The Original Summer Bridge Activities

Keep Kids’ Minds Active This Summer

A few summers ago, a friend recommended The Original Summer Bridge Activities set of books as a way to keep my son’s brain working during our summer break.   Since then, I have purchased a new level every summer!

The books are leveled by what grade your child will be going into, and there are 3 sections (to go along with the 3 months of summer break–more or less).   Within each book are also a reading list, flashcards, skills list, an online pass code for bonus material, answer pages, & fun activities for building better bodies & behavior.

At the beginning of each Section is a motivational calendar that you fill out with your child.     Together, you fill out your goal on how many minutes per day to read.  There is a place for your child to sign their name & for  the parent to sign their name, and the best part?    Together you fill in the blank with an incentive/reward once this goal is reached!   We put our  motivational calendar on the fridge, and my son takes great delight in checking off his reading & activity sheet days!

Section 1 is a review of things learned in the past year.     Each activity sheet takes about 15 minutes to complete, so it’s nothing extremely time consuming.   Just something to keep those neurons firing.   Each sheet has a mix of subjects, usually Math, Grammar, Handwriting, and sometimes a fun brain puzzle, geography activity, or science experiment suggestion.

Section 2 suggests doing 20 days worth of activity sheets, and there is a new Motivational Calendar to fill out together.   We usually cut out some of the suggested days, & agree ahead of time on our calendar how many days we will work.   The problems in Section 2 get a little harder, but should still be mostly a review of what they learned last year.

Section 3 follows the same pattern with a new Motivational Calendar, but the problems in this section tend to be a mix of old & new material.   This will probably be a section to work together on.

The things I love about The Original Summer Bridge Activities books:

*Each page has a short review of different topics.   To a child, they do not look intimidating or long winded.

*The review of concepts from the previous year keeps them fresh & ready to go for next year.

*The pages are colorful & interesting.

*The pages of the book are perforated, so you can tear out one page at a time if your child works better that way (we do!).

*The Motivational Calendar is a fun way to involve your child in the decision making process.

*The activities are designed to be short & quick, while still providing a varied review of material.

*Directions are simple & to the point.   Easy for independent reading.

*The price is very fair!

I encourage you to check out The Original Summer Bridge Activities series & keep your kids engaged this summer!

Check out all the popsicle stick bridges kids can build!