Top Six Free and One Cheap Fun Homeschool Activities
I don’t know about you but at about week six of our homeschool year I quickly realize a need to breath some new life into our homeschool schedule. I always plan on starting strong and for my little one this can cause some stress and burn out. As all homeschool moms, I want to ensure my child receives the best education at our kitchen table. But sometimes this material can be overwhelming. Sometimes the materials and the recommended schedules can cause stress and anxiety, two feelings I would prefer to keep to a minimum. Whether you use a curricula set or have a mishmash of materials you pull together I have found it is good to veer off the path and do a few alternative activities. Activities that have a little bigger punch of fun than our normal, sometimes mundane, schedule provides. Below I have put together a collection of my top 6 picks, five freebies and one cheapie.
Recently our homeschool has been blessed with the discovery of Ellen J. McHenry’s Basement Workshop.
Ellen has taught science classes to homeschoolers between the ages of 8-14 for many years. In those years she has put together some fun hands-on learning curricula in her workspace down in her basement. Now we are all lucky to find her basement work online. Many individual items are posted on her website as FREE DOWNLOADS.
Freebie 1 Download
Ear Model
Freebie 2 Download
Skin Model
Ellen J McHenry’s Basement Workshop
Freebie 3 Download
Eye Model
Ellen J McHenry’s Basement Workshop
Freebie 4 Download
Brain Hemisphere Hat
At Ellen McHenry’s on-line store she also has brain curricula. She includes a Youtube Playlist to watch while studying the brain. You can find that playlist here.
Cheapie 1
The Periodic Table “Battleship Game
The Periodic Table “Battleship Game” was developed by Karen from Teach Beside Me. Karen is a former teacher turned homeschool mom. She has four children and loves teaching. Her products incorporate enjoyable and engaging learning activities You can find more of her products on her website.
This has been a fun way to learn the names, types and atomic numbers of the earth’s elements. You can purchase one of these made by Teach Beside Me on Etsy for $15.00 plus shipping. Click here to find where to order. We made one of our own with the help of our local copy center.
Another great resource is the Homeschool Helper Online
Jenn, from the Homeschooler Helper Online and her family live on a hobby farm. She has been homeschooling her children since 2001. With 21 years of experience Jenn has but together a website with many free downloads for homeschoolers. Her site includes unit studies, copy work and my favorite, lapbooks. I have not used all of them but below are the two that we have used and I would recommend. Jenn also includes instructions on how to fold a lapbook.
Freebie 5 Download
The Chemistry Lap Book
Freebie 6 Download
US Constitution Lapbook
Another way to pack in some fun is to use board games to shake things up a bit around our homeschool table. If you would like to see what we use you can check out the Youtube video below. If you would like to see more homeschool videos be sure to subscribe to our Youtube Channel Happily Homeschooling in Iowa.
I hope this post blesses your homeschool in someway and I wish you all a great homeschooling year. ~ Happily Homeschooling, Bridget Anne.
