5 Ways To Help Kids Learn at Home

Learning doesn’t just happen in classrooms, it is an ongoing process that happens all the time (your brain even keeps working when you’re asleep). There are tons of fun ways to help children learn when they’re not in school.

Evenings, weekends, holidays—they all offer families great opportunities to spend time together, have fun, and continue learning

Here are 5 fun ways to help kids learn!

1. Get Creative

Art helps smarts! Whether it’s crafts or play-doh, playing an instrument, acting, writing poetry, painting, or building model cars… art can help kids of all ages tap into their creative side and get their brains working. Try this creative activity:

Musical Water Glasses

Gather your supplies! You’ll need:

• Sturdy glasses from the same set

• Food colouring

• Wooden spoon

This is a great activity, especially for younger children!

Fill the glasses with different water levels and add a few drops of food colouring. This is a great opportunity to review colours with children and even fractions with older children (which glass looks like it’s half-full, which is a quarter full?)

Now use the wooden spoon to make music!

2. Get Cooking

Children love to feel like little helpers, so why not let them help with grocery shopping or cooking meals? The great thing about these activities is that they help with an integral (and often difficult) school subject: math.

Have your child decide which produce is a better bargain, or ask them to measure ingredients. Not only will they quickly learn that math is useful, but you also get to eat what you make!

Here are some kid-friendly recipes for everyone to enjoy:

Fruit Smoothie

Eat Right Ontario has a great Fruit Smoothie that you can tailor to your child’s taste. Let your kids choose from an assortment of fruits like berries and bananas!

Blend:

• 2 cups (500 mL) milk or fortified soy milk

• 2 cups (500 mL) fruit (any of: sliced banana, mango, nectarine, frozen raspberries, blueberries or strawberries, canned pineapple or peaches)

• 1 cup (250 mL) ice cubes

• 3/4 cup (175 mL) plain lower fat (2% M.F. or less) yogurt

• 1/2 cup (125 mL) frozen orange juice concentrate

3. Get Outside

Fresh air is not to be underestimated! The outdoors provides a natural playground for children to learn and grow, not to mention exercise helps keep the body and brain fit.

Go on a walk around the block; hike in a nearby Conservation Area; go swimming at a public pool. You don’t even have to leave the house – plant a vegetable garden together, build a snow fort, or play basketball in the driveway. Regardless of the activity, getting outside means kids spend less time in front of screens, and that helps keep their bodies and minds active.

4. Get Techy

t seems to be a hot topic within parenting circles – whether or not to expose your children to technology, and if so, how often? Just like everything else, technology isn’t bad when moderated… some schools are even taking advantage of what technology has to offer our children. There are some exciting learning opportunities within interactive children’s games!

Spend a rainy Saturday afternoon playing video games with your child. Let them show you how to play, asking plenty of questions. Draw practical connections between the game and how things work in daily life.

For the younger ones, Leap Pad provides a very user-friendly tablet with an endless amount of educational games to purchase physically or through their online store.

For children a little bit older, there are many options available on all different consoles like your computer, traditional video games consoles, and tablets. Here are a few to explore: Little Big Planet, Big Brain Academy, Magic School Bus Activity Lab.

5. Get Reading

It’s not by chance that some of the first memories children retain are of their parents’ reading them bedtime stories. Aside from improving literacy, getting lost in a story builds character through the exploration of the imagination. Creativity and the ability to think ‘outside the box’ are enriched through reading. These are skills that will help your child throughout their adult life.

If your child is reluctant to read, remember that there are many different forms of reading – it’s doesn’t have to be a long story or novel. Try going to a local library or bookstore and browse the graphic novels and comic books. Remember, your options are not limited to these – explore!

Perhaps one of the most important things to remember is that kids are born curious, so parents should be enthusiastic about helping their children explore whatever it is that piques their interest. There is a huge world out there to explore, so learn together and learn forever! Rain or shine, there are plenty of outdoor learning opportunities for your children- both in childcare and at home. So go outside, get dirty, and have fun! and learn new things at Dad blogs about parenting and kids.