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Tina Robertson

30+ Summer Activities for Middle School Kids

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Summertime is not just for young children. These 30 summer activities for middle school kids will not only keep them engaged, but it allows them to burn some of the energy they have in reserve during the long year of schooling. Also, look at my page homeschool middle school for more fun tips.

I have gathered up 30 ideas and I’m hoping one of them will inspire you and your kids to savor the moments of homeschooling middle school. They go by fast.

30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids
  • Play games. My bunch still loves games like Checkers and Life and any type of card game.
  • Try a new sport. Though my boys love traditional sports, they have been trying ping pong lately.
  • Take a craft class together. My friend Cynthia and her son did a pottery class together.

Summer Activities for Middle School

  • Take up singing. Don’t worry if you can’t carry a note. I bought a karaoke machine before we left the states and we loved practicing our singing at the house.
  • Check out some summer classes at the museum or zoo.
  • Create a summer reading list together. Give your children more latitude in deciding what they want to read. Everyone needs to read books that are just for sheer joy.
  • Volunteer at a pet shelter. If you have an animal lover and they are a bit mature, pet shelters are always looking for responsible volunteers.
  • Take up baking. Most kids this age either love to cook or bake.  Chocolate chip cookies are a great motivator with my boys in learning how to bake.

Homeschooling Middle School Kids

  • Ice skating. My boys love to iceskate in the summer when the days are hot. It also burns off excess energy. I love the quiet and calm at home when we come back because they are too tired to start any sibling rivalry.
  • Take them to a homeschool convention.  You know they don’t just sell curriculum there. My boys picked out hands-on science projects and crafts they liked to do. It can also be an opportunity for them to look at curriculum they will be using in the upper grades.
Middle School Kids can create a terrarium @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
  • Swimming. No need to say more.
  • Take up dance classes. Normally in summer the classes are smaller and I find that students get more attention. If you live in place where it’s so hot that you can’t get outdoors for part of the day, an inside activity is a cool relief. We loved the classes offered by Arthur Murray studios.

Summer Learning Ideas for Teens

  • Learn programming. Tiny actually has an interest in this and we might give this a try this summer.
  • Mentoring. Is your child a care giver? Then he or she might enjoy looking at summer programs where they can mentor.
  • Gardening or even container gardening. How long has it been since you made a terrarium?
The Basement Workshop Store

Don’t forget summer is a great time to do a living book and hands-on science exploring about plants, fruits and nuts!

Our Journey Westward

I love these series of books because you can use them for grades K – 8.

“The NaturExplorers series was written with 1st-8th graders in mind.

 All of the activities in the studies are very adaptable for all ages, though, and specific ideas are included for incorporating your older and younger students.”

Our Journey Westward
  • Learn to make jewelry. I did this when I was in middle school. Nowadays, any Hobby Lobby or craft store carries beginner supplies.
  • Learn to work with leather. Leather can be expensive, so start with those cheaper chamois wash cloths they sell at Walmart to dry your car with and make a pouch, shirt or choker from it. These fun leather crafts are a fun way to begin learning about working with leather.
  • Go to free concerts. We use to live close to a major college and they had free concerts outside with a variety of musicals from classical to modern that my boys enjoyed going to.

  • Try a new water sports like whitewater rafting. Certainly not for the faint of heart, but if you have a water lover he or she may enjoy taking lessons.
  • Check out you library summer reading program.

Summer Fun for Teens

  • Take up a summer job. Some jobs like a babysitter, dog walker and pet setting services just require a mature young person.
  • Make a lava lamp. Beckons me to my childhood.
  • Learn to sew. I sewed my first pillow in middle school. It’s a shame that skill didn’t stick with me until today.
  • Learn to Cook.
Middle School Kids Can Learn Photography @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
  • Take an elective class for high school now. There is no need to wait until high school to take an elective they might be interested in. Too, by taking a class during the summer, they can take their time and it still goes on their high school transcript when they enter the high school years. Look at A to Z List: Middle and High School Homeschool Electives.
  • Learn photography. My niece took up some basic photography during her summer years. Most classes for beginners don’t require any fancy equipment in the beginning. It is a great way to see if a passion turns into a profession as they grow older.

