Kids Learning Activities To Try at Home

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. ~Maya Angelou

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. ~Wayne Gretzky

You've always had the power, my dear. You just had to learn it for yourself. ~Glinda the Good Witch, The Wizard of Oz

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible. ~ Dalai Lama

Car ramp races were big with my son when he was a toddler. Take a length of cardboard, draw a couple of lanes and set it on an angle (the bottom of the stairs works well for this). Toddlers can release toy cars at the top of the lanes and watch them race down.

Make a town on your floor. Use painter's tape to create city streets, make buildings out of LEGOs to place around the different blocks, and drive hot wheels around the town.

Bounce a balloon in the air without letting it touch the floor.

Squishing sensory toys like Play Doh, kinetic sand or aqua beads are all satisfying sensory activities for toddlers!

Dressing dolls, especially barbies. When my kids were really little this usually involved me sitting and playing/dressing dolls with them and then they gradually learned to do more and more on their own.

An OT told me this one: use small writing utensils such as golf pencils and broken crayons. This helps prevent children from grabbing the utensil with a fist and encourages the correct pencil grasp.

This probably depends on the kid, but when my kids were little I would give them a task/goal such as "we can go to the park as soon as your shoes are on and I finish one quick chore" and then walk away to do my own chore somewhere close by, like emptying the dishwasher. I found that they would figure out how to do things for themselves when I wasn't standing over them and tempted to help or looking at the clock. Be sure to do this a looong time before you have to be out the door.

Placing letters on a letter board. I discovered this one by accident, but I love how it keeps my 4-year-old sitting quietly for long stretches of time while he tries to get the plastic letters to stay in my felt letter board.

Picking weeds outside, watering flowers/plants/herbs and raking leaves is a chore that my kids find fun. (Added bonus if you buy their own gloves/watering can).

Lots of yard work options for chores! Older kids can mow the lawn, and all ages can help with sweeping, pulling weeds and other gardening tasks.

Dusting is a chore I'll assign to all of my kids, from preschooler to teens. I just adjust who dusts what based on how fragile it is!

Straightening the family's shoe area is a good chore that I'm about to assign to our tween, but any age could do it. Our shoes are on shelves in the bottom of our coat closet, but it becomes a disaster so quickly when the kids just kick them off into a pile and shut the door! Organizing the shoes every day will only take a couple minutes, and will make it so much easier for everyone to find their shoes on the way out the door.

The Chinese soft-shelled turtle pees from its mouth.

Belugas are the only whales that can turn their heads.

Honey is the only food that never spoils.

Frogs eat their skin after they shed it.

My husband and I will usually take the day off work (when we can) so we can be there for drop off and pick up on the first day, which makes it feel extra special for all of us.

First day of school photos on our front steps, and couple more in front of the school too.

We have taken first day of school and last day of school pics on the front step with each kid holding their own sign. It's the same every year. My high schooler isn't too thrilled with the idea of doing it this year but will have to suffer through it. I plan to make them each a printed photo book of each year's pics when they graduate high school as a keepsake.

First day of school traditions in my house include a pancake breakfast and upbeat music. I usually include a special treat in their lunch boxes, too. When the kids return, a large after-school snack awaits them at the table to help unwind the exciting day.

When a bald eagle loses a feather on one wing, it will lose a matching feather on the other wing to keep its balance.

Frogs eat their skin after they shed it.

Axolotls are an incredible species of salamander that can regrow their limbs, spines, even their hearts and other organs!

A group of pandas is called an embarrassment.

My boys pick out their clothes the night before, and always check what the weather will be like to plan for it, as well as if they have gym or not. It makes getting dressed in the morning much easier!

The kids are responsible for getting their backpacks ready before going to bed, and making sure they have all their homework, books, permission slips, etc in there, and that it is zipped up and ready to just grab and go in the morning. We sometimes need to remind them to do this, but as it becomes part of the nighttime routine it gets easier and easier!

My kids also charge up their chromebooks after school/after homework so they are packed up fully charged for the next day.

Prepare lunches the night before. I have a fruit bowl and baskets with healthy snacks, so the kids can help prepare their lunches, too. If they help with preparation, they're more likely to eat it, too.