By Jason Robbins, CEO of ePromos Promotional Products.
Teachers, tutors, and parents dread it: the summer slide, that time when young minds seemingly switch off for three months. All students experience it to some degree when they don’t participate in learning activities in the summer.
There’s a simple solution, though – and you may not have considered it: promotional products.
Custom logo items do more than get your brand excellent exposure – they keep students’ minds sharp while they’re away from school for the summer.
Here Are The Facts
The National Summer Learning Association reports that the summer months are, not surprisingly, less than ideal when it comes to keeping kids engaged in reading and other educational activities. Consider these findings:
• Students score lower on standardized tests at the end of summer vacation than they do on the same tests at the beginning of summer.
• Most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in math skills over the summer months.
• More than 50% of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income students can be explained by unequal access to summer learning opportunities.
• Summer brain drain doesn’t just impact students intellectually – it also takes a physical toll. Kids gain weight more rapidly when they’re home for summer break.
5 Promotional Products That Can Help
There are many ways you can get creative with promotional items to beat the summer slide and maximize your business exposure. Here’s a look at five ideas to put in play:
BOOKLIGHTS
Hand out promotional booklights to inspire late-night reading sessions.
Just because it’s dark doesn’t mean students can’t enjoy a favorite story.
Try hosting a lights-out reading event or even bring it outdoors around a campfire.
COLORING BOOKS
For younger students, promotional coloring books are a fun way to stimulate minds and creativity.
There are dozens of themes to choose from – summer safety, recycling, fitness, and more – and each features an interesting storyline along with pictures to color.
JOURNALS
A journal imprinted with your logo can be used for any number of things: taking notes on books read over the summer, jotting down dreams, or journaling about summer vacations or activities.
You could also hand out writing prompts and encourage students to use their journals to pick a topic and write on it.
SPATULAS
While it might seem like an unconventional giveaway from a tutoring business, a colorful promotional spatula is actually an invitation to get kids involved in the kitchen.
Use a ribbon to attach a healthy recipe to the spatula, and you have a double-play promo gift – students can use their reading skills to follow the recipe, and they’ll get hands-on in the kitchen.
BOOKMARKS
Here’s a budget-friendly way to banish brain drain – hand out promotional bookmarks. There are lots of creative options – from foam bookmarks to seeded bookmarks that include seeded paper for students to plant.
The summer slide is creeping up, but with a new approach and some creative promotional items, your tutoring business can help students stay on their game all summer long. And don’t forget the added perk – a boost in brand awareness. With promotional products, your logo stays visible for the long haul.
During the Summer months you can increase revenue by offering ‘Camp’ style non-academic sessions that are filled with learning opportunities.
Manage all your programs, scheduling, billing and payroll in one easy to control database by using Oases Online.
Request a demo and we’ll show you how to reduce your management headaches.
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