Ah, summer vacation! School is out, schedules are a bit looser, and everyone is ready for a change. Summer is a great time to introduce writing and reading activities to keep your student's skills sharp. Take advantage of these fun ideas to encourage your child to write and read:


1. Go on a nature walk with your child and have him bring a sketchbook. Encourage him to draw sketches of insects, flowers, and other things he observes, writing the names of them under the sketch. It is interesting for kids to read their notes later.

2. Start a garden and have your child keep notes about the vegetable or flower varieties you planted.

3. Encourage your child to write letters to pen pals, relatives, or friends.

4. Let your child make up a treasure or scavenger hunt, complete with written clues and a map.

5. Show your child how to keep a scrapbook of summer activities and write captions under the photos.

6. Get a pad of Mad Libs and have fun filling in the words and reading them to each other.

7. Help your child write and "publish" a book of poems or stories to share with friends and relatives.

8. Ask your child to design and write the invitations to a summer party or family barbecue.

9. Write a note for your child to discover. Put it under his pillow, in his backpack, or next to his dinner plate.

10. Have your child write a play to perform with friends.

11. Cut individual words out of a newspaper or old magazine. Arrange them into sentences with your child.

12. Give your child the important job of creating weekly shopping lists or menus for the family.

13. Get a box of colored chalk and have fun writing messages on the sidewalk with your child.

14. Have your child write out his favorite recipes on index cards to create a "personal favorites" recipe collection. Then make the dishes together.

15. Play a rhyming game together in which you give your child a simple word, like "bad." He goes through the alphabet and writes down all the words he can think of that rhyme with that word. This game can also be played verbally and is great for long car rides.

16. Make a copy of the first paragraph or two of your child's favorite story. Then cut out each sentence, mix them up, and have your child put the story back together.

17. Clip out a comic strip. White out the words, and let your child create new dialogue for the characters.

18. Have your child invent a new animal, draw a picture of it, and write about it. He can describe what it looks and sounds like, what it eats, where it lives, and so on.

19. Play Boggle, Scrabble, or Upwords together.

20. Have your student randomly select ten words from the dictionary or old spelling lists and shape a poem around those words.

21. Plan a trip. Look up books at the library and map out the route.

Add some of these activities to your calendar for the months of June, July and August. Enjoy!