With more and more parents choosing to educate their children at home there has been a surge of homeschooling resources available to help them. Homeschooling takes a lot of time, thought and effort but when done well you can ensure your child gets the best education. In some cases, they’ll be better educated than many children that go to state or private schools in my experience. There are pros and cons to each but I did consider homeschooling my children but couldn’t being self employed, as I didn’t have enough time to teach 3 children of different ages and work too. Even though we didn’t home school, we still did many activities that homeschoolers would do. Here we look at some great Homeschooling Activities for Kids and how to keep them fun and interesting. These are suitable from preschoolers and up.
Homeschooling Activities for Kids
There are pros and cons to homeschooling. The biggest one that is that it affects a parents capacity for work. This is followed by the social side that helps with their development. The social side can be easily addressed by taking the kids to clubs. This way you can also cover their exercise requirements with clubs such as ballet, martial arts, street dance, football etc as well as allowing them to develop their social interaction skills. You could also consider clubs such as drama, cooking, coding, language classes etc. These can help them increase their skill set, and have fun in the process.
There are a wide range of homeschooling activities that are easy to do with young children. In this post we look at some of these.
Reading
Kids love to have stories read to them but can often be a bit more resistant to having to actually read for themselves. It’s important to make reading fun and interesting to keep them focused on the task at handy. Reading is easy enough to do at home. Alternatively, make it more of an adventure. Why not go to a park and sit and read in the fresh air on a bench, a blanket on the grass or even on the trunk of a tree that has fallen if it’s safe, or your garden if you have one. You could even create a dedicated cosy nook for reading in a room at home. Sit in a tepee, surrounded by their favourite teddies. There are numerous possibilities to choose from.
You could even go to a coffee shop and read whilst indulging in a slice of cake and a drink. Mix it up a bit, make it and enjoyable experience. We like to sit in bed and read to combine reading with cuddles. Try different ways to encourage this and see what works best for you. This sort of activity is one we need to start as early as possible. Where children learn to enjoy books from baby and toddler ages they tend to be more likely to enjoy them as they get older.
Online Educational Games
Online games can be fun for kids and although it is important to limit screen time, allowing them to play educational games can be great fun. There are various games available whether the kids are learning times tables, doing addition, subtraction, spelling etc. This sort of thing can help add fun and variety to the learning so it doesn’t become monotonous. Learning by playing games is great as it doesn’t just allow kids to have fun. They’ll also learn without even realising it making it easier for you to teach and to use this technique again.
Online Shows
There are also educational shows that can help kids learn. You’ll find a wide range covering subjects such as reading, writing, maths, science, history and much more. Horrible Histories is something many children will enjoy and come in book and can also be found on BBC iPlayer.
Why not download a free screen time chart to balance screen and play. This way you can monitor screen time and avoid over use throughout the day.
Sports
This is something that can be easily done at home. You can add toys to the mix to make home sports sessions more fun. If you have more than one child they can do this lesson together to add to the enjoyment. Kids love to compete and provided the age gap isn’t too large this can work extremely well. This doesn’t have to be done at home. You could all go cycling as a family, go to the park and play football, or tennis, or even just have a run around and play tag. Sports can also include clubs like gymnastics, badminton or anything else that is local that the kids might enjoy.
Arts and Crafts
There are lots of great arts and crafts projects that parents can do with children. These can help encourage creativity and also teach them to follow verbal or written instructions. Kids enjoy getting stuck in and creating all sorts of colourful items. There are so many things you can do. Consider letting them get messy and explore different ways to create art. Even simple drawing and colouring can be educational. Alternatively, you might want to draw on inspiration by looking at various forms of arts online. You could also go one step further and visit a museum that displays art or even an art exhibition. This is just one of the great screen free activities that kids will enjoy.
Cookery Classes
These are often popular with kids and cover home economics as well as science. There are so many different things you can make from cupcakes, to brownies, to pizzas and pasta dishes. It’s also a good way to help teach children about food and also add in information about where items come from, what’s healthy, what nutrients each food has as well as why we need them. You can adjust the complexity depending on the child’s age.
Music Classes
Music classes are not just fun for children, they can also be a great way of learning how to play an instrument. If you don’t know your sharps from your crotchets you can always pay for music lessons. These can be fun and has also been shown in studies to help develop the part of the left side of the brain that is known to be involved with processing language, and can enhance cognitive skills (reasoning, problem solving, learning from experience etc). It has positive effects on learning, memory, fine motor skills, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, and more.
Spelling Bees
These are great to help children increase their vocabulary. They are something that is easily done on a weekly basis. They can compete against siblings to see who gets the most age appropriate words correct. Or, you can challenge them to get all the words correct with the ultimate goal of winning a small prize if they succeed. Incentives can help encourage and motivate so make use of them although don’t over incentivise as children will eventually lose interest.
Nature Walks
Outdoor activities can be used to combine both education and exercise. There are so many things that can be learnt from the world around us from plant and animal/insect life cycles, to how clouds are formed and why it rains. Do your research and find a different topic to discuss each time. Different times of the year will allow for exciting new possibilities. You can explore the different types of plants, and flowers throughout the season and also the edible plants that surround us. Summer can be a wonderful time with various fruits ripening. Combining various senses such as sight, smell and taste can really help improve information retention. When a memory is linked to something fun, children are more likely to remember and it can also retain their focus and improve understanding too.
I hope you enjoyed reading my post Homeschooling Activities for Kids.
Are there any Homeschooling Activities for Kids that you might recommend or may have enjoyed doing as a child or with your child? If not, which would be your favourite option from those mentioned?
