Working parents are already lining up child care plans for the summer. While they’re at it, educators say all parents of school-age children should also plan for preventing the dreaded summer slide.

The "summer slide" is the information and skills children forget during summer break from the end of one school year to the beginning of the next school year.  The education slide is well-documented by numerous studies, which were synthesized in the 1990s by Harris Cooper, then a professor at the University of Missouri-Columbia.  He found that children could forget one to three months of learning over the summer.

While some people are aware of the learning loss, many aren't aware that children tend to gain weight more rapidly when they're out of school.  Harris Cooper found that kids, especially those at risk for obesity, gain as much weight during the summer as they do all school year.

What can parents do to keep young brains and bodies engaged in healthy ways over the summer?  Try these tips to maximize your children's health and happiness during the break:

Journal current achievement levels.

How do you know if your child is affected by summer slide if you don’t remember where they ended the year? Create a summer journal and, in the first few pages, document what they most recently learned in their major subjects. Were they adding and subtracting double-digit numbers? Doing long division? What were some of their vocabulary or spelling words?  Throughout the summer you can track their progress and, at the least, maintain those levels – or maybe even move on to more challenging material.

Try a week-long educational day camp.

We all want our kids to have fun during the summer, and they can. Enroll in the fun, active day camps that focus on art, music or swimming. But toward the end of the summer, have your children attend one week of math camp and one week of reading camp as a refresher.

Feed the brain during free time.

Kids have a lot more free time in the summer. With fewer scheduled activities, even kids who attend a camp may have more time to hang out in the evening. How can you feed their brain during this extra time? Visit the library and check out print books, audio books, educational DVDs, and even educational computer games.  Many websites offer activity ideas that you and the kids can enjoy together.

ACTIVE-ate the brain.

Getting active exercises both the body and the brain. Just like our body needs exercise to stay healthy, so does the brain to keep those neurons firing. Encourage kids to stay active and play outside during the summer and allow only limited, scheduled times for sedentary activities like video games or TV.

Wake up to a world of possibilities.

One bowl of Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats cereal is packed with fiber and nearly a day's worth of whole grains* to help keep your kids full and focused for their Big Day ahead. (*USDA recommends a minimum of 48g of whole grains a day.  Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats cereals contain at least 42g whole grain per serving.)

Scholastic and Kellogg’s Frosted Mini-Wheats have teamed up for the "Big Day Campaign" to help you and your child celebrate all of the fabulous summer days that lie ahead.  Share photos of your family’s big days and find plenty of tips and recommendations to keep your children from experiencing that dreaded "summer slide".  Here's hoping you and your family have an amazingly fun yet educational summer!

Disclosure: I received compensation from Frosted Mini Wheats in order to facilitate this post.  As always, it is based on my own personal experiences and is completely honest and objective.