Fun Learning Ideas for Summer

  • Art lessons for the art lover. Sometimes we just don’t have time to get it all in during the school year and taking up art during the summer keeps it fun instead of “school”.
  • Take up reenacting. My sister and her daughters would do history like this during the summer. Living history, hands down beats a dry textbook.
  • Head to the beach. I remember my summer times at the beach roasting corn and marshmallows. Nothing means summer more than spending a day and evening at the beach.

More Summer Homeschool Ideas

    Those ideas are just some of the things we have done and pop into my head.

    30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids

    What about you? What are your favorite activities to do during summer time for middle school kids?

    You’ll love these other ideas:

    30 Summer Activities for Middle School Kids @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Ancient Egypt Homeschool Unit Study – Hands-on and FUN!

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    This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

    Studying Ancient Egypt history has been anything but boring for us because I have been determined to keep it hands-on.

    I have to admit though it is not always easy.

    When I find homeschool history programs like Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods that fits what I think history should look like, I am always delighted to share about it.

    Your kids will love this Hands-on Ancient Egypt Unit Study at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    I was given a free copy of Project Passport: Ancient Egypt and I was paid for my time. Compensated for my time does not mean paid off.  ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Your experience may vary. When I do accept a review it’s because I am excited to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here.

    Hands-on Homeschool Ancient Egypt History

    Though we are history lovers in our home, I know that teaching Ancient Egypt history can be quite boring if you don’t find the right resource.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Using Project Passport: Ancient Egypt from Home School in the Woods over the past few weeks has been by far the best curriculum we have used for studying about Ancient Egypt.

    Look at some of these things that makes us swoon over this curriculum.

    • Hands-on activities like mapping Upper and Lower Egypt, creating post cards and preparing a newspaper and recipes.
    • It means a lot to me to have high quality clip art and not babyish looking quality printables for middle school kids.  The printables are high quality and are all labeled so that you can match them to the correct projects.
    • There are a variety of activities to choose from to suit any learning style.  Tiny is my strongest auditory learner of all of my boys and he really was engaged by the beautiful sounding Mp3s like Touring Down the Nile, Interview with an Embalmer and Building a Pyramid.  I haven’t really used the curriculum the way they suggested by picking and choosing.  We tried to cram it all in because each project sounded as fun as the next one. We just had to taste a bit of everything. Along with creating minibooks, we created a passport, created a luggage folder (so cute), a travel itinerary, prepared the scrapbook of sights and snapshots of moments in history (timeline).
    • It’s all laid out Stop by Stop. Even the text you need to read for each lesson is included. This makes it easy to pick up and go when you are short on time.
    • The teacher’s keys are very helpful and Tiny was able to check his work on his own. I love that part.
    • I REALLY appreciate a scope and sequence being provided so that I can plan or see what will be covered. I have to create objectives and lesson plan and the teacher in me finds this part extremely helpful.
    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Look at some of these things that you will want to know before you use Project Passport: Ancient Egypt.

    • Details are important to history when you want to analyze them.  Topics are covered with an eye for details and not broad strokes.  If you want details, then it’s a great fit.
    • It requires a good amount of time for start up because you will want to take time reading through all the directions for both laying out the projects and how to print them.  The payoff is rewarding but don’t look at speeding through the set up process.  This is a savor the time curriculum.
    • Like high quality printables should be, you will want to use high quality materials like cardstock and color printables.  You can print gray scale too and have the option to color. I think it’s always an advantage to have both options of coloring or gray scale printing though.  Because this curriculum is sold by CD or downloads, your printer will be busy.
    • Though I thrive in organization, having four sub-folders to navigate between might seem overwhelming.  It took me a few minutes to figure out that the Itineraries folder in the PDFs sub-folder was the place that I needed to visit at each Stop.  It has the instructions for the activities for each stop.  There are a total 25 Stops.
    • It is important to remember that the printables cannot be shrunk, which a lot of printers do. If you do this, like the instructions specifically mentions, it throws off all the printables. An important detail that is easy to forget when you start printing at each Stop. Avoid precious ink and high quality paper by minding the details on each page.

