Summer Word List

Children can forget a lot over the long summer vacation, which can last up to three months. To keep their skills fresh, help them retain what they have learned, and get them ready for the next school year, give them over-the-summer assignments containing summer-related words. Matching vocabulary to the fun summer vacation activities and topics will heighten student interest.

Use this summer word list to create many summer activities such as worksheets, writing prompts, word walls, word searches, journal writing, and mini lists for students to memorize, either as sight words or using flashcards. The words are grouped in sections by alphabetical order to make it easier to find just the vocabulary you are seeking.

Air Conditioning to Cooler

Summer months tend to be hot, so terms like "air conditioning" and "cooler" are sure to be on students' minds. But, there are also fun words associated with the season, such as amusement parks, baseball, beach, and berries—which are all prevalent during the summer. 

Use these terms to create a summer word search or crossword puzzle. The linked example printables can give you ideas and help get you started, or use the free worksheets, which contain some of the words on this list as well as other summer-related terms.

• Air Conditioning
• Amusement Park
• Apples
• August
• Backpack
• Ball
• Baseball
• Beach
• Berries
• Bucket
• Camping
• Carnival
• Cooler

Daisy to Grasshoppers

Kids love plants and insects, so tie these words in to free science printables, which cover those topics as well as oceanography-related terms. Or use patriotic words, such as "Fourth of July" and "flag," as writing prompts. Instruct students to write a short paragraph or essay (depending on their ages and ability levels) on what they plan to do on the Fourth of July or what the American flag represents and why they think it's important. Alternatively, have students maintain a small garden (with their parents' help) and keep a daily or weekly journal about their experiences. Who knows? They may even see a grasshopper or two along the way.

• Daisy
• Diving
• Family
• Farm
• Ferris wheel
• Flag
• Flowers
• Fourth of July
• Friends
• Frisbee
• Games
• Garden
• Gatherings
• Grass
• Grasshoppers

Hat to Shovel

Use any or all of the words in this section to create a word wall. Type or print the words in big, bold letters on sheets of construction paper, and hang the words at various locations throughout the class, or create a bulletin board dedicated to these terms. Have each student draw a picture related to an assigned word, or have each of your older students write a paragraph about an assigned word or two.

• Hat
• Hiking
• Holiday
• Hot
• Humid
• Ice Cream
• Joy
• July
• July Fourth
• June
• Lightning
• Ocean
• Outdoors
• Outside
• Park
• Picnic
• Playing
• Popsicle
• Relax
• Rose
• Sandals
• Sandcastle
• Sea
• Seashore
• Season
• Shorts
• Shovel

Sidewalk Chalk to Zoo

Buy some sidewalk chalk; then have students go outside and draw a picture of one of the assigned words or a scene featuring several words. (Make sure you get the principal's permission first.) You can have students do this individually or in groups. Then, take pictures using smartphones, go back inside (or find a nice shady spot), and discuss the scenes or images students have drawn.

Send the list of words in this section home with students and ask them to write a short paragraph over the summer using some of the words, based on the activities they participated in during the season. Students are sure to come back in the fall, excited to share their stories, which include their summer words.

• Sidewalk Chalk
• Snorkel
• Sports
• Stars
• Strawberries
• Summer
• Sun
• Sunburn
• Sundress
• Sunflower
• Sunglasses
• Sunhat
• Sunny
• Sunscreen
• Swim
• Swim Trunks
• Swimsuit
• Tan
• Thunder
• Thunderstorm
• Travel
• Trip
• Tube
• Vacation
• Visit
• Water Park
• Water ski
• Watermelon
• Waves
• Zoo