Blog

One of my goals this year for my homeschool is to have fun. It is so easy to get in a rut and go through the motions each day. I get bored. The kids get bored.

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Learning can be fun. Not all the time. It is hard to make every grammar lesson an exciting experience. Sometimes, you just have to learn something. However, it is important to include fun.

Why is it important to include fun?

1. Kids will discover learning is fun and become lifelong learners. If they see learning as something to get through quickly to move on to something better, then they won’t seek out learning opportunities in the future. They need to see how fun it can be.
2. Including a fun activity each week is a way to connect with your kids. For that afternoon, I can be fun Mom. I am doing something with my kids that they enjoy. I’m showing them I understand their interests and am trying to find ways to include them in their schooling.

How do you include fun?

To make sure we have fun, I built it in our schedule. I know, not quite Miss Spontaneous, but if I plan it, we do it. It doesn’t get pushed off for some other time.

Every week, we do a Fun Friday Activity. If you follow me on Facebook, you see the different things we do each week. Most of it is educationally based fun. The kids love it, though. They get excited to see what the activity will be each week.

Planning Activities

I choose to find learning activities most of the time. Occasionally, we are all burnt out, and we watch a non-educational movie or hang out with friends. In general, they have some educational value.

So how do you plan out activities?

• Look at your kids’ interests. What do they enjoy doing? What do they like to do in their spare time?
• Ask yourself how to find a fun way to learn more and explore. Are there movies, field trips, or hands-on activities to explore it further?

Here’s an example:

My son loves computers and playing Minecraft. I assigned him a challenge. Using Minecraft, construct a treehouse. He went to work. He thought about the world that had the best trees for building a treehouse he planned the materials and then figured out how to construct it.

It was a fun way for him to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

He had a blast, and he was using Minecraft in an educational way. He liked the challenge. He is very competitive. If you challenge him to something, he will do it.

After, he sat down with me and explained how he made it, why he used the materials, and chose the location. He gave me a tour. He was full of enthusiasm, and I was lucky to have him share it all with me.

Fun Activity Ideas

We have done several things this year to include fun learning opportunities in our homeschool. Here are some suggestions.

• STEM challenges (Activities here, here, and here.)
• Baking or cooking activity (Click here for a fun baking activity.)
• Field trip to a historic site, art museum, science center, planetarium, children’s museum, and state park
• Hiking (nature study and physical education)
• Classes to learn a new skill or learn something new together at home (ie. woodworking, pottery, knitting, soap or candle making etc.)
• Movies ( based on books, history, science, or musicals)
• Games and puzzles (Here are some fun board games.)
• Science experiments
• Coding games or coding robots like Ozobot and Lego Boost (Check out this article on Ozobot.)
• Lego challenges and other building blocks
• Minecraft challenges
• Create a game together (a board game, an outside game, or game on Scratch) Take a look here at our outdoor board game.
• Arts and crafts
• Play dough or clay building projects
• Construct a marble maze with items around the house
• Make your own clay, slime, or play dough (Click here for clay recipes.)
• Meet up with friends for sledding, ice skating, roller skating, or biking for physical education
• Create a play or puppet show

The list can go on and on. The key is to find what sparks your child’s interest and find ways to explore and learn more together.

If you want more ideas, subscribe and get a FREE list of 36 fun activities to do with kids!

The one thing I love most about our Friday activities is our time together. We are having fun and learning together as a family. I hope my kids remember our Friday Fun Activities when they are older.

Another thing I love is we end the week on a good note. The kids may have had a hard time learning material or some other struggle, but their last memory is the fun activity we did.

It doesn’t matter when or how you include fun in your homeschool. The important thing is you do. Your kids will benefit and so will you.

How do you include fun in your homeschool? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Happy Homeschooling!

If you need more ideas, search through the Family Fun and Project and Activities section on this site.