    Like a comprehensive unit study should be, you will want to let go of whatever else you are studying about so that your children can enjoy the creative writing, arts and geography weaved throughout each Stop.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Tiny is just about out of the dress up stage but he fondly remembers our hands-on activities with Ancient Egypt  (fun with cartouche and Lego pyramid) as we have used Home School in the Woods products through the years.

    With this unit study, my focus was on reading the content and listening to the MP3s to prepare him for high school.

    Of course, doing as many of the other hands-on activities that we could cram in is also my objective.

    Ancient Egypt Unit Study 8 @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    Because I couldn’t wait to share with you about how this unit study sparks a love for learning about Ancient Egypt and because of my love for pictures too, look at my first post Ancient Egypt and look at my second one Ancient Egypt Unit Study Part 2.

    I have used many laid out unit studies. 

    Too, you know I have created my own lapbook printables because it has been hard to find history curriculum that has all the things I demand, which are detailed content, pristine clip art, high quality printables, an overflowing amount of hands-on activities and that can be used with multiple ages.

    Project Passport: Ancient Egypt receives my highest praise and I can’t wait to grab the other projects in this series.

    Thank You Home School in the Woods for the obvious time, care and detail that went into this curriculum. I am proud to be a reviewer of such an amazing product.

     Ancient History Series

    Company Name: Home School in the Woods Publishing
    Website: Home School in the Woods
    Product Name: Project Passport: Ancient Egypt
    Grades: 3rd to 8th, but I found that it could be tweaked up or down because of the numerous activities. Check out their scope and sequence to see the events
    Type of Format: Download
    Religious perspective but can be tweaked for a more secular version if you choose.

    Passport Project Ancient Egypt Interactive and Hands-on Unit Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

    You’ll love these other hands-on history for studying about Ancient Egypt:

    Hugs and love ya,

     

    When He Wants to Go Back to Public School

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    This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

    As homeschool parents it seems that we can face one set of tough decisions after the other.

    At the top of things that can divide a homeschool family is when a child wants to return to public school.

    When a child is unhappy at home, why do we take a poll of our parenting skills?

    How to Measure Homeschool Success?

    It’s normal because we care.

    There is nothing wrong with checking our emotions because we can’t let pride hold us back from doing what is best for our child.

    When He Wants to Go Back to Public School @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
    Does a 10 year old really know what he wants to do?

    Is a 16 year old capable of making a decision that will make him happy?

    How can we determine what is best for our child?

    Instead of being judgmental when someone is faced with the decision of whether or not to return a child to public school, I want to share a few points to ponder when facing this gut wrenching decision.

    • Determine the root cause.

    I have seen many scenarios through the years of homeschoolers who returned their kids to public school.

    Getting to the root cause of the unhappiness in our child is a must.

    One homeschool family I mentored had kids that were unhappy because their family made many moves and changes during the year.

    The children were craving routine and stability in their lives.

    Their son struggled horribly in public school before bringing him home.

    That wasn’t going to change if they decided to put him back in school.

    The family made a faithful attempt from then on to keep things the same and add routine to what was too much of a relaxed schedule for their son.

    • Do You Accept that Your Best is Good Enough?

    Another example of discontentment in our children can be the fact that mom might have to work.

    Even if mom does not work full time, a part time job still takes time.

    I have helped homeschool moms working part time as a bus driver for public school, running a day care in her home, working as a night nurse and selling products by going to other people’s homes.

    Do your best to give your children what they need as far as field trips and making new friends while you also provide a living for them.  Then, accept the fact that you are giving your very best to your children.

    We would never ask our children to give anymore then what they could, then we shouldn’t set a negative example by doing that to our self.

    Let go of feelings of guilt.

    Though a child may not want you to go to work at night or babysit other kids in your home, as they grow older they will appreciate your dedication, deep love and conviction to provide for them.

