Learn & Play Ideas
Having decided to homeschool our children, we wanted to give them the opportunity to learn what they want, when they want and how they want. Since they are still quite young, a lot of learning happens just as we go about our life – cooking, gardening, or fixing things around the house. Other times, when an interest persists, we take time and invent more involved projects to explore the topic in depth. Then all of us, including adults, often discover something new.
Some of our favourite ways to learn:
- THROUGH MAKING THINGS: Some of our favourite things to make include engineering projects. We also do a lot of general crafts to visualize things and understand how they work. We like working on art projects because whenever our son sees something that impresses him, he looks for a sketchbook to make a drawing of it.
- THROUGH GAMES: We play board games, and we make a lot of printable games of our own. Here are a few of our favourite games: Flag Bingo, Animal Tracks Game, Emotions Game, and Lego Charades Game.
- THROUGH BOOKS: We are always reading. We also listen to audiobooks! Check our list of favourite audiobooks for children that adults will also enjoy.
- and through PLAYING OUTDOORS: For all that summer is short in our part of the world, we love spending time outdoors.
On this page, we would like to share some of the projects and materials we created with other enthusiasts for creative learning.
Literacy
A category of activities related to our love of reading and writing.
- LEARNING TO READ. Our kids learned the alphabet while playing with their favourite toys and completing STEM challenges – you can read about how that happened with Lego Duplo Alphabet, Magna-Tile Alphabet, Lego 2D Alphabet, Lego 3D Alphabet and Pattern Block Alphabet. For a while, we were building letters out of everything. We made templates to share with other little engineers.
- STORYTELLING. Since the children were little, we have been using shadow puppets to enhance our storytelling experience.
- WRITING. Since my son loves making books, we have a series of free printable journals for kids. We fill some in every year, just to see how his answers have changed.
How to Write a Book Review – for Kids
Wondering how to teach children to write book reviews? With this free printable template, anyone can write one! While I usually write about our educational games and crafts, the biggest part of our homeschooling has always been reading books. (Isn't it the same for...
Nursery Rhymes with Printable Shadow Puppets
Use these printable shadow puppets to stage a shadow puppet play for children, based on famous nursery rhymes! Mary Had a Little Lamb Nursery Rhyme Shadow Puppets First things first, what exactly is a nursery rhyme? Any traditional poem or song for children can be...
Town Mouse and Country Mouse Shadow Puppets
Using these printable shadow puppets, you can stage a shadow puppet play, based on the popular fairy-tale The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse! We are back with a new instalment of shadow puppets. Every year, we make a few more to add into our collection of printable...
Social Studies
Geography and history can be a TON of fun when studying in a playful manner.
- HISTORY: Learning about vikings? Build a viking tent in the backyard. Interested in knights? Construct a castle from cardboard tubes.
- GEOGRAPHY: When exploring the world, either in reality or in imagination, learn flags while playing Flag Bingo or find out about different costumes children wear to school around the world.
- OTHER SOCIAL STUDIES: Learn about emotions with paper dolls or discuss recycling while playing a recycling game.
How to Make Shadow Puppets with Moving Parts
Learn how to make shadow puppets with moving parts and have playful shadow puppet duels with these articulated knight puppets! We love shadow puppets! Over the years, we have created many different shadow puppet templates. Some have been fairy-tales, others have...
The History of Space Suits with Astronaut Paper Dolls
Introduce the history of space exploration to kids by reading about influential space suits and making astronaut paper dolls! Space is full of wonders that we feel compelled to explore! Yet, space is also full of dangers that our bodies cannot survive unaided....
Social Stories with Puppets
Prepare children for new social experiences by making social stories and acting them out with shadow puppets! Getting ready for a birthday party, talking about what to do when you get lost, or outlining the rules of behaviour on the playground? I bet that as a parent...
STEM
- SCIENCE: This far, we have been mostly focusing on biology. We learned about anatomy by making life-size paper models of our bodies, playing with anatomy paper dolls and modelling organs on play-dough mats. We also have an on-going study of plants and animals – we play games of matching bird pairs (males and females are often surprisingly different!), animals with their tracks (have you ever seen an armadillo footprint?), and draw the missing halves of insects.
- TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING: Many of the engineering activities were actually invented and implemented by my son. Ever since he was a baby, building was his passion, and so he learns by building: foam airplanes, tall towers with wooden blocks and robots with magnets.
- MATH: Board games and Magna-tiles are our best friends when it comes to math right now.
Math Movement Dice
Math Movement Dice turn practising math into a game! Children can practise their addition and subtraction facts, work on their gross motor skills and have fun at the same time. With the free printable template, you can make the dice and play it too! Children learn...
How to Make Shadow Puppets with Moving Parts
Learn how to make shadow puppets with moving parts and have playful shadow puppet duels with these articulated knight puppets! We love shadow puppets! Over the years, we have created many different shadow puppet templates. Some have been fairy-tales, others have...
Magna Tiles Designs
Looking for new Magna Tiles designs to try? Here are our favourite Magna Tile ideas to build, with printable cards for inspiration. No matter how exciting and desirable at first, even the best of toys tend to fall out of favour. Take LEGO for example! A great toy,...
DIY Steampunk Wooden Robots
Introduce kids to woodworking by challenging them to create these whimsical steampunk wooden robots - from wood, screws and metal scraps! There is a certain appeal to a pile of loose hardware, wouldn't you say? All those nuts, bolts and little metal scraps seem so...
The History of Space Suits with Astronaut Paper Dolls
Introduce the history of space exploration to kids by reading about influential space suits and making astronaut paper dolls! Space is full of wonders that we feel compelled to explore! Yet, space is also full of dangers that our bodies cannot survive unaided....
Birds: Free Pattern Block Designs
Get the free printable pack of bird pattern block designs for STEM centres in your preschool and kindergarten! Children will learn the names of birds, practice building skills and math - all at once. In most classrooms, whether homeschool or traditional, pattern...
Outdoors
Backyard Railroad Engineering: Outdoor STEM Challenge for Kids
Like many kids, my son likes everything on wheels. Cars, construction machinery, emergency vehicles, trains. Especially trains. He also loves playing in the backyard, and for several summer now, I've been thinking how much fun it would be to build a railroad outside....
How to Make a Bean Teepee for Backyard Play
If you're looking for a kids' gardening project this summer, try building a bean teepee. This natural play tent is a fun addition to the backyard and a perfect hideout for little explorers. Last summer was our first as home owners, and we were as excited about our big...
Flower Canning Pretend Play
The end of summer, and it's time for canning. Can my son stay away? Of course not! And while we're still washing fruits and vegetables, he has already canned twenty jars! A lot of the posts in my blog are ideas of what parents can do for kids. This one is not. From...
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