Her Campus recommends getting a head start on college applications with activities that include:

• Narrowing down the college list.
• Making spreadsheets of important deadlines.
• Creating a Common App account to save time filling applications.
• Starting the scholarship search (if one hasn’t done so already!)
• Narrowing down who will be asked for letters of recommendation.
• Completing additional community service hours.
• and getting started writing those essays!

The more administrative activities that a child focuses on completing during the summer, the less stress there will be come fall.

Indoor learning activities for all ages

If you want to stay indoors, there are a few things you can do besides whipping out the video games. Here are a few tried-and-true ideas:

Learn a new language

Summer is a great time to get a head start on a new language or brush up on a learned language from the year before. Many local public libraries offer free language learning programmes like Rosetta Stone to their cardholders. See if your nearest library offers access to these free courses!

Watch documentaries

Websites like Free Documentaries offer 100% free access to hundreds of educational documentaries. The site offers films covering a variety of topics to suit every interest. Paste Magazine also offers a list of the 50 best documentaries streaming on Netflix this summer.

There are other places to find documentaries online as well. Resources like the National Film Board of Canada, Frontline, and two more examples of POV films, also produced by PBS, are another great resource.

Attend a free lecture or course

Find free online lectures and course material from prestigious colleges and universities like MIT, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Columbia on the website Academic Earth.

Read a good book

If you’re looking to just settle in with a good book, websites like What Should I Read Next? and Goodreads can help you find new titles that match your interests. They can also help you narrow down your reading list to only include, for example, books written by Muslim women.

This list has something for every family, no matter how you decide to spend your summer with a plan in place or no plan at all.

These ideas should give you a jumping off point for finding new and interesting activities to keep your children active, engaged, and productive this summer on any budget.

This article is from the archives.