Summer Learning

Below you will find teacher recommended resources, activities, ideas and even apps to keep your preschooler learning during times when school isn't in session.

Monthly Activity Calendars

Children's Activity Calendars can be found HERE: these include educational crafts, book suggestions, celebrations, virtual field trips and more!

Early Literacy Calendars can be found HERE: these include fun and educational literacy activities, songs, books, and more!

Virtual Experiences

Virtual Tours and Field Trips

Field trip to a farm : see many different animals around the farm

Yellowstone Tours : Virtual tours include: Canary Spring, Upper Falls, Mammoth Hot Springs and of course Yellowstone in 3D

Great Lakes Now : Includes Coastal Wetlands, Algae and Lake Sturgeon

National Museum of National History : Self guided room by room tours of current, permanent and past exhibits

The Louvre: Visit the museum's rooms, exhibits and galleries

Coral Reef : Learn all about coral reefs!

Amazon Rainforest: Learn about different camouflage bugs and animals in the rainforest.

African Safari: Learn about Etosha national park and see some different animals seen there

Galapagos Islands: This is a quick video that gives a preview of animals on the Galapagos Islands

Virtual Field Trip Channel : List of many more virtual field trips

Google Arts and Culture: explore more than a dozen national parks with fun 360* views and short videos

Interactive virtual experiences

Interactive Star and Sky Map

Interactive Panoramic Cities : Interactive maps of millions of panoramic 360* images from around the world

Live Animal Cams

San Diego Zoo : Live cams of many animals that live in the San Diego Zoo including: penguins, elephants, koala, tigers and more!

Explore LiveCams : Live cams of animals, animal rescues and sanctuaries all over the world

Bronx Zoo: Live cams of many exhibits including Jungleworld, Ocean Wonders, and more!

LIVE Animal Cam: Observe bears, deer, boar, fox, wolf, birds, and more in Romania

Brooks Falls- Katmai National Park: Observe brown bears feasting on salmon

Cornell Lab Bird Cams: Watch chickadees, woodpeckers, red-winged blackbirds and more

Kansas City Zoo: Find the penguin, polar bear, and orangutan live cams

Online Activities

PBS Kids Science Shows

Mega Wow: Amazing Magic Tricks with Balloons- Discover the science behind balloons and learn some "magic" science tricks

Mega Wow: Make Your Own Silly Movie Effects- Learn how they make sound effects for movies and have fun going around your house and recreating sounds

Mega Wow: Can Vegetables Make Music?- Have fun watching Katie make music with vegetables, try to make some along at home!

Sid the Science Kid: The Big Sneeze- Watch Sid learn about germs and how to stay healthy

Sid the Science Kid: I Want Cake- Sid learns about healthy food groups

Sid the Science Kid: A Rainbow Every Day- Sid learns about how rainbows are made

Sid the Science Kid: Muscles in our Body- Sid learns about muscles and how we use them

SciShow Kids

SciShow Kids: The Science of Spring: Find out more about birds, water cycle, seeds, and more!

SciShow Kids: Let's Make a Kite: Learn the science of how kites fly and how to make a kite

SciShow Kids: Amazing Ways to Live in the Desert: Learn about desert plants and animals and how they survive

SciShow Kids: Where Do Mountains Come From?: Discover how mountains are made

For more SciShow Kids click here

Alphabet Letters and Sounds

Letter Factory- Here you'll find a playlist of all the letters of the alphabet and the sounds that they make

Letter Factory Letter Sounds- This is a letter sound song that combines the familiar song above for each letter

Storybots- A playlist of the alphabet featuring Storybots

Jack Hartmann: See It, Say It, Sign It- Work on the alphabet naming the letter, the sound, and signing it

Jack Hartmann: Animal Alphabet Move and Groove- learn letters, sounds, and movements for the alphabet

Jack Hartmann: Act Out the Alphabet- Join Jack with a fun alphabet movement sound

Jack Hartmann: Learn the Letters and Their Sounds- This follows the more traditional alphabet tune but adds learning the sounds.

ABC Mouse A-M letter songs- Find a playlist of ABC Mouse letter songs for A-M

ABC Mouse N-Z letter songs- Find a playlist of ABC Mouse letter songs for N-Z

Digital Stories and Libraries

OverDrive and Libby - Most libraries use Overdrive for their e-book and online media lending. There’s a whole section dedicated to kids, so they can find books just for them. Free for those with a participating library card.

Hoopla - Free digital library of ebooks for anyone with a participating library card. Hoopla is available on a variety of devices, including phones, e-readers, and even smart TVs.

List of Best Read Aloud Story videos - Here are some read aloud channels that teachers love. We made sure they: have clear sound with an emphasis on the reading (no music or any extra sounds), show the cover of each book, mentions the title, author, and illustrator of the book (with correct pronunciation), demonstrates proper concepts of print (the pages turn right to left), show the text of the book while the person is reading, and demonstrates fluent reading. (As always, please preview any video to ensure the content is appropriate for your audience.)

Beehive Library- this is a large collection of ebooks available for checkout through OverDrive. You will need a library card from anywhere in the state of Utah to access this materials.

Half-Pint Kids- These are simple books for advanced learners who are beginning to read.

*Homer - Personalized reading program that includes access to 200+ interactive animated stories, with a whole section dedicated to favorite Sesame Street characters. (Free 30 day trial, monthly subscriptions start at $7.99)

*Skybrary - Skybrary is a carefully curated interactive library of eBooks and real-world video explorations designed to engage young readers and foster a love of reading. From the same creators as Reading Rainbow, also starring LeVar Burton! (After a one-month free trial, individual Skybrary subscriptions start at $4.99 per month or $39.99 annually)

*Epic! - Epic! gives kids unlimited access to an outstanding library of books, videos, quizzes, and more. (Free for 30 days, then $7.99 a month.)

Websites and Learning Apps

*The following have all content available for free

PBS Math Games - Find more PBS kids games and interactives here!

Teach Your Monster to Read - Interactive preschool reading readiness game (website version is free, mobile/tablet app is not)

Khan Academy Kids - program engages kids in core subjects like early literacy, reading, writing, language, and math, while encouraging creativity and building social-emotional skills. (only available as an app)

Fun Brain Jr - Games, stories and printables for reading and math

NatGeoKids - Science resource with games, activities, videos, and interactives just right for kids

Preschool Pioneer- Explore the apps page of this amazing online resource to find apps for 9 different areas of development

Utah Kids Ready to Read!- This site provides activities and videos to help you teach your child in the following literacy areas: talking, singing, reading, writing, playing

Super Simple Play- Come see Caitie as she teaches lessons, songs, crafts, pretend, field trips, and more!

Peep and the Big Wide World- Find fun and easy math and science videos and games for kids

Wide Open School- This website is an incredible resource for activities, vidoes, supports, articles, reading materials and more!

*The following have limited content available for free, full versions/content available for purchase

*ABC Mouse

*Starfall - literacy, math, and social studies games and songs

*ABCya- click here to read about the options

*Educational Games for Kids- this has both math and reading for preschool

*IXL- IXL offers lessons for over 127 math skills and 48 reading skills at the preschool level ($15.95 a month for both subjects, $9:95 a month for one)