Young children encounter the magic of summer from June through September in the Northern Hemisphere. These interesting summer facts connect kids to the wonder of summertime. Download the entirely free summer facts PDFs below!
Summer is identified by the calendar, the relationship between the earth and the sun, and how humans interact with warmer weather. Kids will love learning about the summer solstice and the changing seasons.
The first day of summer is the summer solstice. This happens in June every year.
The summer solstice has the most daylight and the shortest nighttime.
The name summer solstice means “stilled,” “standing,” or “stopped” sun.
When it is summer in the northern hemisphere, it is winter in the southern hemisphere.
The sun appears higher in the sky in the summertime.
Activity: Create a homemade sundial of natural objects, Legos, or a paper plate!
Summer Weather Facts
In the northern hemisphere, summer is characterized by hot days, rolling thunderstorms, and even damp humidity. Kids can learn to recognize the sensory experiences of summertime weather.
July is the hottest month of the year.
The hottest part of the day is between 11:00 am and 3:00 pm.
Summertime has lots of special weather, not just hot temperatures and sunshine.
Many places are very humid in summer. This is when there is lots of moisture in the air.
July has the most lightning storms.
Fire season starts in July too. This is when wildfires are most likely to spread.
Sunlight helps your body make Vitamin D. It also gives you a “feel good” chemical in the brain called serotonin.
In 1816, ash and dust from a giant volcano eruption changed the weather. It was called “the year with no summer” because the temperatures and weather were like winter.
Activity: Create a color-coded calendar, coloring each day to match the weather.
Summer Animal Facts
Animals and insects are busier during the summer (until the day gets too hot!). Learning about animal behavior during summertime helps us understand the relationship between animals and the planet.
Animals love the summer because they have plenty of food to eat.
In the summer, animals don’t need as much shelter from bad weather like floods or snow.
Many animals spend summer raising their babies.
Summer is the only time you can see lightning bugs glowing! The rest of the year, they hide underground.
One special type of lightning bug glows blue-green! It’s called a ghost firefly.
Crickets make different chirping noises depending on the temperature. They chirp faster when it’s hotter.
Baby sea turtles hatch in June and July. They usually wait until nighttime to leave their nest and head for the water.
Some of the most interesting facts about animals are how they stay cool! Humans, animals, and insects have unique behaviors to stay safe in the summer heat.
Dragonflies do headstands to turn their body away from the sun to stay cool.
Some animals, like elephants, hippos, and pigs, use mud to stay cool. They dig into mud and cover their bodies. This is called wallowing.
Dogs, foxes, and coyotes pant to cool off.
Humans sweat to cool off. When the sweat evaporates off our bodies, it cools us down.
Bees bring water droplets into their hive to keep it cool. The bees fan the water with their wings and cool the hive with the evaporating water.
Reptiles like snakes and lizards hide in the shade or in burrows to stay cool.
Kangaroos will cover their arms and bodies with spit to stay cool. As their saliva evaporates, their bodies cool down.
Water cools the air when it evaporates. Ancient people would use wet reeds, water-filled jugs, and wet fabric to cool the air.
Activity: Talk about heat safety, including the signs of heat exhaustion. Go over the importance of staying hydrated and taking breaks while playing.
Summer Plant Facts
Children will love following the plant lifecycle from spring to summer to autumn. Summertime is a wonderful time to observe the diversity of trees, bushes, and flowers. It’s also an excellent opportunity to watch how birds, squirrels, and bugs interact with the plants in their habitats.
In the summer, trees have all their leaves. Leaves are the greenest in summer and can form dense canopies.
Plants spend the summer capturing sunlight and turning into energy.
Leaves turn green because of the green chemical chlorophyll. In autumn, the leaves will turn back to their normal colors.
When it gets too hot, trees grow slower. This saves them energy.
Plants can angle their leaves away from the sun to stay cool.
Some plants can “sweat” or release water when it’s hot. The water evaporates and cools the plant.
Summer Food Facts
Many summer traditions involve food, including cooking styles, special recipes, and delicious in-season produce. These summer food facts are great to share during meals and snack times.
Watermelon is a favorite summer fruit. Around the world, there are as many as 300 kinds of watermelon!
In the summer, cooking out is popular. This is when people grill vegetables, burgers, and other foods outdoors.
There is a world record for the longest time barbecuing. It lasted 80 hours!
Berries are in season all summer. People love to eat strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries.
Strawberries are not a true berry!
Stone fruits are also a favorite summer fruit. These include peaches, plums, cherries, and more. They are called stone fruits because they have a single pit in the middle.
Tomatoes, zucchini, and peppers are popular in summer. People like to grow these vegetables in backyard gardens.
People love to drink lemonade and citrus-flavored drinks in summer. These acidic drinks make your mouth create more saliva and help you feel hydrated.
Another popular summer drink is sun tea. Sun tea is slow-brewed while sitting in the summer sun.
Summer is a favorite season for many people. The warmer weather and sunshine are great, but the exciting activities are often the best parts of the season.
Softball and baseball are two favorite summer sports.
In fact, a midnight baseball game is played every year in Alaska on the summer solstice. It’s called the Midnight Sun Game.
Each summer, movie companies release “blockbuster” movies. These are popular movies that cost a lot of money to make.
Summer camp is a program that kids can go to during summer break. Many camps have a special focus like outdoor skills, art, music, or science.
Some unusual summer camps include spy camp, circus camp, space camp, live action role play camp, and comedy camp.
Summer Holidays & Traditions
Favorite summer celebrations include parades, festivals, fireworks, and trips. The warmer summer weather gives us the chance to go all-out on holiday celebrations.
A holiday called Midsummer happens each year near the summer solstice. This is a celebration of summer and is mostly celebrated in Scandinavia.
In the United States, people celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July. This holiday is celebrated with festivals, big meals with loved ones, parades, and fireworks.
June is Pride Month, making it a celebration for both spring and summer. The first Pride celebration was on June 28, 1970. Pride is a time to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.
Once every four years, there is a Summer Olympic Games. This is a giant sports competition between countries all over the world.
Many people travel to Stonehenge on the first day of summer. Stonehenge is an ancient structure made of giant stones. When the sun rises on the first day of summer, it shines in a special way through the stones. This only happens again during the winter solstice.
More Interesting Summer Facts
Enjoy just a few more interesting, fun summer facts. I hope these spark conversations and a sense of wonder for the children you share them with.
Tug-of-war used to be a summer Olympic event.
In Alaska, there are 24 hours of sunlight during part of the summer.
The Great Pyramids in Egypt were built so that the sun sets between two pyramids on the summer solstice.
The Perseid meteor shower happens during July and August.
September has the most birthdays!
The phrase “dog days of summer” is when the constellation Sirius (that looks like a dog) appears in the sky. These are usually the hottest weeks of summer.
The full moon is lowest around the summer solstice.
Activity: Stay up late to stargaze. Kids will love to stargaze from a kiddie pool filled with glow sticks. Check out even more unexpected kiddie pool ideas.
I hope that somewhere in this list of fun summer facts for kids, you found the perfect conversation starter for your child or classroom. Please comment and share about the adorable, hilarious, or brilliant ways they responded to this summer trivia!
Hello, I'm Alysia (uh-lee-shuh), a developmental therapist for infants and toddlers with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education and a minor in Special Education. As the founder of Well Beings with Alysia, I'm demystifying child development for parents and early educators. Learn how to introduce the play-based activities, books, nature materials, and toys I use in classrooms and early intervention. Contact me: alysia@wellbeingswithalysia.com