    Can you give your child some of your exclusive time? Little ones take naps if you have a day care in your home and the mom that drove the public school bus had a good amount of time off during her lunch time, which she spent exclusively with her kids.

    Both of these families realized that their kids needed some exclusive time during the day.

    • List It.

    Like us, kid sometimes want to believe in the grass is greener attitude.

    I have found that by sitting down and listing exactly what they think they are missing out on because of homeschooling, then the true effects of any potential decision can be weighed.

    What do they like about traditional public school? What do they like about homeschooling?

    Looking at it this way also helps a child learn how to weigh out decisions not just now but in the future when decisions are more significant.

    Seeing pros and cons written down concretely versus what floats around in our mind can be an eye opener.

    It also solidifies any decision you have to make.

    Instead of failing at homeschool when a child is unhappy, I have often found too that a family just hasn’t quite found what works for their particular circumstance.

    It may be a need for change in their routine. They may need a more relaxed one or they may need to buckle up and buckle down on their routine.

    Too, circumstances are ever changing and only each family can ask questions like:

    1. Is the extra income worth it?
    2. Can I carve out time, even one hour, to be with the child that is unhappy?
    3. Can I implement the suggestions that my child made?

    A lot of children are just too young to make a decision for their happiness.

    As parents we are not looking for just momentary happiness but the decision that is best for them lifelong.

    What will they say when they get older and look back at their education?

    Finding the root cause of a child’s unhappiness, being content with the very best we can give our kids if our time is split and helping our children to get real about what they think they are actually missing out in traditional school gives you a solid starting point for making the best decision for your family.

    Though in my heart, I believe that homeschooling is the best decision for any family, I know that there are just some things that can’t be controlled.

    I encourage you to make the best of your homeschooling circumstances.

    Sometimes when we think we want relief by sending them to public school, we find that what drew us to homeschooling in the first place still exists.

    What advice do you give somebody that is thinking about sending their kids back to public school?

    Hugs and love ya,
    2015 Tina Signature c

    Check out these resources for when homeschooling gets tough:

    Look at these articles too:

    Homeschooling – A Trial Run?
    Cultivating the Desire to Homeschool
    Finding Joy in Homeschool When You’re Not Really Feeling It

    Our Adventure in The Amazon Rain Forest

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    This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

    WARNING: PICTURE OVERLOAD!! I just couldn’t resist sharing as much as I could on our adventure in the Amazon Rain Forest
    Our Adventure in The Amazon Rain Forest @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool PlusWhen we did the Amazon Rain Forest unit study with our homeschool co-op group a few years back, I never dreamed we would have the opportunity to visit it.

    Pinch me because it was one of those things that I had dreamed of us doing as a family.

    We savored EVERY minute!1 Waterfall 1 on our way to the Amazon Rain ForestWe stayed in a town called Banos and took the hour and half drive with a guide and driver to Puyo which is the edge of the rain forest.

    What makes this area so cool to visit is that you can travel back and forth between the slopes of the Andes Mountains and the flatter levels of the rain forest, all within about a couple of hours.

    Our first stop as we look so fresh here in the morning was this beautiful waterfall on the edge of town.2 First Waterfall outside of BanoDo you see that little red speck to the left of my Mr?

    Yep, that is a cable car that takes you across the river and stops you in front of the waterfall.3 My view from the cable car over the waterfallsAnd here is one picture that I took where I am inside up several hundred feet in the air snapping this beautiful majestic waterfall.4 View from the cable at the first waterfallAnd as you can see, only Tiny, Mr. Senior 2013 and myself hopped on this baby. Mr. Awesome and my hubby wouldn’t touch foot on this cable car.

    The view up here is MAGNIFICENT!5 Massive second waterfallI am telling you I think I love waterfalls almost more than I do beaches. Look at how HUGE this waterfall is on the way to Puyo.

    Do you see that is a house on the bottom right side?6 Visting a rescue reserveUgggg, being from Texas, do I ever recognize the mosquito spray.  Out came the mosquito spray because we have now arrived to the area of the rain forest.

    The next stop we made was to a reserve and rescue for the Amazon animals.

