A good way of using topics to plan your work is to plan topics that help reflect the changing of the seasons. Are you looking for some good topics to explore with children in Summer? Here are some ideas:
Well-loved Themes
- At the Seaside. Children can explore traditional seaside activities such as sandcastle making, or take a more scientific approach and learn about the natural environment of the seaside. Have a look at the Forest Childcare Association A-Z of the Seashore for loads of inspiration.
2. Going on Holiday. Children can be fascinated by the idea of going on holiday, especially if it involves a ride on an aeroplane! For lots of ‘Going on Holiday’ ideas and resources check out this Childminding Best Practice ‘Going on Holiday’ Toolkit
3. Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Pack sandwiches and your teddies and have a picnic!
Science base themes
4. Butterflies. Butterflies like warm sunny days so Summer is an ideal time to explore this topic.
5. Sunflowers. Explore the life cycle of this cheerful flower.
6.. Summer Wild Flowers. You do not necessarily have to go far to find wild flowers in summer. If you have a lawn simply leave part of it uncut and see what grows. Common Summer wild flowers include buttercups, honeysuckle, poppies and clover.
7. Seashells. This links in well with an ‘At the Seaside,’ but can give it a more scientific or maths based slant. Why not borrow books from the library and see how many different types of shell you can find and identify.
8. Fruits and Vegetables. It can be great fun growing fruits and vegetables with your children. Have a look at this post to help get you started:
9. Sharks. Have you ever been to the seaside and found a mermaid’s purse? These are the egg cases laid by different types of sharks, skates and chimaeras (a type of fish). One of the common ones to find belong to dog-fish, a small type of shark which is native to Britain. Why not learn about sharks, how they are threatened by humans and what we can do to protect them. Shark Awareness Day is on the 14th of July each year.
10. Desert Animals. No, not dessert animals (that is a whole different theme!) Learn about animals that live in hot deserts, like camels, dingoes and rattlesnakes.
11. Tropical Rainforests. All sorts of exciting creatures live in tropical rainforests making them a fun topic to explore. World Rainforest Day is on the 22nd of June which makes it a good day to explore this topic.
12. Freezing and Melting. Explore how different things freeze and melt. This is also a good topic to revisit in the winter.
Some different ideas
13. Ice-cream. Why not set up an ice-cream shop role play corner, have a go at making ice-cream and make ice-cream inspired art work!
14. Pirates. Children can build pirate ships in the garden, dress up and re-enact pirate themed stories. This theme is a great one to help children use their imaginations.
15. At the Zoo. Even if you normally only do small, local outings, it can be fun to hold an larger annual outing for the children. You can even invite the children’s families along and make it a properly big event. Visiting a zoo and seeing all the animals always goes down well with the children and makes a fantastic basis for a topic to explore later in your setting too.
16. Camping. Make ‘tents’ in the garden using a clothes horse and sheets. Children can learn about what they might need to pack for a camping trip and have a go at making some camping food.
17. Harvest. This is a nice food based topic to explore at the end of summer. Learn about different foods and maybe arrange a collection for your local food bank to help celebrate harvest.
18. Little Red Hen. The Little Red Hen grows wheat and makes bread in this traditional tale. It is a good story to explore at the end of summer when you can see harvesters in the fields gathering wheat.
19. Sports Day. This is a great physical development topic. Why not practise for and then hold a special sports day of your own.
20. Under the Sea. There are so many directions you could explore with an ‘Under the Sea’ theme. You can explore in a scientific way and learn about sea creatures or will you decide to let your imaginations run free and come up with stories of sea monsters and mermaids!
21. Australia. Older children are often fascinated by the idea of it being Winter somewhere when it is Summer at home in our country. Why not look for Australia using a map or globe and then learn all about the different animals that live there.
Some fun events to explore in Summer:
22. 29th of June: International Mud Day
23. The first Sunday of July: Build a Scarecrow Day
24. 20th of July: World Jump Day
25. 16th of August: International Geocaching Day
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