The weather is warming up and you might be looking for ways to spend more time outside. Sprinklers, yard games, or just cloud gazing can be great ways to pass summer time, especially if you get to spend it with family. Here are five reading and learning activities that explore themes of family and spending time together.
1. Read This Is My Family
Jen has a father, a mother, a grandfather, a grandmother, and a sister. Do you want to meet them?
- Download This Is My Family
Discuss the book: What does Jen’s grandfather do? What does Jen’s sister do? Who is in your family?
2. Watch Training Wheels
Watch the video Training Wheels to see how a girl learns to ride her bike with a lot of practice and help from her dad.
Discuss the video: What does Dad do to the bike on Day 1? What happened when the girl didn’t want to ride her bike on Day 3? What is something that you want to practice?
You can extend the fun by acting out the story. If you are learning to ride a bike or scooter, this is a great chance to practice! You could also create a video of yourself riding or skating
3. Make a family book
Fold paper to make a book, and ask an adult to help you staple it. Write and draw about your family, using This Is My Family as a guide.
You can extend the activity by writing a story about one of the family members.
More to read!
For more reading about pets as family members, download Saving Scruffy.
4. Words about families
- Reread This Is My Family to find these words: mother, father, grandfather, grandmother, and sister.
- How does Jen use these words in sentences? Use them in sentences of your own.
- Find these words in other books or websites.
You can extend this activity by looking up family words in other languages.
5. Make a family picture
Draw a picture of your family and label it. Use Jen’s picture on page 16 of This Is My Family as a model.
You can extend the activity by making a frame for the picture and displaying it. You could also create portraits to add to the gallery.
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Find more language arts activities for Grades 1-2.
This blog, originally published in 2020, has been updated for 2025.
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