    I have tons of pictures of the animals and will probably add them to my Rain Forest Unit Study page.7 monkey looking for a spiderThen of course they don’t mind if a few monkeys run around free.

    This little guy was using that stick to grab his breakfast (an innocent spider).

    He was using it to stick down into the center of the plant.8 wild monkey I just had to show you the monkey that was near the place where we were staying.

    The windows at out rooms have bars on them so that we can open them at night, but keep out critters like this.

    I like to view him from a distance and slept great at night knowing dogs were keeping watch at our hotel.  They did chase one monkey on the rooftop one morning while we were sleeping.9 Fish cooked in banana leavesThen the next stop was to eat lunch and visit a indigenous village in the Amazon.

    We ate a traditional meal from the amazon, which is fish cooked in the banana leaves. It is some of the best tasting tilapia I have ever had.

    Something about cooking it in the leaves gives it a real flavor.10 Visiting an indigenous villageThen we arrived at this village across the river.

    11 crossing the swaying bridge to the Amazon Community The only way to get to it was by crossing this bridge, which swings a little bit. Eeek!!12 Length of bridge to get to the communityI wanted you to see the length of it.13 Tasting ChichaAfter got into the village, our guide explained how the huts are made by palm leaves. It takes like two months to build it.

    It was so strong and sturdy AND it started raining when we got there and we warm and dry inside.

    Then we had to taste Chicha, which is a fermented drink made from maize. The longer it ferment supposedly the sweeter it tastes.

    We tasted it on the second day and all I can say is that is must be an acquired taste.  Tiny had to chase his Chicha down with some water.14 Animals of the Amazon trophies The Kichwa village showed off some of their “trophies” that they had gathered from the rain forest like the boa skin and the ocelot.15 Face PaintingThen they took us to their hut, which housed their hand-made crafts. Mr. Senior 2013 and I sat down for local face painting. 16 Kichwa girls
    These two little Kichwa girls were the ones that painted our faces and sold crafts to us. We never did see their parents, but I know they must get tired of people coming.

    But aren’t these girls so beautiful? I do know that children are taught adult responsibilities early.17 Trying his hand at blow dartOf course we had to try our hand at blow darts.  Mr. Awesome was pretty good at it.18 Fierce Amazon WarriorThere was plenty of time for hands-on learning as they showed us the bones of different animals and how to identify them.19 Checking out the mapNow, after we ate and had fun, we were ready for our arduous trek in the Amazon Rain Forest.

    First, we have to have a geography lesson by studying the map of where we are going and understanding how many people make up a community.

    Of course like I mentioned the rain came but our guide was prepared with ponchos and rain boots.20 Leaves to cook in
    The first leave he showed us, I recognized.That part was easy. The rest of the leaves, not so much.

    The first leave he showed us was what our fish was cooked in and he was demonstrating how to fold food in it if we had to stay over night in the rain forest. 21 Learning to weave with Palm leavesFrom there, our guide went on to strip palm leaves and show the boys the art of weaving.22 Medicinal value of leavesWe could hardly walk any distance until he showed us different leaves. We smelled leaves that were lemon and anise.

    We chewed leaves that had a anesthesia effect.  He said the locals chews the leaves when they have a tooth ache. You get a wad, chew, chew and then spit.

    I had a deaden tongue for a while.23 Amazon OrchidOur guide also pointed out not only the beautiful orchids growing all around, but a seedling, which I had never seen.24 Amazon Tree
    This is like a ceiba tree but its different because it has real hard roots which serve as a protection. Too on each side of this tree are palms, which are black. The spears and things we bought are made of this palm tree.

    The palms look like they have a finished look and are just beautiful.

    Of course though this is where the tarantulas like to live as our guide pointed out. They like to live under the roots coming out. So were careful not to touch these trees during our trek.25 bridge crossing the river
    We crossed three rivers, holding arm and arm as we waded across them, but several of the rivers had natural bridges that the locals tried to add some hand rails to.26 Frogs live in bromeliads
    Of course the trip wouldn’t be complete without seeing a frog that lives in the bromeliads.

