I recently had my two nieces, Emma and Maddie, stay with us over the summer. And I totally discovered that because we didn't do any reading or writing for the first two weeks, when it came to reading a simple thing, both of them kind of weren't too sure.

So summer haze is a real thing, and this is what we did about it. I tried to make sure we incorporated reading and writing every day so that when these kids went home, they were cleverer than when they wrapped up.

1. Delegate the Grocery List

This one was easy. I would say to all of my nieces and my son, "Okay guys, we need to go to the shop and I need to get, let's say, milk, bread, and eggs." And then I'd say to him, "Okay, each of you can choose a treat, a chocolate, a pack of chips, but you have to write your name down on the list. Spelling has to be correct and everything, and that is how you will get what you want from the shop."

I promise you, those kids made sure that they spelled everything correctly, and it was done within five minutes.

2. Read Recipes Out Loud

One day, we made my secret chocolate chip biscuit recipe, and the secret here was that I made them read each sentence out loud.

Whatever sentence they read out, they would also have to weigh out and measure it and have it ready. This was a super fun way to keep the kids interested and reading.

We also made chocolate shortbread the week after, which changed things up a bit also. Everyone in all age groups who has stayed with us got involved, especially my son, because he loves licking the bowl.

3. Play Summer Reading Bingo

This was really fun, and I highly recommend it. On each bingo card, we wrote the following instructions:

"Welcome to our summer reading bingo. While you are staying with us, we're going on a reading adventure. Every time you complete a square, tick it off. Try to get a row, a column, or a diagonal for bingo. The idea isn't a race through books, it's simply to spend a little time reading each day, discover new stories, and have fun along the way."

This went down like a treat and really stimulated them before bedtime, which was not ideal at the time.

4. Turn On TV Subtitles

Actually, a genius idea is to turn on subtitles on the TV. You know that when you're watching something in a foreign language and you're reading those subtitles, that is the only thing that you can really concentrate on.

I know that my husband actually can't watch a movie without watching subtitles; he just can't do two things at the same time. So it's quite a giveaway to get the kids to read while they're listening to Mary Poppins or Aladdin. And of course, my son only picks up a word here and there, but the goal was to compete with each other.

5. Keep a Summer Boredom Journal

One of my nieces came up to me and was like, "Oh, I'm bored." I just turned around and said, "Keep a summer boredom journal," being a bit sarcastic, and she was like, "Oh, what a good idea."

So the three of them went off, and they made little journals from scratch. They stapled the paper together, put a cover on it, and that's where it started. It was literally very silly, but it got them really into writing and coloring, and it gave me a way to get them involved in something somewhat educational.

6. Write Postcards to Grandparents

When the girls got a little bit homesick, this is what we did: We got cute postcards that each one of them picked and chose themselves. I said to them, "Who would you want to write to?" You can write your parents, your best friends, your grandparents, and all of them chose Granny and Grandpa, which was really sweet.

So each of them wrote their little messages to Granny and Grandpa, and we drove to the post box on the road, and each one of them put it in. If those postcards ever got to Granny and Grandpa, no one will ever know, but it was still a cute thought and an activity to keep them reading and writing.

7. Listen to Audiobooks in the Car

A friend of mine was talking about how hard she finds it to travel with her two kids. She's in India at the moment, and she said that listening to audiobooks in the car is such a clever way to enjoy a story.

This is what we did over the weekend: we went a few hours outside of Cape Town to Paarl, where granny and grandpa live, and put an audiobook in the car, and all three kids stayed quiet all the way, which means that they were listening- a way to get in words and the teacher without trying too hard.

8. Practice Spelling with Sidewalk Chalk

We have those huge pieces of chalk that the kids like to draw with on the driveway outside. They make little roads, and then they ride their scooters up and down the driveway, or bikes, whichever one they've got lying around.

What I make them do is write the names of the streets, so for example Emerald Drive or Two Pairs Drive, which is the area we live in. A clever way to get them to know their neighborhood, the number of the house, and the number they live at.

9. Read to a Younger Sibling or the Dog

We have two really old dogs called Lillian and Lola, who are my third children, and I absolutely adore them. And since Ben has been a baby, we've always said to him, be gentle, don't pull Lily, let us tell you, be careful. And so now Ben, Maddie, and Emma sit and talk to Lillian like they are humans; it's very cute. I caught them already in front of the fire.

10. Label the Snack Bins

A clever way to get my kids working for me is to organize the pantry. My oldest one was absolutely 100% into doing this for me the minute I said, "Okay, let's organize the pantry." I made her take everything out, and she labeled everything alphabetically and color-coded it.

It was actually amazing to watch this happen. The other two got bored really quickly and went to go watch TV, but that kept the oldest one going for about two hours. She'll never forget how to spell spaghetti.

11. Protect the Bedtime Reading Routine

One thing that I can guarantee you is that reading to your child every single night before they go to bed is the best thing you can do for their little brains. We've done it since Ben was a day old, and he is six now. Cameron and Maddie also get a bedtime story; if it's not from Mom and Dad, then Emma reads it herself.

Sometimes when we're already tired, and we've got him late, and it's really time, we still don't want him to miss out on at least a page of a book, which is fine. It's a really good habit and routine to be in, because those brains soak up every single thing that you say.