindset practice sheets.
Writing Prompts
Provide your students with some Would You Rather or other writing prompts so they can continue practicing writing.
Math Practice Problems
Something as simple as a math matching game may entice some of your students to practice their math skills.
Leftover worksheets or end-of-chapter reviews can easily be added to summer packets.
Color-by-number sheets are a fun math practice addition to the summer packets.
List of Science Experiments or STEM Challenges
Spark your little scientists’ interests with a list of science experiments that are easy to do at home with household supplies.
A list of STEM Challenges that use household items helps your students think outside the box, even during the summer.
In addition, we have many posts about STEM activities and challenges.
Check them out here for ideas on what to include in the summer packets.
Art Activities
Create a list of activities or crafts for your students to do.
Physical Fitness Challenges
Give your students physical fitness challenges like playing outside each day, creating an obstacle course, seeing how many times you can hop on one foot, etc.
Social Studies Research Project
Provide a research outline or thinking map in the summer packets to encourage your students to research a new place or event.
Reading BINGO
Put a blank BINGO board in the summer packets. Put some ideas for filling in the board based on different reading challenges on the bottom of the board.
Some ideas are read: a historical fiction book, a graphic novel, a new genre, a picture book, to an animal or stuffie, a series, etc.
Your students’ abilities will change what you include on your BINGO board.
You can also print out this Reading BINGO Game to make things easier!
Summer Learning Packets
Keep your students learning throughout the summer by giving them summer learning packets.
Although you can’t make them complete the packet (in most cases), you are providing them with things to make them successful and prevent boredom.