Easy Summer Writing Ideas for the Family

Summer is often a time of relaxation and family travel. Many of us take several weeks off of our homeschooling adventures to enjoy the warm season. Learning, however, can take place anywhere and anytime. There are numerous reasons to incorporate learning into summer activities. It prevents skill regression or at least limits it. It keeps curiosity for new things, and it reminds us that learning can be an everyday activity without the formality of structure.

If your child needs to work on their writing, then taking off the summer months may not be your best option. There is good news! Writing activities do not have to be formal or graded. They can be easy and impromptu and short and sweet. Take the headache out of summer writing with these fun ideas:

1. Nature Journal: Summer is a time of walks along the beach or hikes on the trail or even morning strolls at the park. Grab a small, flip notebook from the dollar store that can work as an investigative notebook, and have your child write out what they spy on their nature walks. What can they uncover? What clues in nature can they report?
2. How-To Picture Book: Is your child a master at a certain skill (even if they are a master in their own mind)? Do they enjoy cooking or playing games? Do they enjoy a sport or a favorite daily activity? Take plain white paper and fold it in half to make a How-To For each section, they write simple directions to help a “novice” learn the skill. Make sure there are drawings to go along with the directions! At the end, they will have a small How-To picture book.
3. Before and After Q and A: Summertime often includes trips to museums, national parks, or visits to important monuments. Before the visit, discuss with your child questions they have about the place. Come up with your own questions, and together, write them down. These questions can be silly (Do they serve ice cream?) to more content-rich (Will the museum have authentic artifacts to view?). After the visit, go back to the list of questions and answer them based on the experience.
4. A Night at the Movies: This activity can work for movies or books or even vacation destinations. Have your children (and yourself) write reviews after watching the movie (or after reading the book or after the vacation). First, start with a five-star rating. Would your child rate the movie five stars for excellent, one star for not enjoying it, or somewhere in between? They then jot down a couple of reasons why they gave it that rating. Once everyone is done, share it with each other and see if everyone agrees.
5. Devotional Time: Many parents like to encourage their children to spend some time learning about God and His Word. There are children’s devotions that also incorporate a writing portion. At Late November Literary, we offer Journaling through Scriptures to help tweens and teens blend devotion time with writing. No journal or devotional is necessarily needed though. Consider a small notebook for a gratitude journal. Make it a partner activity where you work on it together. No matter what you decide, this type of activity is a blessing year-round.

There are a lot of ways to incorporate easy summer writing activities in your child’s daily or weekly routine. This article provided some fun ideas for you to try this season! When connected to family activities, writing can be simple and streamlined while still teaching critical thinking and communication skills. Don’t let the summer slip away without trying to grow some writing! You’ll be glad you did.