Following on from our popular Homeschool diaries, I have decided to list the educational resources we enjoy using so it is a lot easier to read and access. I will update this list as the weeks go on - let me know if you have any ideas of your own to add.
1 - Harry Potter Yoga with Cosmic Kids
Cosmic Kids have lots of fun themed Yoga session on their YouTube channel. Sessions are around 30 minutes long and themes include Harry Potter, Pokemon, Minecraft and Frozen. It is FREE to join in and you can access YouTube through phones, tablets, laptops and Smart TVs.
2 - Learn a Language with DuoLingo
DuoLingo is suitable for confident readers of all ages - from around age 6/7 to adulthood. It is a brilliant FREE app which allows you to learn a new language through daily lessons.
We love it and the whole family has signed up (myself, Steve and Harry are learning Spanish, Heidi is learning Japanese and Jack is learning French). You can add friends and the app works best if you spend 10-15 minutes learning daily. Find out more and sign up here.
3 - Build a Hedgehog House
This is a lovely activity if you need to get out in the garden for some fresh air.
4 - Times Tables Rockstars / Maths Games
My school has subscribed to Times Table Rockstars and Heidi and Jack love playing on this game for 10-20 minutes each day. You can also try the online games via BBC Bitesize
5 - Create a Pet Care Leaflet
If you are pet owners (or even if you are not), spending an hour or so researching and creating a leaflet with info on how to care for your pet is creative, useful and mindful.
6 - Learn About Ancient Egypt with National Geographic
7 - Take a 5 minute Science Lesson with Mystery Science
Mystery Science is a fab resource which is FREE to sign up to. Their site features simple videos featuring issues in the news (we enjoyed learning about how hand sanitiser works) alongside longer videos and activity ideas for all ages and topics. You can sign up here.
8 - Learn How to Cook an Egg Three Ways
I would hate for my kids to leave home and not know how to cook. Now seems like as good a time as ever to learn how to cook. So far we have learned how to make a fried & soft boiled egg plus an omelette.
9 - Financial Education
Another skill I really want the kids to know is how to budget, how much bills cost, how much taxes are etc.... At some point over the next few weeks we are going to spend an afternoon learning all of this. Martin Lewis has created a Financial Education Textbook which you can download free of charge here.
10 - Learn to Draw with Art for Kids YouTube
The Art for Kids YouTube channel is brilliant! It is packed with draw along tutorials and you can learn to draw all sorts from Dr Seuss to Dogs, Food, Star Wars, Fortnite, Harry Potter and much more.
11 - Draw your Favourite Newcastle Bridge & Surround with Facts
You can do this with landmarks / castles / bridges near you or in a specific country. We picked Newcastle bridges and put their names into a hat.
We each picked one, drew the bridge and surrounded it with facts then shared with each other. If you just have one child at home or want to spread the activities out over a few weeks, you could pick one local landmark per week and make them up into a book.
12 - Watch a TedEx Video
There are 1000s of Ted Talks available online spanning a wide range of subjects and topics from nuclear weapons to the science of space food and why the world needs sharks. There are special talks just for kids too. These are brilliant ways to open your mind to something new and start a discussion.
13 - Work Out with the Body Coach (Kids)
The Body Coach has a range of 5 minute workouts just for kids on his YouTube Channel and is launching a daily weekday 30 minute PE lesson at 9am on Monday from his channel. A fab way to keep active indoors.
14 - Take Photos with your Phone Camera and Design & Send Someone a Postcard Using TouchNote
TouchNote is an app on your phone you can use to design postcards and greetings cards and post direct to a loved one. We plan on using this to send cards to teachers and grandparents. I am going to get the kids to be as creative as possible with their designs and words.
15 - Play Quizzes Online with World Geography Games
World Geography Games is another brilliant free online resource. The site can be customised depending on your year group and features quizzes around countries, flags, capitals, earth, oceans and more.
16 - Take a Virtual Tour of a Museum
You can take a virtual tour of your favourite museum from the comfort of your living room. In Newcastle you can take a virtual tour of the Great North Museum here. The following links also take you to online tours:
- The Louvre
- The Guggenheim
- The National Gallery of Art
- The British Museum
- National History of Natural History (Washington)
- The Met
- The Dali Museum
- Nasa (download the app here)
- The Vatican
- Women's History Museum
- National Museum of the United States Airforce
17 - Write a Story
My three love writing a story. If you dont know where to start, there are some fantastic writing points by Oxford Owl here.
18 - Learn How to Re-Wire a Plug
Another valuable life skill! Find an old plug and provide kids with a screw driver and let them go wild. There is an online tutorial here (obvs closely supervise if you are going to actually use the plug/electricity).
19 - Bake Bread
Baking bread is a brilliant stress reliever and delicious too. Here is a tutorial for a basic white loaf to get you started.
