The schools in Bahrain have been closed since February 26, meaning we are now in week 6 (6?, that’s right, right?) of “homeschooling.” I know America is just diving into the fun now, and the Internet is FULL - I mean, like CRAZY FULL - of ideas and activities and all. I actually had to stop looking after day 3 because it was a little overwhelming.
But I thought I’d share some of the activities we’ve been doing with our 5, 5 and 8yos that have been fun for all, even parents.
1. Scavenger hunts - Scavenger hunts are great fun. So, either grab some from the internet, or make your own. We’ve done neighborhood ones (see post HERE) and 5 senses one. You can make color ones (like Eye-Spy something red, or puce), or number ones, or “Find the Letter” ones. Whatever you want. If you just want to print out some great ones, here’s a whole bunch and here’s MORE!
2. Cooking & baking - Now’s your chance to try all those recipes you’ve been wanting to. We made soft pretzels (see pretzel post HERE) and Dreena Burton’s chocolate zucchini bread. I’m hoping my husband will try out his grandmother’s pizza dough recipe soon.
3. Paper dolls - My girls have discovered paper dolls and they’ve been having a blast with them. We started with some adorable Cricut ones a friend gave us, but since then we’ve tried out Diane Alber’s princess tea party set (you can download yours here, along with lots of other fun printables). and we also love these from Kari Wilson.
4. Sorting fun - Whether you call it filling time, or sorting practice, having the kids help you to reorganize the freezer, refrigerator, pantry, cupboards, whatever, can not only be a learning/teaching experience, but it’s also nice to finally get it done! Help them refill all the spice jars, too! (Fine motor movement, funnel fun, hand-eye-coordination, plus it smells great!)
5. Obstacle courses - These can be done wherever you have the space. We’ve taken some kebab skewers and bright ribbon and made an agility course in the backyard. For added fun, we tied jingle bells to some ribbons so you had to start over if you made them ring.
You can also use dining chairs and weave string through them to let the kids climb under/through. Or use painter’s tape or streamers across a hallway.
6. Arts & crafts - Don’t discount the love of arts and crafts for most kids. Everything from paint, to glue, to cutting paper, to Papier-mâché, to coloring sheets. Have them make cards for their friends or grandparents or neighbors. Have them lie down on large sheets of paper (or newspaper, or taped-together sheets) and trace their bodies, then color them in.
7. Pen pals - Reach out and have your littles find some penpals they can write to or share e-mails. My 8yo is enjoying learning about other kids and seeing their rooms and pets and finding out they both love broccoli AND gymnastics! (“We’re like twins!” she said.)
8. Home economics - Now is the time to show the kids all the fun stuff that’s involved in running a house. Here’s how we wash dishes, do the laundry (put the soap in, push the buttons, turn the dials, but ONLY if Mom or Dad is there), sweep the floors, mop, dust, clean windows, clean out the car, fold clothes (Here’s a great tutorial for kids on folding). I even dragged out the sewing machine and had the kids sit for an easy lesson. And I still have on my list to-do “sew a button”.
9. Sensory fun - There are so many different options for making your own sensory tub or bin or whatever. We have a tub of rainbow rice that we bring out as well as homemade cloud dough. You can also use fine grains, beans, popcorn, etc. Check out this great list here of things.
We also made our own… Ooblek? I guess that’s what it’s called. 1C cornstarch and ~1/2C water, mix until weird. One of my kids loved it, the others were dubious.
10. Learn to type - This is certainly something I never imagined introducing my littles to this early, but with distance learning, I figured I might as well let them know there are “proper” ways to type versus the tiring pecking method. Friends recommended the following for kids: BBC Dance Mat, ABCYA’s Keyboard Zoo, and Typing Club.
11. Playdough - Let’s be honest, this can be hours of fun for all. And a friend has this fabulous recipe so you can make your own at home. We tried it and it was GREAT! And if your kids are anything like my littles, despite multiple pleadings from Mom to NOT mix the colors, they do, so we always end up with piles of bird-poop-colored play dough. Being able to make my own has made us all much happier.
