81 Activities for Little Kids

While evaluating preschool fun for my 4-year-old this year, I realized he's already naturally learned his letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, just as Charlotte Mason assured me he would, without a heavy curriculum. (Just don't tell her that he watched Dora and Leapfrog and played on the computer!) I like to have some one-on-one time with him though, so what should we do?

Here's my list of 81 fun things to do with my little man this year. My plan is to do our reading lesson and then take 30 minutes to do an activity together. I'll either pick what sounds good to me or have him draw a paper out of a bucket.

I chose activities that take little to no prep on my part, since the bigger kids take the majority of my brain during the school year! :)

You can find photos of some of these activities on my Pinterest Boards: Preschool and Toddlers.

Math/Logic

Play Store

Bake Cookies

Pattern Blocks

Shiller Math Blocks

Clock Practice

Sort Change

Hullabaloo

Twister

Battleship

Cereal Abacus

Memory Game

Candy Cane Ornament

Button Board

Dominoes

Rulers

Jelly Bean Math Chart

Art

Play Dough

Shrinky Dink

Paint

Stickers

Cheerio Art

Magazine Collage

Mosaic Squares

Thumb Prints

Stencils

Card Making

Bead Pipe Cleaners

Side Walk Chalk

Popsicle Stick Matching

Language

Write a Story

Puppet Show

Doctor Kit

Act with weapons

ABC Hunt

Play Dinosaurs

Make Treasure Hunt

Seasons Collage

Make a Yarn Book

Building

Trains

Blocks

Hot Wheels

Legos

Duplo Blocks

Box Building

Games

Uno/Go Fish

Candy Land

Story Maker

Blokus

Quirkle

Sorry

Puzzles

Monopoly Junior

Rummikub

Checkers

Connect Four

Active

Kick Ball

Trampoline

Zip Line

Running Races

Obstacle Course

Dance

Bean Bag Toss

Bozo Buckets

Hide and Seek

Tag

Outside

Sidewalk Chalk

Collect Rocks

Collect Leaves

Paint Rocks

Scavenger Hunt

Ride Bikes

Ride Scooter

Roller Skate

Play Catch

T-Ball

Treasure Map

Cloud Shapes

Hop Scotch

Swinging

Bubbles

Carnival

Ok - your turn! What should I add to the list?

Free Cursive Writing for Kids

Have you ever noticed that all the little home schooling workbooks start to add up? I'm always looking for ways to save money.

I had used "Handwriting Without Tears" for my oldest, but when my second daughter wanted to learn cursive, I looked for a way to do it free. (I also wanted her to learn a "prettier" form than HWOT.) Here's what I found, in four free, easy steps!

1. Teach them the basics with these free worksheets:  http://www.kidzone.ws/cursive/index.htm

2. Then, create your own tracing pages here:  http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/flash/cursive/index.htm

• I like these pages because they have the dashed horizontal lines so the kids can practice the correct height of the letters with the middle line. 
• This site is great because you can see what the pages look like in real time.
• I spent 10 minutes copying and pasting 60 of the kids shorter catechisms into the space, printing a page at a time, and ended up with 30 pages of practice. That will last us 60 days! By then, she'll be more than ready for cursive copywork.

3. Create your own copywork documents with a cursive font. I like Learning Curve Cursive Font. (It's free!)  She writes this into her own notebook. (I move to Wide Rule Notebooks now.)

4. Once she's mastered copying cursive to cursive, I have her start "translating" from a regularly printed text. From here on out, everything she writes is in cursive.

This brings up the question: How do I create my own copywork, and why do I need it?  Here are a few quick points, but I'll go into more depth in a later post:

• I create my own copywork at the beginning of the school year of Bible Passages I'd like them to learn and other texts that relate to our history subject.
• Here's a free link to the copywork document I created for Early American History. This is a standard font. However, when I print it for my kids, I use a font that matches their age. (Learning to print: Primer Print. Learning Cursive: Learning Curve. Older Children: Any font works.)

http://www.emerickhome.com/homeschooling.php

There is so much more I can say, but this should get you started.  Enjoy your free cursive lessons!

Science with Pancakes

Breakfast & Science Experiments!  That’s my kind of multi-tasking!  I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com.  It was delicious!!!  The pancakes were incredibly fluffy, and we were able to have a science lesson on fermentation.  We're going to try to make plastic out of milk next!   http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/plasticmilk.html  A few notes about the pancakes:  We tripled the recipe and only had a couple left over.  I also added a splash of vanilla. Fluffy Pancakes

Rated:  5 Stars! Submitted By: kris Photo By: momto2lilbugs Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 10 Minutes Ready In: 25 Minutes Servings: 4

"Tall, fluffy pancakes are delicious served with butter and syrup or top with strawberries and whipped cream for a real treat. "

Ingredients:

3/4 cup milk 2 tablespoons white vinegar 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons white sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 2 tablespoons butter, melted cooking spray

Directions:

1.	Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".
2.	Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whisk egg and butter into "soured" milk. Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.
3.	Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray. Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface. Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fluffy-Pancakes-2/Detail.aspx ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2011 Allrecipes.com

Free Home School Favorites

Hello!  I thought I'd share a few of my favorite FREE home school items that I've been using lately.

- Geography Games:  In two short weeks, my girls (9 & 7) have learned all the 50 states.  They also have games for capitols, rivers, and the world.  They love it, and I love the results.  (The only downside: Must use IE and not FF)

- Handwriting Worksheets:  My 7 year old daughter just finished these handwriting worksheets and can write and translate in cursive pretty well.  The font is a nice style, and best of all, it's free!

- Liberty's Kids TV Shows:  We've been watching these with our free trial from Netflix.  40 Awesome Episodes that coordinate perfectly with our study of American History!  My kids have the theme song memorized.  I think my library has these also for when our Netflix trial expires.  Actually, I think the $50 price tag on buying them  might be worth it!

- US History Time Line:  This is so helpful!!  I love seeing everything put together.

- Free Reading Lessons:  I've just completed my first 2 weeks of these free reading lessons (free in January ONLY) with my 5 year old son.  I used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with my daughters, and it worked well, but I'm prefering this for these reasons:

1.    The teacher's voice is always pleasant.  (I can't say that about myself...)  
2.    There is a coordinating worksheet.  
3.    I am still involved every step of the way. 
4.    There aren't the "funny letters" that 100 Lessons used, which tripped my boy up when we got to lesson 70.  

AND... it's FREE in January!  Download today, even if you're considering using it. 


What free home school resources are you using right now?