    Our guide got this one out of his cozy home so we could see him up close.27 Hola Vida Waterfall
    We hiked for a good couple of hours or more until we got to this TOTALLY WORTH it waterfall called Hola Vida. (Hello Life)28 Trekking the Rain Forest
    It was SO worth the journey and the water was ice cold. We sat there and listened to the sounds of the waterfall and birds as we had a nature moment.29 Taking a swim in the Hola Vida waterfall
    So much fun and such beautiful creation that it is so hard to put it all into words. A true life experience.crafts of the AmazonWe came back with some crafts. The taffy and the deck of cards are from the local but the other things like the spears and knives were hand made. I just had to have that beautiful handmade necklace.

    All of these things were made from natural products from the rain forest.

    Trekking the Amazon Rain Forest was only part of what we did on our vacation.

    I will have to show you the other things we did while we were in Banos.  It is such a beautiful little town.

    However, we won’t forget so easily our Amazon Rain Forest experience.

    Hugs and love ya,
    2015 Tina Signature co

     

    How Grandparents Can Inspire Your Homeschool Journey

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    This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

    Not living close to either set of grandparents right now has touched a sentimental chord in me.

    Reflecting on how grandparents can inspire your homeschool journey, I am grateful that I have had my parent’s influence on my sons.

    Adding grandparents into our homeschool journey has been such a precious tool that I didn’t even realize in the beginning of my homeschool journey what I had.

    How Grandparents Can Inspire Your Homeschool Journey @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus
    {My parents took the day to have over all the grandsons to tell them about their “roots”. You can see an old family portrait of us on the table.}

    Too, with the view this world takes sometimes that grandparents are out of touch, I have always known that my parents have been the very foundation of my family.

    In times past, older ones use to be honored and rightly so because of their experience, age and wisdom.

    What I am saying is that if you live anywhere near your parents, include them in your homeschool.

    Even if they doubt your ability to homeschool, including them in your journey forges the bond between your child and grandparent.

    Too, grandparents get a glimpse of what one-to-one tutoring looks like.

    Look at this list of how to include grandparents in your homeschooling.

    • When in good health, my parents were part of the audience at the end of the year wrap up. They don’t mind a bit listening to all the things your children have learned.
    • My parents went to most of the music recitals and boosted my sons’ confidence and fed their love of music.
    • My mother was a source of huge encouragement to me when I had one of those days where the little yellow school bus was looking real good.
    • My father has spent time with the boys when I needed a break from them.
    • Does your mom have a craft or skill she enjoys that she can pass on to your girls or boys?
    • My mother steered me toward good books for read alouds and even purchased books I might not have purchased.
    • My dad was the best “gopher” for that one itty bitty thing I needed for a science experiment and couldn’t get because I had one or two kids sick at home. Dad to the rescue to gather the rest of my supplies.
    • Did I mention my dad’s garage housed enough implements to keep my boys busy for days trying to figure them all out? Does that count as hands-on science?
    • Though my mother was not in good health, she came on field trips with us and attended our homeschool co-ops when possible. At our field trips, I even noticed other grandparents there helping with the little ones so that mom could spend with the older kids on the field trip.
    • At our 50’s co-op, my mom taught a few of the kids how to jitterbug. Priceless!
    • Thank goodness my mother loves gardening because gardening doesn’t particularly get my adrenaline pumping. She was able to share some of her expertise with my boys.

    Include grandparents when homeschooling{My parents even attended informal ceremonies when the boys received an award for finishing a co-op about learning Spanish.}

    Though my parents have always been supportive of homeschooling, the boys’ paternal grandmother wasn’t so confident.

    It’s important to remember that grandparents went to public school and public school looked different back then. When grandparents went to school, it seems there was still a focus on a well-rounded out education.

    Nowadays, with more and more public schools deleting enrichment programs, it is important to utilize one of the best and most precious homeschooling tools – grandparents.

    Have you included grandparents in your journey?

    What are some ways you include them?

    Hugs and love ya,
    2015 Tina Signature c

    Linking up @ these awesome places:
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