It’s summer time, it’s hot, and keeping your kids active and learning until school starts up again can be exhausting if not extremely time -consuming. Ever heard of “summer brain drain?” According to The Parent Institute, studies show children lose one to three months of learning over summer vacation.

So for the sake of their teachers next year, keep their minds active while still having fun in the sun!  Here are some ideas you can do at Reston Town Center!

1. Start Monday mornings off with Mr. Knick Knack’s performance in the Pavilion, 10:30 am – 12 pm. These concerts go through October. Mr. Knick Knack’s songs tell stories, teach life lessons and get your youngsters dancing! (Not to mention scientists have found that music stimulates more parts of the brain than any other human function!)

2. If your child has a more tactile or kinesthetic learning style, Greater Reston Arts Center has full day summer art and yoga camps now through August 3 for kids K-6th grade. Every day includes a hands-on art lesson, such as mixed media, painting and sculptures, and concludes with an afternoon yoga laboratory practicing yoga through storytelling, meditation and nature lessons.

3. Consider sweetening up some summer goals – like finishing a book or completing a certain number of math problems – with delicious rewards from Ben & Jerry’s and Yogiberry! They have treats from healthy frozen Greek yogurt and sorbets to build-your-own frozen yogurt, to just plain old fashioned ice cream. And if you really want to make your kids’ summer memorable, pick a random day for backwards dinner where dessert comes first, just for fun!

4. Up the ante of tossing coins in Mercury Fountain and teach the kids a little something about money. You can practice the different values of coins by adding them up to make certain amounts or explain the value of saving money by collecting pennies until they have a dollar to toss in for 100 wishes!  And for a bonus, all the coins are collected and donated to the nonprofit,Character Counts! Reston, which promotes the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship! Certainly a springboard for discussions on what these characteristics look like in their life and potential projects all summer long!

5. Nature can be a game at Reston Town Center by counting how many different plants and flowers you can identify around town in our planters and parks or check out the flora and fauna on the W&OD trail nearby. Maybe even snap a few photos for their very own “Reston Town Center Nature Guide” – easily made into a booklet to keep for years!

July is Anti-boredom Month, so keep those kids busy with these activities, let us know how they go and check back Thursday for more ideas in part 2!