Whether you home school or send your children to a school, having educational activities for kids to do at home will enhance their learning. Activities will also keep them away from the television or video games and get them using their problem solving skills and creativity, and stimulate their senses. Simple and inexpensive household items can be used to create wonderful learning experiences for young children.
Instructions
Sensory Activities
1. Make scented Playdough. On your stovetop, mix 1 cup of flour, one package of Jello, 1/2 cup of salt, 1 cup of water, 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
2. Stir well and then cook until the mixture becomes very thick and you are no longer able to stir it with your spoon.
3. Knead it well with your hands after it cools.
4. Give the dough to children along with cookie cutters, cut-up straws or small plastic animals. Encourage them to be creative.
5. Mix cornstarch with water and add some food coloring and extract of your choice.
6. Let children put their hands in it, fill cups with it and scoop it with spoons. The texture of this mixture makes a wonderful sensory experience.
Literacy Activities
7. Write each letter of the alphabet on a 1-inch by 1-inch square of paper.
8. Cut them out, and have your child practice putting simple words together such as cat, dog, sit and the.
9. As she becomes more skilled at spelling, create more letter cards so that she can practice longer words.
10. Write each letter of the alphabet with a marker, in both upper case and lower case, on a 2-inch by 2-inch piece of paper. To make the "cards" more sturdy, you can then glue each letter square to a piece of card stock measuring the same size.
11. Once all of the letter cards are completed, turn each card upside down and take turns trying to match the upper case to the lower case letter.
12. Let each player turn over two cards. If he gets a match he will take another turn. If he doesn't, he will turn the cards back over and let the next player go. The player with the most matches wins.
13. Gather old magazines that are child appropriate.
14. Decide on a theme with your child and then tell him to find objects that fit that theme in the magazines provided. For example, you might say "Let's find all of the blue things." Then have your child cut out each item and glue it to a piece of paper.
15. Talk together about the items you find.
Math Activities
16. Have your child count seeds, beans, grapes or other small household items.
17.Count out one pile of items. Then ask, "How many will we get if we add three more to our six?" Let the child count out all of the items after you have added or subtracted.
18. Make up as many equations as you like, or let your child come up with the equations and answers.
Science Activities
19. Cover an area with newspaper in your kitchen or other place that can be easily cleaned.
20. Place three bowls on the table. In one bowl, mix flour and water. In another, mix cornstarch and water. In the third, mix liquid starch, glue and water.
21. Ask your child to predict what she thinks will happen before you mix each item.
22. Let your child feel the mixtures with his hands and describe what he feels.
23. Write down your predictions and findings as you mix the flour and water, cornstarch and water and glue with liquid starch.
Tags: your child, each letter, with your, case lower, case lower case