(Image by Matthew Henry from Burst)

School’s out and summer is finally here.  You may be ready to empty the school backpack and forget about it for a while.  Not so fast – instead create a summer funpack that your kids can take with them to keep reading and writing all summer long.  

Fill this funpack with fun stuff they can use while on the go.  Put in their favorite books and some new ones, kid’s magazines, and joke books.  Add some plastic letters, small notebooks and funky pencils, a baggie of sidewalk chalk, a paint brush, some plastic eggs, and don’t forget the sunglasses!  

Now you’re ready to take it with you to the beach, the pool club, or for a trip to the park.  Every so often, take a break, have a seat and sit together and read, spell words with the letters and chalk, write notes, paint words with water on sidewalks and driveways, play reading and spelling games like Sight Word Hopscotch, and put words inside the eggs and hide them for the kids to find, read, and write.  You can also spell words in sand, act out a story, talk about the books, and do other fun activities to keep them interested.

The idea is to keep them reading and writing all summer long.  So next time you’re planning that day trip for sun and fun, bring along some FUN in your very own summer funpack!