20 - Create a Poster about an Endangered Animal
My kids love learning about animals and one of their favourite activities at school is to learn about endangered animals and how they can help so we are going to re-create this at home. The WWF website is a good starting point.
21 - Make Lemonade, Design Labels & an Online Advert
Lemonade is pretty easy to make and a project most tweens will enjoy. Why not encourage them to create labels and an online advert too? You can find a recipe over on BBC Good Food here and here is a list of free video editing software you can use on your phone.
22 - Learn How to Read Music
I am shocked that my kids don't know how to do this and I am keen to rectify it. There is a simple online tutorial on WiKi here or you can find lots of videos on YouTube too.
23 - Design Your Dream Bedroom
A little project for aspiring interior designers. You can create a mood board using magazines / IKEA catalogue / craft materials, create a Pinterest board with ideas, draw a scale plan, research prices, create a model in a shoe box.......
24 - Keep Fit with Go Noodle
Go Noodle feature a range of silly videos aimed at keeping fit, education and mindfulness. For example this video teaches kids how to read with expression and this video deals with mindfulness through melting.
25 - Create a Balanced 7 Day Meal Plan
Why not get the kids involved with meal planning? In my experience, if kids are involved in the planning, they are far more likely to eat it. Set boundaries such as the meals need to be balanced, they need to include 5 a day and set a budget too.
They can place a mock online shop too (just make sure you check it before they check out).
26 - Check out the Resources on Twinkl
Controversial but I am not too much of a fan of Twinkl. The main reason being we don't have a printer with ink and most of their resources require printing.
However, if you do have a printer with ink, you may find the site useful. It is free to sign up to at the moment and there are so many resources and activity sheets to choose from for all ages groups and subjects.
27 - Design & Teach a TikTok Dance Routine
Tweens love a bit of TikTok - why not use this to your advantage and learn or design a new routine and keep fit at the same time.
28 - Play National Geographic Games
The National Geographic Kids Website is packed with interactive learning resources, games and quizzes. Worth checking out.
29 - Build a Campfire
If you already have a fire pit in your garden, why not take the time to learn some bushcraft skills and build a campfire/ toast marshmallows. There is a good online tutorial from Nature Detectives here. Obviously, this activity should be supervised.
30 - Paint a Rock
We love painting rocks and it is a simple task you can do at home. The possibilities are endless but if you are in need of some inspiration, family days tried & tested have some good ideas here.
31 - Write a Letter to Your Grandparents
Writing letters is a bit of a lost art form so why not resurrect and encourage the kids to write a proper letter to their grandparents.
32 - Apply for a Blue Peter Badge
You can apply for various Blue Peter badges through activities completed at home. A badge will provide you with FREE entry to hundreds of top UK attractions. Find out how to apply here.
33 - Create an Infographic on Canva
Canva is an online graphic design tool with fantastic FREE access. The site features lots of design templates including those for infographics. Pick a subject your kids are interested in and let them design their own piece. There is a paid version but the free version is brilliant and offers lots of options.
34 - Design a Photobook
If like me, you rarely print out photos, a rainy day at home is the perfect time to rectify this. Challenge your tween to put together a book featuring photos from Christmas / a birthday / family holiday.
35 - Re-design Your Favourite Book Cover
My kids love drawing but often lack a focus - asking them to re-design their favourite book cover is a lovely little task.
36 -Send Out a Family Newsletter Using Mailchimp
You can sign up to Mailchimp's basic package free of charge. Task kids to ask friends and family for their email addresses (whilst staying GDPR compliant of course) and design a newsletter to send out. Learning how to embed images, create an eye-catching design, add links, crop photos.......
37 - Research Career Options, Create a CV & Write a Job Description
Just for fun, kids can research their dream career (First Careers is a brilliant resource), discover what qualities, experience and qualifications are needed and how much they can expect to earn. Maybe they can write a job description for their dream job or learn how to write a CV.
38 - Bake a Cake
Sometimes the simplest recipes are the best. Ask kids to create a recipe card, work out the cost of ingredients / cost per slice and how much they are going to sell it for to make a profit. Oh and bake the cake.
39 - Noel Fieldings Art Club
Noel Fielding runs an art club on selected days between 3-5pm. He picks a theme and then you have 2 hours to submit through Twitter. He shares some submissions and other creative celebrities pick some of their favorites.
40 - Brush Up on Coding
The folk at Code Camp World have put together some free resources and will be releasing free virtual classes this week.
41- Sign up to Readly
Readly is an online magazine subscription service featuring 1000s of titles. Educational magazines for kids include First News, National Geographic Kids, Raspi for Kids, Film Stories & more. Find out more and sign up here.
42 - Set up a Blog
It is free to set up a blog on blogger and is an opportunity to learn so many skills from writing to coding, design, photography and more. I have published a guide to getting started here.
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