Shaping Summertime Experiences: Opportunities to Promote Healthy Development and Well-Being for Children and Youth

An ad hoc committee will conduct a study and prepare a report on the state of the science on how summertime experiences affect school-age children (rising K-12) across four areas of well-being: 1) academic learning and opportunities for enrichment; 2) social and emotional development; 3) physical and mental health and health-promoting behaviors; and 4) safety, risk-taking, and anti-and pro-social behavior. The committee will review the available literature on summertime in the context of these four areas, and make recommendations to improve the experiences of children over the summertime to promote healthy development and learning and reduce risky behaviors, as well as outline future directions for research. The committee will focus on the following topics, with particular attention to equity and context: • The impact of summer on the developmental trajectories of children and youth across the four identified areas of well-being • The availability and accessibility of programs and experiences for children and youth during the summer across sectors as well as gaps in availability and accessibility • Policies that increase or decrease the availability and accessibility of programs and experiences for children and youth during the summer • The effectiveness of summer programs offered to children and youth • Population-based disparities in the impact of summer on developmental trajectories, access to programs, and program effectiveness • Parental, guardian, and caregiver support to promote the well-being of children during the summer • Programs and practices from other countries that could be implemented successfully in the U.S. The final report will inform federal, state, local, and organizational decision makers regarding the development of programs and policies to support the healthy development and learning of America's children during the summer months.