What if you could make learning at home so fun your kids would forget they’re doing school? Learning at home allows you to be flexible and creative. With a little creativity and a few fun touches, you and your kids will have a great time, make wonderful memories, and create a little learning magic along the way!
How to Make Learning at Home Fun!
1. Fill your house with beautiful, fascinating books of all kinds! Include biographies, historical fiction, living science books, picture books for all ages, classics, novels, and mysteries.
2. Create an inviting reading nook. Make a space that feels special with mood lights, soft pillows, fun book storage, and creative decor.
3. Purchase and collect fun school supplies. Let your kids pick out fun notebooks, pencils, erasers, markers, etc. Go for the metallic unicorn notebook, the fruit-shaped erasers, and aromatic Smencils!
4. Create variety in your learning space. Try doing school outside, in a pillow fort, on a blanket in the middle of the living room, or wherever your kids have fun learning.
5. Set up a creative writing center. Stock it with Rory’s Story Cubes, creative writing prompts, paper, pencils, markers, art supplies, stickers, and more. Let your child’s imagination soar! Check out our family’s favorite ways of incorporating creative writing into learning.
6. Create a busy basket. Ours is filled with coloring books, art supplies, puzzles, maze & dot-to-dot books, and squishy toys. We pull it out during read-aloud time to keep our hands occupied while we enjoy listening.
7. Enjoy teatime each afternoon. Prepare some tasty snacks and gather around the table for afternoon tea, poetry, literature, and handicrafts. Check out this post from Table Life Blog with 52 themes for your homeschool tea time.
8. Art, art, and more art! Our kids love doing art every day. Keep it simple with drawing tutorials on YouTube, art kits, drawing in a sketchbook on nature walks, or painting with watercolors in the backyard. We love Artkeyology Boxes and You Are An Artist’s pastel tutorials are our favorite.
9. Listen to great music. Choose a composer or style of music and listen as you learn. YouTube has playlists of every kind. If you want some suggestions, check out our family’s free Classical Listening Guide or SQUILT Music’s Monthly Listening Calendars.
10. Begin the school day with a fun song. In our house “Happy” is our call to action. When the music starts, the kids race to the school room so they can enjoy the music and dance before it’s time to begin our day.
11. Learn as a family. Everything is more fun when done together! Try learning geography, science, history, art, nature study, STEM, thinking skills together. Check out our post on hands-on family-schooling here.
12. Use fun learning apps. Reward your student for doing a great job on their work for the day with 15 minutes of a learning app. Having screen time will feel like a treat and is a sneaky way to build their skills. Check out Techie Homeschool Mom’s Big List of Educational Apps.
13. Make school into a game! Grab a kitchen timer and challenge your student to complete their work in a set amount of time. Race them to finish a subject before you finish making lunch. Competitive games will keep the whole house on their toes!
14. Go on a virtual field trip. Did you know that you can visit The San Diego Zoo, Titanic Wreckage, Yosemite, The Smithsonian, The Great Wall of China, The Metropolitan Art Museum, The International Space Station, and the Louvre from the comfort of your home? Check out a a list of fun and free virtual field trips from Freedom Homeschooling here.
15. Try a unit study. Unit studies are a fun way to learn about a topic in depth across multiple subjects. Our favorite unit studies are Five in a Row and Girls of American History but there are hundreds of free unit studies available. A great place to find free unit studies is Homeschool Share.
16. Play learning games! There are fun games to support every topic under the sun. How about Scrabble for spelling practice or The Scrambled States for U.S. Geography. Check out this huge list of learning games from Our Journey Westward.
17. Develop critical thinking skills with games. There are myriad options for all ages and levels including chess, sudoku, Mindware games and mazes, Genius Square, Foxmind Games, and Smart Games.
18. Try a monthly subscription box. KiwiCo is a favorite in our homeschool. They offer STEM and art boxes for all ages. The kits include everything the child needs to do multiple projects and provide hours of learning fun. Check out our post about Kiwi Crates.
19. Watch educational programs and documentaries. We love Magic School Bus, Discovery Education Kids, National Geographic, and Liberty Kids.
20. Try Star Wars STEM activities. Check out Left Brain Craft Brain’s fun ideas.
21. Engage kids in a LEGO STEM challenge. Try one of 40 challenges from Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies.
22. Learn geography with Disney movies! Find a Disney movie that is set in the region or country you are studying. Make it a movie night with music, food, a game or craft, and a movie. Check out our hands-on geography post.
23. Learn a foreign language together. There are several free foreign language apps and some are even free. Our family recommends Duolingo and Babbel.
24. Go on learning adventures! Take field trips, go on hikes & nature walks, and visit museums.
25. Enjoy a nature study. You can visit a local nature reserve or your backyard to observe, sketch, and learn about plants, animals, weather and more. Our family’s favorite curriculum is NaturExplorers from Our Journey Westward.
26. Bird watch in your backyard. Grab a pair of binoculars, a bird guide, and a notebook and identify the winged creatures in your yard. If you have a child that enjoys drawing, try drawing the birds you spy. For a fun project, make bird feeders from pinecones and share them throughout your neighborhood.
27. Make a Lapbook. Document your learning in a fun hands-on way with lapbooks. Homeschool share offers free options. Our favorites are from Knowledge Box Central and Homeschool in the Woods.
28. Try an Outschool Class. Would your kids like to to learn science, art, theater, history, writing, or cooking with kids from around the country? Outschool has hundreds of affordable and fun classes for a variety of ages to choose from.
29. Have celebrations! Celebrate milestones, Dr. Seuss day, international pancake day, or whatever your family enjoys. Break out the music, special snacks, and games to mark the occasion.
30. Add cooking to your studies. How about making a meal from Japan for geography or making an ancient Greek meal for history? Cooking can extend to science by making a cake for chemistry or building a plant cell out of fruit or Jello.
How do you add fun to homeschooling?
What are your favorite tips to add fun to homeschooling? Please comment below with questions or ideas. Please comment below and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. I wish you a rich and joyful learning adventure and hope this year is one of sweet times and wonderful memories for your family.