Skip to main content

10 Free or Cheap learning activities for homeschoolers

1.  Raise caterpillars

     You can buy caterpillar kits online, or you can find them in the wild and raise them in your home.  We choose the free route.  We did not spend a dime on this activity and it was so much fun!  Monarch caterpillars can be found at different times of the year depending on where you live. You can easily search online when they can be found in your area. We live in West Michigan and found our caterpillars the first week of August.  Monarchs will lay their eggs on milkweed plants. Just keep your eyes out for milk weed and you will eventually find them.  We kept them in a laundry basket that we already owned. We raided 9 this summer and that was plenty.  All the monarchs need is a fresh supply of milk weed and within a short time you can see them form their chrysalis.  After they immerge from the chrysalis you can release them.  We checked out books from our library to learn more about this process.  It was a great learning experience for the kids.








2. Grow something
Gardening is something anyone can do.  One of the easiest cheapest ways to do this is to save an old peanut butter jar.  Get some dirt and buy some grass seeds at the dollar store. These take off fast and the kids can see the roots and it's a great hands on way to learn about plants.  You can also get pots and grow things on your porch.  Or you can do raised bed gardening.  This is such a great way for kids to learn and can be done at so many different levels. 


3. Book It
Did you know that Homeschoolers can do Pizza Hut's Book It program.  It's a great way to encourage your kids to read and it's one less meal you have to make!  We would often meet our homeschool friends for lunch here to celebrate reading.

4. Join the Civil Air Patrol 
To encourage students to be interested in STEM the air force has this program you can join.  They send you kits to your house every month.  You pay a one time fee of $35 and you get access to tons of kits!  This program is fantastic. The link to all the kits available through the program is listed below. 

https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/aerospace-education/programs/stem-kits/available-stem-kits



5. Play games together
I bought Monopoly at a garage sale for 50 cents years ago and I can't even tell you how many hours of entertainment we have gotten from that game. Our library has games you can check out too.  There is even a type of homeschooling called game schooling where you teach your kids primarily through games. 


6. Audiobooks
Audiobooks are a life saver!  In a perfect world I would read to my kids all the time but life is busy and I get tiered.  The perfect solution is audiobooks.  I can get dishes done and the kids can enjoy a wonderful story at the same time.  We listen to them when we drive or just enjoy them on a morning when we are too tired to tackle anything else.  We often watch the movie after if there is one and compare and contrast how the stories are different.  We sometimes have themed treats too that go with the story.  The library is the main provider of our audiobook adventures. 


    
7. Attend local cultural events

  



8. Take field trips to visit Community Helpers
These field trips are always so fun.  It's so good for kids to meet fire fighters before they would ever meet them in a crisis situation.  These are always free and easy to arrange.  Our kids have gotten to meet the K-9 unit, visit a fire station, and see the mounted unit.  The mounted unit even let the kids ride on the horses.


9. Art Hub for kids And Scratch 
There are lots of great free websites that help kids learn new skills.  Our favorite two are Art Hub for kids and Scratch and both are free.  Art Hub for kids is a site that helps kid learn to draw and Scratch helps kids learn to code.  Both are wonderful.

10. Pen Pals
Our kids have had several pen pals over the years.  It is so good for them.  It helps them get extra writing in and they learn to address an envelope. They also learn about the location that their pen pal is from.  It only costs a stamp so it's an affordable activity. 












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching Preschool Without a Curriculum

      Preschool is so much fun.  At the heart of a great preschool program is play and exploration.  Movement, unstructured time, and socialization are so important for the health and development of your preschooler!  Reading great books together and spending time in nature are also a vital component at this age.  Homeschooling your preschooler is a great way to accomplish all of this and more.  And the best part is you don't even need a curriculum to do any of this.  I will show you how you can utilize items that are already in your home and community that can provide a free or cheap enriching preschool experience for your child.  If you don't have time to read the whole article the components of this hands on preschool approach are: 1.Sensory bins 2.Techniques for learning letters and learning to write 3. Preschool Math 4. Arts and crafts  5. Science and Social studies  6. Socialization 7. The Importance of nature 8. The impo...
Post a Comment
Read more

West Michigan Field trips

     There are so many wonderful field trip options in West Michigan.  There are wonderful opportunities in every season. There are some really great learning opportunities as well as some just fun ways to get out and have some fun. Here are some of our family's favorite homeschool field trips. Please don't try to do these all in one year.  It would be way too much.  This is a collection of activities from 6 years of homeschooling.  Winter Activities  Snowshoeing at Indian Trial's Golf Course  https://www.indiantrailsgc.org/events/winterfun/ Palmer Park Cross Country Skiing https://www.kentcountyparks.org/trails/crosscountryskitrails.php Rosa Parks Circle ice skating https://www.grandrapidsmi.gov/Government/Departments/Parks-and-Recreation/Rosa-Parks-Circle-Ice-Rink Caberfae Ski Trip https://caberfaepeaks.com/ Muskegon Winter Sports Complex  https://www.msports.org/ John Ball Zoo  Fall Activities Apple picking Robinette's  Post...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teaching about Oceans without a curriculum

      You do not need to buy a curriculum to teach your kids about science.  By utilizing your local library, online resources, and incorporating hands on activities you can provide your child with a very rich understanding of so many subjects. This year we are studying earth science with out a curriculum.  Here's how I set up our unity study of the ocean.  Ocean Zones     We started our oceans unit with learning about the 5 ocean zones.  Our first project was to take an old jar and fill it with 5 different liquids with different densities.  We also labeled it and read about the different zones.  We then learned about each of the 5 zones individually.  We did some hands on activities for the zones like a shoreline project and bioluminescence project. Next we made a lab book of the different zones and the animals that live there. introduction to the 5 ocean zones labeling the zones Sunlight zone project  Bioluminescent less...
Post a Comment
Read more