Fun Learning Activities Kids
Making butter used to be a hard, time-consuming job. But of course, for centuries, almost everyone did it. When my kids and I read a story book about life in old Appalachia recently and saw the pictures of a butter churn and children pumping away at it, we decided that we wanted to give making [...]
What makes water molecules stick together to form a drop of water? Surface Tension. What allows those cool water bugs to walk on water? Surface Tension. But what is surface tension and how to you teach it to children? According to Wikipedia, surface tension is a property of the surface of a liquid that allows [...]
Have you ever made bread with your children? It’s such a satisfying thing to bake and so well suited to children as the dough is robust enough to withstand their enthusiastic handling. This easy bread recipe is a really good one to use with kids. It’s almost a no-knead recipe, with just thirty kneads required, [...]
A friend approached me the other day with a box full of biodegradable packing peanuts left over from a package she received. I was so excited when she started showing me some different things she discovered about them and grabbed a handful to bring home to my son. The first thing she told me was [...]
Great spring & summer weather takes us all outdoors. We love to explore on trails, parks, and even walks in the neighborhood. Though it is totally against my personality, I am intentionally slowing down my pace and allowing my kids to take in nature at it’s best. We ohh & awe over the various colored [...]
We came up with these story cubes as an activity to help my child learn to read. They are a mix between Rory’s Story Cubes (they were featured in our last Toy Guide) and Bob’s Books. We use a mixture of Bob Books, Progressive Phonics and the free printables at Hubbard’s Cupboard for our reading [...]
The latest craze in our house is DIY placemats, using the children’s art to create unique place settings for our table. When the children have a friend coming to tea they like to make a special placemat just for the guest, to welcome them to the meal and for them to take home with them [...]
My son loves making cool gadgets. For his latest creation, he learned how to make his own compass. The supplies are simple: plastic lid or shallow bowl needle or straight pin a bar magnet a slice of cork/styrofoam or the top of a plastic milk jug some water Step 1 I helped by using a [...]
It’s Springtime here (hopefully where you are too!) and with the warmer weather & sunny days, our family loves to take advantage of fresh produce with the openings of local farmer’s markets for the season. We like to go to the farmer’s market for fresh fruit, veggies, and baked goods. Getting to sample all of [...]
When you’ve lived in your home for a few years, cleaned it hundreds of times, and played hide-and-go-seek more times than you can count, you feel like you know every nook and cranny. There’s nothing like an indoor photo treasure hunt or an indoor safari though to make you realize that there is more to the interior of [...]
5 Earth Day Activities to Do with Children of All Ages Earth Day is a worldwide celebration of our beautiful planet. It is also a reminder that we need to promote awareness of Earth’s need for protection through conservation and recycling. It is important to teach our children at an early age to take care [...]
Do you find yourself constantly “tidying –up”? Do you feel like all your hard work cleaning is undone as soon as the kids walk in the door? Do you ever ask yourself if you live with a bunch of ‘whirl-winds’? As a mom of 3 busy kids, I felt like I was constantly picking stuff [...]
I try to teach my children about disabilities at a young age. It’s important that they have at least a basic understanding of disabilities and realize that although some people have more challenges in life, may look different or act different than us, that they are still just as wonderful as anyone else. I also [...]
Writing makes so much more sense to kids if they are writing with purpose. Especially if you happen to have a child who is a rather reluctant writer, incorporating writing into your every day life and play can motivate them to pick up a pencil and make their mark. Giving writing a practical purpose lets [...]
I recently went to Wal Mart to shop for party supplies. One of the items I wanted was a bag of balloons. I found the balloons but also discovered a fun new kind of balloon – LED balloons! They have a little light in them that is activated when you pull out the tab. Then [...]
Play dough is one of our all-time favorite play materials. It’s great for children of all ages and provides a sensory play experience that can be adapted in so many different ways to encourage lots of learning. It lends itself well to exploring many aspects of math – through number recognition, counting, shape exploration and construction. [...]
It’s another round of It’s Playtime. This week we are doing a round-up of posts relating to paint. There are so many ways your kids can play with and interact with paint! Thanks Adventures at Home for inspiring this post. Last week she had fun marbling paper with shaving cream and dye. The results are [...]
“Upcycled” or recycled art is a great way to re-use items that would otherwise end up in the dump or at a recycling plant. It’s a great way to get creative and use free art materials! We recently created recycled art with biodegradable packing peanuts. Biodegradable packing peanuts are not like styrofoam packing peanuts which [...]
Legos, we are a lego obsessed family right now, might as well use that “love” to our benefit. We have begun incorporating legos into our education. In addition to the Lego lapbook we made last week, I wanted to incorporate creative writing & so I challenged my son to come up with a story about [...]
We love simple magic tricks – the kids love discovering the “secrets” or the science behind the experiments. This magic trick uses a dollar bill and paper clips. It can’t be any easier than that! This magic paper clip trick is easy for little kids to perform. My son learned this for a Cub Scout [...]
We recently had fun learning with this LEGO Unit Study & Lapbook, and my son declared that this was his favorite week of school we have ever done. A lapbook is made to be looked at over and over, & your child adds little snippets of information they learn throughout a unit of study. It [...]
Does it Sink or Float? My husband and I were reminiscing recently about eating at the dining hall at the college where we met. We talked about our favorite meals, the nights we ate waffles with ice cream for dinner, and I remembered pouring sprinkles into my glass of Seltzer Water when I was bored [...]
The more you read, The more things you will know. The more that you learn, The more places you’ll go. -Dr. Seuss I always wanted a family full of readers. So I read to my babies in utero. I read to them as infants. I read to them as they were chewing the board books [...]
I just love melty beads! There are so many nice things about them- the way they feel on your fingers when you put your hands in a bucket of them, their bright colors, and their lack of toxic fumes when you melt them (unlike so many plastics). The classic melted bead project though -with a [...]
Have you ever tried a simple kids sewing project with your children? My daughters, who are five and nine, love making items for themselves and it’s surprising how many great things they can make, even as beginner sewers. We always have a making box available, full of junk boxes and bits of craft materials, which [...]
My son loves magic tricks. I love simple science experiments. Here’s a fun magic trick with a little science behind it. My son lifted an ice cube from a cup of water with just a string touching it. He was elated and in awe as the cube dangled in the air. All you need is [...]
Do you think dollar bills are magnetic? Here’s a quick little experiment to do while studying magnets or money! You’ll need a dollar bill and a magnet. Fold a dollar bill in half and set it on the table like in the picture above. We ended up taping the bill to the table because it [...]
We had been using aluminum foil for a school project. Once we were done, my kids started playing with their leftover foil scraps. It really is fun to play with foil! Then they started asking for more. And more. Aluminum foil is inexpensive and so much fun to create with that I let them use [...]
We had a blast today at the park playing with our homemade Marshmallow Shooters! They are very easy to make with some basic supplies. Here is all that you need to make two shooters: Supplies: Plastic cup – I used a Glad disposable food storage cup. The tops had cracked but I couldn’t bear to [...]
I recently discovered some fun games and activities that I can make at home for my little girl. They are called File Folder Games. There are tons of free templates for File Folder Games on the Internet but this particular one I made is a pattern matching game. File Folder Games are so easy to [...]
