25 Homeschool Activities You Can Do Today

Would you like some simple ideas you can use in your homeschool right now? Here are some of our veteran homeschoolers’ favorite activities for learning with your kids using what you have on hand:

1. Read aloud to your kids while they draw, work on a puzzle or build with Legos.
2. Make models of the constellations using toothpicks and mini marshmallows or small bits of clay.
3. Staple blank paper together to help your children make their very own books.
4. Create a diorama showing a scene from one of your favorite books. Use an old shoe box, construction paper, scissors and glue to bring your book to life.
5. Collect household objects and small toys as well as a large basin of water or a full sink. Write out your predictions as to which objects will sink or float. Then test your hypotheses and see how accurate they were.
6. Play with play dough. Stamp with small toys or found nature items to create different designs.
7. Go on a nature scavenger hunt. Use our free printable for ideas of what to search for.
8. Have your children trace each other’s bodies on large pieces of butcher paper. Then have each child choose a different body system to draw inside their outline (circulatory system, digestive system, respiratory system etc.)
9. Blow up a balloon and see if you can work together to tap it one hundred times before it hits the ground. See how high you can get counting by ones, twos, fives or tens.
10. Keep in touch with friends and family by making cards and letters.
11. Use painter’s tape to make different types of shapes on the floor (triangle, square, rectangle, octagon, pentagon, or parallelogram, for example). Have each child stand on their favorite shape. Then give them directions on where to go next. For example, hop like a bunny to the triangle, crab walk to the rectangle, hop on one foot to the square, slither like a snake to the octagon. You could also do this with letters instead of shapes.
12. Build a fort out of pillows and blankets.
13. Plant seeds and watch them grow. Check out our free flower or fruit & vegetable printables for gardening inspiration.
14. Have a dance party.
15. Play a board game. Here are some fun ones.
16. Try a new recipe. Talk about fractions and liquid measurements.
17. Play Math Facts War with playing cards. Remove the face cards; then divide the cards between two children. On the count of three each child turns their top card face up. Children take turns adding or multiplying the two numbers.
18. Listen to classical music while painting or drawing. See if you can identify different instruments by their sound.
19. Go on a nature walk and collect small objects like stones or pinecones. Bring them home and paint them for a colorful nature display or table centerpiece.
20. Do a Puzzle Hunt. Hide the pieces of a wooden puzzle around the house. Have the kids search for the pieces and return them to the board when they find them. If your kids like competition, time how long it takes them to complete the whole puzzle. See if they can beat their fastest time.
21. Watch a science documentary on Netflix or YouTube.
22. Use sidewalk chalk to write out words to sound out, math problems, or spelling words. If you have preschoolers, write out different letters spread out on the sidewalk. Then call out a letter name or a letter sound while the kids race to stand on the right letter.
23. Go outside and look up at the clouds. See if you can identify different types.
24. Draw a map of your house or neighborhood.
25. Write our jokes on large pieces of construction paper and tape them to your door or post them in the yard to give people a smile as they walk past your house.