12. Write a story - Yes, I’m an author, so encouraging my kids to write comes naturally. But make it fun. Have them write (or dictate) a story and then draw pictures for it, or use paper dolls to illustrate it, or even let them make sock puppets and create a puppet show behind the couch.
13. Do dolphins have teeth? - Kids are FULL of questions, right? Now you’ve got lots of time to answer (or research) them. I let my kids pick a subject and then we dig a little and learn a few facts about them. No pressure, just fun learning (and maybe prepping them a little for the dreaded research papers to come).
14. Play teacher - if you have multiples, let them play teacher to each other. Granted, this depends a lot on ages and personalities, but for mine, this works well and they take turns. And I was surprised that they actually did real work, writing numbers and letters.
15. Math is everywhere - from cooking lessons (halves, quarters and wholes) to number lines and counting chocolate chips. You can encourage passive math endlessly. We even used painter’s tape and created a number line on the tile floor. We have our littles walk-out their addition and subtraction, or use toys as placemarkers.
16. Want to know more? - Have a kid who loves art? There are so many fabulous art tutorials on YouTube. Even best-selling author Mo Willems is sharing daily. Have a kid who loves Legos? Check out this 30-day Lego challenge or the Lego stamping art. Got someone who is interested in STEAM activities? Check out MIT’s site! Dig into YouTube and find them karate instructions, or ukulele lessons, yoga time, animation tutorials, etc. Check out this list of great YouTube channels for kids.
17. Plan a trip - So, most of us aren’t go anywhere soon. But that doesn’t mean we can plan a trip. Ask your kids where they want to go. And depending on their interest, plan out the route, look at hotels, decide your itinerary. Grab pictures from the Internet to make up a scrapbook. Our current destinations are the North Pole, Argentina or Antarctica to see the penguins, and Tanzania to see cheetahs. We haven’t decided which is first, or whether we’ll combine them all. Might depend on flight patterns.
18. Puzzles - A puzzle can be a solitary activity or a group one, depends on interest and abilities. If your kids are patient enough to help out with puzzles, then great! I sometimes have my littles (who don’t always have the patience to do a bigger puzzle) to help me sort the pieces by color, or help me find the edge pieces. Every little bit helps.
19. Salt dough - I absolutely love this!! We started off making ornaments. We made some egg ones for the trees and Easter. Then we made some for the neighbors and left them on their porches. Now I have visions of making little mice villages with battery lights and little trees. There are tons of salt dough recipes out there, here’s one with great tips and pics.
20. Ice-time - I’m sure you’ve already done the toy-in-a-balloon ice ball thing, but keep doing it. This has yet to lose its fun for my littles. Change it up, use muffin tins or silicone baking cups. Make a BIG one. Put different toys in each. I send my kids outside with their ice blocks, hand them a bowl of warm water, some spray bottles and pipettes or eye droppers. They love it and we refreeze almost every night. This can be done indoors, too - a bowl at a table, a bowl in the tub. Have fun!
21. Fun worksheets - We all need a break. And a lot of children’s book authors offer free activity books from their websites (like ME - don’t forget to subscribe to my site and you can get ALL my free printables - hundreds of pages of things to do, from crafts, to mazes, word searches, quizzes, coloring pages, etc.). Print them all off, hand them out, grab a cup of tea and take 15 minutes for yourself. You deserve it. Teachers Pay Teachers has tons of fun stuff as does Diane Alber, among others.
BONUS: READING - I know, it’s obvious, but sometimes the most obvious things get overlooked. Reading time isn’t just for bedtime. Make it part of your day all day long - before, during or after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Want a little break from reading, let your kids listen to someone else read a book. Check out these sites: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, Dr. Belinda George’s Tucked in Tuesdays and Children’s Hospital Story Time. Encourage them to read to each other - even if they can’t read, you KNOW they know all the words to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, plus hundreds more.
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FAIR WARNING:
The activities last less time than you think they should.
Everything is messy.
Everything requires clean up.
So, incorporate the prep-work AND the clean-up and everyone wins. Tell your kids they get extra Home-Ec credits for doing it. You’re the teacher, you can do that.
Bottom line… try to create some fun times.