A Guide to Remixing Your Kid’s Summer Schedule

After a long year of early morning alarm clocks, carpools, and after-school activities, summer is here! And while this school year was anything but normal, summer still represents a new sense of freedom from daily school schedules and morning routines. That’s why it’s important for your kids to maintain some type of structure for proper growth and development, even when they’re on summer break.

In your child’s eyes, the beginning of summer break might mean a total free-for-all where endless amounts of television, snacking, and unsupervised playtime are allowed. But, as a parent, it’s important to understand how providing your kid with direction can play a pivotal role in his or her mental stimulation and critical thinking abilities. While there are many resources out there about the importance of routines, we want to put our own spin on helping parents prepare their kid’s summer schedules.    

At Sphero, we want to ensure your kid has a ton of fun this summer away from the confines of the classroom. But we also know just how critical it is for your son or daughter to maintain a summertime schedule filled with brain-nurturing routines and captivating learning opportunities.

With this guide on how you can remix your kid’s summer schedule, you’ll be able to create a hands-on routine that incorporates fun activities, project-based learning, and a sense of freedom for both you and your child all summer long. 

Let’s dive in!

The Importance of Routines  

While summertime usually brings up visions of non-stop fun, the drastic transition from an everyday routine to complete freedom can leave your kid (and likely you) feeling anxious or stressed. For growing kids, regular routines and schedules are important, as knowing what to expect each day can help them feel a strong sense of security and boost their confidence and creativity. Plus, having a summertime routine in place will help to create a more seamless transition back into the classroom in the fall.

A Big Plus of Kid’s Routines: Parental Playtime

Not only does having a summertime schedule benefit your kids, but it also allows you to bake in time for yourself. From tackling a summer decluttering project to having quiet time to read a book, your kid’s summer schedule can accommodate your own summer fun, too.    

Establishing a Rhythm  

Creating a summer schedule isn’t about being overly strict or making your home feel like bootcamp. Instead, it’s about establishing a daily rhythm that helps you prioritize the hours in the day while giving your kid exciting events to look forward to.  

Keep in mind that making your kid’s summer schedule isn’t about mimicking their school environment, but rather about creating a constructive calendar that focuses on routine, learning, and fun.

The Best Summer Schedule for Kids  

From sunrise to sunset, a summer calendar will ensure your kid stays engaged while gaining fundamental life skills and enjoys whole-brain learning without leaning too heavily on screen time. With their schedule in hand, your son or daughter will be able to enjoy the comfort of a daily routine while feeling a sense of summertime freedom.

You can use the example below to get inspired about ways you can build a schedule for your own child: 

Summer Schedule Explained: Personal Choices 

Each day of the week, your child will get slots of time in which they can choose their own activity. From helping you cook their favorite meals in the kitchen to crafts, your kid will love picking their own adventures and look forward to the summer days ahead.   

Below are special types of activities your kid can choose from Monday through Friday, many of which include built-in bonding time and educational lessons:

Make a Difference Monday

Mondays are all about making a difference. Whether that’s helping out a neighbor, picking up litter, or doing something kind for a friend, your son or daughter can choose different ways to make the world a better place and pay it forward.

Tasty Tuesday

On Tuesdays, your kid can choose their favorite meal or tasty treat and help you cook it in the kitchen. From do-it-yourself ice cream sundaes to building their own sandwich masterpiece from scratch, your child can put on an apron and become your Sous Chef.

For more recipe-like ideas, be sure to check our STEM At-Home Cookbook. 

Wacky Water Wednesday 

Every kid loves swimming in the summer, so Wednesdays are for getting wet and staying cool while it’s hot. Whether you have a backyard pool, neighborhood pool, or sprinkler, you and your child can have fun in the sun. You can even get creative with water gun challenges or water balloon fights.

Arts and Crafts Thursday

Arts and crafts are a great and easy way to stimulate your child’s mind while having a whole lot of fun. From finger painting on a blank canvas to creating beaded bracelets for friends or family members, there’s an endless supply of artistic activities out there to bring out your kid’s creative side.

Field Trip Friday

To mark the beginning of each weekend, you and your child can go on a special field trip. Head to places like nearby parks or trails, local art museums, the zoo, an aquarium, or a nature sanctuary to learn about some of the wonders life has to offer.

Then plan something special for the weekend and enjoy it!

Remixing Your Kid’s Summer Schedule With Sphero 

If you’re looking to remix your kid’s summer schedule, Sphero is here to help captivate their imagination with engaging STEAM activities.

As experts in play-based learning, our STEAM-driven educational tools and programmable robots make for a remarkable learning experience unlike any other. With a focus on coding, science, music, and the arts, your kid can tackle fun, hands-on projects that will set them up for a successful future well past summer break.   

Here are some of our favorite remixes: 

Light Painting

During Arts and Crafts Thursday, try Light Painting with Sphero. This activity demonstrates the relationship that light has with time. Through long-exposure photography with two smartphones or tablets, a tripod, and a Sphero robot, your kid will be able to paint an image on a digital canvas with colorful light. 

Hydro-Hypothesis

Rather than splashing in your neighborhood pool or sprinkler, dedicate a Wacky Water Wednesday to exploring buoyancy with Sphero’s Hydro-Hypothesis. With just a few inexpensive materials and a Sphero robot, your child will design and test a floating contraption that carries a payload of pennies behind it.

Matrix Animations 

For the next Field Trip Friday, your child can journey into the fun-filled world of customized matrix animations with Sphero BOLT. Instead of heading to the zoo, your kid can utilize the Sphero Edu app to create animal-themed animations on the BOLT’s 8x8 LED matrix.  

Spherographs  

What’s better than receiving a unique piece of art from a friend or family member? On Make a Difference Monday, your kid can use a Sphero BOLT to create customizable Spherographs to gift to friends or family members. Through intuitive coding in the Sphero Edu app, your child can utilize a plastic cup, rubber band, and a few markers to design something that shows off their creativity through each mark.

The a”MAZE”ing RVR Color Sensor

Exploring color is a fundamental aspect of Arts and Crafts Thursday, and that’s why The a”MAZE”ing RVR Color Sensor is the perfect activity to add to your kid’s summer calendar. Using the RVR robot, your child can move over different color tiles and watch RVR change colors through its RGB (red, green, and blue) color sensor. 

RVR: The Tough & Tenacious Tankbot

Instead of your child discovering the building blocks of a good sandwich on Tasty Tuesday, have them focus on using the building blocks of coding in the Sphero Edu app to program RVR to roll over diverse obstacles. With The Tough and Tenacious Tankbot activity, your kid can use roll and delay blocks and run a program that allows RVR to climb and drive at different angles.

Sphero littleBits Inventions

No matter what day of the week it is, littleBits lets your kid’s imagination run free with fun STEAM education and exploration.

With littleBits STEM kits, your kid gains access to modular circuits that have an infinite number of applications straight out of the box. Whether they’re prototyping or experimenting, kids connect the magnetic snap circuits together to create inventions ranging from a simple flashlight to a small rolling vehicle — and more!

Browse all littleBits inventions available for purchase. 

Make the Perfect Summer Schedule for Kids with Sphero 

Developing a summer schedule for your kid is a great way to make sure they’re following a routine, avoiding stress and anxiety, and learning life lessons along the way. And, the more you mix it up, the more engaged your kid will be while school is not in session.

No matter where your kid’s summer takes them, Sphero provides project-based learning experiences that stimulate the mind while helping them become tomorrow’s leaders.

If you’re interested in learning about more ways to pack your kid’s summer with fun, check out our full collection of at-home STEM toys and kits today.