These Great Apps Encourage Kids to Work Those Minds and Bodies While Having fun!
Summer is in full motion and our kids are out of school enjoying a break from all the testing, studying, reading and crunching numbers. While a few trips to the amusement park and the outdoor pool are probably already in the books, children don’t need nor want to rest their brains and bodies all summer long.
And they definitely shouldn’t: keeping our brains busy and trained over the summer is hugely important to combat summer learning loss and makes sure that children are ready for new challenges when they start the new school year.
Summer learning loss especially affects children in subjects like Math and Reading and can erase up to almost three months of learning achievements. Encouraging children to learn should, however in no way stop you from letting them get a good exercise in on a regular basis. Exercising positively affects the brain activity and the brain’s white matter integrity, especially in children aged 9 to 10.
You can bring a book wherever you go or sign your kids up for a sports summer league, but another great way to create lasting habits and raise your children’s intrinsic motivation is to warm up their brains and bodies a little! There is a range of Apps out there to make things easier for you and way more fun for the kids:
1) PaGamO will keep your kids brains active and engaged this summer so they won’t lose any grade level skills when they go back to school in the fall. The game allows teachers/parents to customize questions so kids can conquer their own territories of land and build a kingdom of knowledge – bringing out their natural competitiveness!
2) Strava is an app that allows parents to map out their walks, bike rides, and hikes and tracks each journey so they can show their children how much they’ve accomplished in a certain scope of time. It’s a great app to make walking to school or traveling to new places fun!
3) SpellingCity helps kids stay on top of their language skills that turns spelling into a game. Kids will learn new words in a variety of categories with lists tailored for kindergarten through 12th grade levels.
4) Just Dance Now encourages kids to get moving by getting them to dance (based off the best-selling video game franchise). You can stream the dancing via your mobile phones or to your TV.
5) Super Stretch Yoga is an app created for kids but is often used by entire families. Super Stretch is an animated guide to help kids learn 12 yoga poses for all skill levels & ages – teaching them to find balance and strength in their lives.
PaGamO App Screen Shot
What other apps do you like to use to encourage active minds and bodies? Drop a comment and let us know!
