Elementary Activities: Keep Your Kids Learning and Having Fun This Summer

By Deborah Pace Rowley

Have you started to think about summer yet? I only have 5 weeks left of school. (Not that I am counting down the days!) Already I am thinking about things I can do with my kids this summer. I don't know about you, but I always start out with the best ideas but by the end of July, things have deteriorated to the point that I feel like throwing out all the electronics and media equipment and banishing the kids from the house during the hours of 9 to 5! That might be a slight exaggeration, but you get the point. How do you keep your kids busy, active, and learning all summer long? What do you do to avoid the inevitable summer brain drain? How do you limit screen time in your house during the long summer break?

If you have the perfect answer to all those questions, I want to talk to you! If you are still struggling in this area like I am, I have a suggestion. Sign your kids up today for our Hogwarts Summer Fun Challenge!

I am super excited about this program that my sister and I have created. Tiff has learned from running her healthy challenge at Feel Great in Eight how powerful competition can be to motivate people to make good choices. Suddenly it dawned on us.... kids are the same way! They love earning points, competing against others and seeing their progress as they work towards goals. This was the perfect solution to our problem. Our kids needed a challenge to help them learn and stay active and achieving their goals in the summer. But what should we call it? What could be our theme? For two families of Harry Potter fanatics the answer was clear. Where would everyone love to go to Summer School? Hogwarts!

When your kids (ages 3 to 13) sign up for this FREE 8 week challenge, they will be placed in one of the four houses. Then they will be able to earn points for doing activities for each of their Hogwarts Summer Classes. They will concoct their own ice cream flavor in Potions, learn to find a star constellation in the night sky in Astronomy, and play a fun game with hula hoops in Quidditch.

Each week they will receive a new list of options for each class. Then at the end of the week, they will report their scores for how many of the activities they completed. Their scores will be added to the rest of the scores in their house and the competition for the house cup will be on! Everyone who completes a minimum of 80 activities in the eight weeks (10 a week) will receive a Hogwarts Summer School Completion Certificate and a box of Official Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. In addition, the contestants with the highest points in each house will win a handmade wizard wand. All prizes will be mailed free of charge.

Enrollment is limited so sign up for this fun summer challenge today. The competition will begin on June 10th and will end on August 10th, skipping one week for the 4th of July.

All you need to do to enroll is send an email with the names and ages of each child that would like to enter to:
hogwartssummerfunchallenge@gmail.com.

Again, just email us the names and ages of the kids that would like to participate to:
Hogwarts Summer Fun Challenge @ gmail.com (All one word-- lower case, of course)

We will respond right away to let you know you have been admitted. Then at the end of May you will receive information about the Sorting Hat Quiz that will place you in the right house and instructions about how to begin. This challenge is going to be so much fun! On the blog we will include posts about activities we do as part of our Hogwarts challenge as well as giving you and your kids encouragement to continue. Please pass on this information to any of your friends and family members who might like to join in the challenge with you. You could take turns hosting a neighborhood day where you complete several of the activities together!

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