Creating learning activities at home is a great way to support your child’s education – and it’s fun! All it takes is a few household items and a bit of inspiration. To help you with the latter, here are 12 fun learning activities your kids can do at home:
Practise writing
Practising writing can be much more exciting if you ditch the pens and paper. Try writing in chalk on the pavement or with your finger in some shaving foam. It’s both entertaining and educational.
Craft stick calculations
Line up your sticks to teach your toddlers about tallying or write out some sums to help them with their mental maths. From finding the missing digit in the number line to pairing the answer to the equation – the options are endless, so get creative with your craft stick calculations.
The science of sinking
Basic science experiments are always a hit with children! Try dropping different objects into a bucket of water to see whether they sink or float. You’ll have plenty of fun and gain a brief insight into the science of density.
Make some music
You don’t have to be a musician to teach your child about music – you just need a few household items and some creativity. Make your own instruments with anything from empty bottles, beans and rice to paper plates and bells. They’ll learn all about counting, rhythm and timing.
Storytime
Learning activities at home gives you the freedom to adapt regular activities, like reading, into something more fun and engaging. If your child can’t read yet, why not invite them to narrate a picture book? Or how about acting out one of their favourite stories?
Counting crafts
Why not mix up your maths lesson with some arts and crafts. Start by cutting out some flowers and counting the petals. From there, you can challenge your children to add a certain number of petals to a stem or even cut the flower into fractions. If flowers aren’t your thing, try anything from caterpillars to dried pasta.
Magic milk
Add drops of food colouring into a bowl of milk before pouring soap into the centre of the dish. The soap will cause the food colouring to dart around the bowl, leaving you with an exciting display of colours and an introduction to the science of molecules and surface tension.
Explore world cultures
Learning activities at home allows you to explore beyond the curriculum. Exploring other cultures through food, film and crafts is an amazing way to expand your child’s cultural awareness.
Colour coordination
Be it a bag of pom-poms, some colourful clothes pegs or a collection of their toys – inviting your child to start sorting objects into matching colours is a great way to teach them about colour. Using smaller objects like buttons or pasta shells will also help hone their fine motor skills.
Match the meaning
Expand your child’s vocabulary by inviting them to pair up new words with their definitions. Write out a selection of words and definitions onto cue cards and let them have it! For your younger children, you can always colour coordinate or include helpful clues.
Gardening galore
The benefit of learning activities at home is that you’re not limited to the classroom. Get outside and start planting some flowers and vegetables – your children will learn all about nature, science and even nutrition.
Sorting shapes
This can be as simple as pairing 2D shapes or as exciting as scavaging for 3D objects. Identifying familiar shapes in your family home can be a fun and easy way of introducing your child to basic geometry.
So there we have it – 12 learning activities your kids can do at home. Why not give them a try? You’ll have hours of fun and you may even discover your child has a way with words or a knack for numbers!
At Schoolhouse Daycare, we enjoy learning, encouraging confidence and we love life! If you think your child would enjoy life at Schoolhouse, then please do not hesitate to arrange a visit.