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I think learning through play and Montessori learning is so important. You get to apply what you learn in the real world and also experience what you’re learning first hand. Plus adding these activities in additional to what a kid learns in school is always useful and it helps them build understanding of the topic. We’re always going on nature walks, museums and reading signs and posters outside. We’re constantly doing Maths when we’re at Poundland, spending that £10 their grandparents have given them. Home schooling doesn’t have to be boring but as fun as you want it to be.
That’s very true, homeschooling can be really good fun and a great way to learn.
Lots of great ideas – love the cookery classes!
Those can be really good fun.
To be honest, I’m not convinced on the home schooling thing but if it’s good for your kids, then more power to you. The article does have some good observations.
It works for some children better than others. It also depends on whether a parent has time and is able to cover the topics. It isn’t for everyone.
Thank you for this post? I’m learning as much as I can about home schooling as contemplating it for my now 2 year old. This was really useful.
It is a big decision to make and something that can work well if you research enough and put in the time.
A lot of people are homeschooling now, more than ever. I was talking to someone the other day who does just that, and she said she knows lots of people that do it!
I know, it’s amazing how many parents do this now.
I would not have thought of cookery classes or music lessons. Fab ideas!
I’m so glad you included arts and crafts. I think the arts are an incredibly important part of education that shouldn’t be overlooked when homeschooling.
I will pass this on to my friend who is considering home schooling her kids.
That’s great, thanks Karen.
These activities will be perfect for Christmas break. The kids need something to do.
We do not homeschool, but all of these activities sound wonderful for kids. I can see them learning a lot–nature walks are popular here! My daughter does them for fun.
They are great fun, there is so much you can teach on a nature walk.
These are such great ideas. I might end up homeschooling again at some point. Great activities for the kids.
There are so many different activities that you can do.
Totally amazing and creative on your part to organize your schooling at home. I bow to those parents who manage to do it.
The mix of educational and fun activities like spelling bees, nature walks, and arts and crafts is perfect for keeping learning exciting.
I know a few friends who now homeschool their children and it has totally been the right decision for them. As you have said there really are so many resources.
Your suggestions on reading adventures, online educational games, and arts and crafts are both practical and fun.
So many people are turning to home schooling now, or thinking of it. It is such a mind field and quite scary for some to consider. This is a great post showing that it can be done and can be fun
Great ideas for home schooling. This is one thing that just wasn’t around when my son was little.
It has grown in popularity over recent years.
These are awesome options and ideas, they’re great…The educational online games are a perfect choice for me, some of these games are amazing actually
There are some really good educational games.
It’s fascinating to see the growing availability of homeschooling resources for parents taking on the challenge of educating their children at home. The recognition that homeschooling, when done well, can provide a top-notch education is compelling. I resonate with your consideration of homeschooling despite being self-employed – finding that balance can indeed be a challenge.
While my daughter does not homeschool her kids, these are good resources for school breaks. That way the kids are still learning.
They certainly are. The key is to make activities fun.
I enjoyed and agreed with the recommendations in this post. I didn’t home school my children but I did like using a lot of these as supplementary learning when they were on long breaks or just sprinkled in with their day-to-day life just to keep things fresh in their mind and creativity flowing.
That’s great o hear. It can be very beneficial to do a little extra with those that go to school too.
while my kids have not been homeschooled, i did and still do try to incorporate many of these – like nature walks,cooking/art and craft activities, reading, and more at home with them (they are almost 21 and 18 now!).. they are great ways to teach to learn and to bond as a family too
It can be a great way to teach and can improve how well children learn.
Love all of these ideas! Such a great way to make learning fun for kids.
It is important to make it fun for them.
I will pass this on to Tommy who is considering home schooling Morgan and Adam.
These are indeed great activities for homeschoolers! I loved playing spelling bee as a kid 😍. I need to share these ideas with my friends!
It’s an absolute pleasure to read your ideas, thanks for sharing them with us!
I’m glad you liked the post.
These homeschooling activities are so versatile and engaging! Reading is a fundamental skill, and your suggestions to make it more exciting and interactive are wonderful!
Such a great list of activities for the kiddos that are perfect for anytime and I can see also for Homeschooling. I just love this and am sharing this post with my brother who is thinking of homeschooling my niece 😉
Thanks so much, I hope that he finds this post helpful.
Your activities are awesome. I like that special attention to different types of learning every child can learn with and enjoy.
Excellent ideas! I particularly like the weekly spelling bees and also the music lessons because learning an instrument teaches not only how to use the instrument but also how to read sheet music while expanding memory.
These are all great suggestions for homeschooling. It is really popular these days and understandably!
It is very popular and can help children get a good education.
As a homeschooling mum, I totally agree with all of these. We spend a lot of time playing online games, going for long walks, and seeing local historical places of interest. I definitely find my little one is more engaged when we take the learning outside 🙂
These are great homeschooling ideas and resources. I will pass them on to my daughter.
I hope she finds them helpful.
There is more to nature walks than meets the eye! Thank you for your excellent suggestions.
There certainly is. There is so much you can learn and teach.
Home schooling figures are growing year on year- so it’s nice to see so many ideas here. THANKS
Some good ideas here. The football one would be popular with so many children of all ages.
I’d love to homeschool at home, especially after doing so during lockdown! Thank you for these tips.
We’re seriously considering home educating – a lot of positives for sure.
There certainly are and it can mean you monitor what your children are exposed to.
Lots of great ideas, cookery classes could be alot of fun and help with the kids nutrition.
Great ideas. I just need to get her off her phone now.
Ha, I think many have that problem Mark.
There are plenty of ways to make home schooling fun and I think the adults can learn a lot too!
They sure can. It’s a great way for all to learn.
The cooking classes look great, we tried a lot of these during covid. Great ideas.
They are really good fun x
This is a fantastic list of activities for homeschoolers! I thought about homeschooling my child and we really enjoy these ideas, especially arts and crafts, sports, and music!