Please share!
Many of you are like us and will be continuing to homeschool through the summer. But summer should also include a lot of fun activities. There’s really no reason why you can’t mix the two.
This is an idea we’ve already been using in our homeschool, but I will be expanding it to include more summer-ish activities as well.
Here’s how it works. Make your list of activities (I’ll give you some ideas below), write them all down on slips of paper and store them in a jar. Anytime you’re ready to add a day of fun, let your child choose an activity and have at it!
Create your “fun school” jar with exciting activities you know your kids will enjoy. Let them choose items to add to the jar, too. Then take a break from “school” and let them choose from the jar what they will do that day. Some ideas can include:
- Go on a nature walk with a list of items to look for (leaves, moss, animal tracks, acorns, flowers, etc.). Start a nature journal.
- Create art.
- Do messy science experiments.
- Collect an insect or other creature in your backyard (butterfly, moth, ants, spider, turtle) and observe it for a couple of days before releasing it. We have a box turtle that lives in our yard. Ben loves to keep him around for a couple of days now and then for observation. He can tell you more about box turtles than most kids, I think. Your little kids will love learning more about insects with Eric Carle’s books.
- Learn about how to use Word or PowerPoint.
- Grab a camera and look for interesting things to photograph. Learn about digital photography while you’re at it.
- Visit a nursing home with a list of questions to interview one of the residents.
- Bake cookies and visit your local fire house. Call ahead and you might even get a tour.
- Plant a garden. Even if you live in an urban area or apartment, you can grow herbs in a container or use root vegetables to make a table top garden.
- Visit your local zoo or aquarium. Choose one or two animals to learn about before you go, then photograph and observe while there.
- Find a creek or pond and collect water samples to study. Find rocks perfect for skipping and see how many times you can skip a rock through the water.
- Go to a local swimming pool and practice different strokes. Take along a stopwatch and time how long it takes to swim across the pool. Learn about water safety. Or the water cycle.
- Visit your local state or national parks. National and state Parks offer amazing fun and educational opportunities for a low cost. We even seek them out when on vacation!
- Learn about the history of ice cream; then go out for an ice cream cone.
- The next time you experience a thunderstorm, make a Thunder Cake (and a lapbook).
- Do you live nearby the ocean? Spend some time learning about ocean and beach life and then spend the day at the beach. Or save this idea for your next beach vacation!
- Call a local beekeeper and ask if you can come by to purchase some honey and have a tour. Most beekeepers I know love educating children about the benefits of bees and how honey is made.
- Go geocaching!
- Make pine cone bird feeders and hang them in a tree in your backyard.
- Find out what birds live in your neighborhood. Listen to their bird songs and then see if you can identify your neighborhood birds by their songs.
- Taking a walking tour of your city.
Free Nature Study Journal
Encourage your children to keep a nature journal with this free nature study printable for all four seasons. Includes scavenger hunts, draw and write pages, backyard bird count, and more! To receive your copy, enter your email below.
Be sure to take a gander at these Thornton Burgess nature books for Kindle. They are all free!
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