Okay ladies, online so the cold weather is moving on out and it’s time to get the cabin fever out of yourself and your kids! I don’t know about you but winter around this house can cause major grumpiness and bad attitudes are more often present. It’s the time of year for me that I really start to question why we homeschool on those bad days and I look longingly at the children getting on that big yellow bus. Is that just me?
Well, guess what, Spring is here and those gray clouds are lifting! I love Spring because it means that some of the day can be spent outside. It’s win-win.. I get peace and quiet while the kids get to release that energy and soak up the Vitamin D.
Here are some of the ways we best use the time outdoors in direct relation to schoolwork.
Outside reading. My kids have personal reading time for an hour a day. When it’s nice outside they are often found at the patio table, laying on the trampoline, and perhaps the grass, or on a swing. They love it and I am able to get a few things done around here with minimal supervision.
Scavenger hunt. If you have never done this I highly recommend that you do. You never know what your kids will find. My suggestions:
- Something with seeds. Note: Specify plants.. you don’t want spider “seeds” aka eggs. Seriously.
- A feather.
- A flower bud.
- Something soft.. not the feather.
- Something smooth.
- A piece of trash, yes, trash.
- Learning colors? Have a checklist of the colors of items you wish your child to find.
- Something that smells good.
- A leaf the size of your hand.
- Something beautiful. You would be surprised at what kids find beautiful.
These are just a few ideas. You can make it as detailed or as simplified as you want. Some of ours have been a bit more challenging than others depending on time available.
Stick with the tried and true. Hide and Seek is still fun. Think about those games you used to play.. kids still enjoy them. We’ve moved up a little on hide and seek and tag.. it is usually done with a flashlight after dark. So are our Easter Egg hunts. Fun!!
Build a volcano. Yep, same science experiment that most people do on their kitchen table—only smarter because it’s outside!! This is a great one.
Make flubber. Still one of our favorite of faves of all time!!
Art. Lots of it and in many forms. Allow your kids to be as messy as you can handle, especially if it is warm enough to spray them off with a hose. Some ideas:
- “World’s Largest Masterpiece”. This can be done directly on the sidewalk, driveway, a long strip of butcher paper, be creative. You can have them use chalk, fizzy sidewalk paint, or super sidewalk paint.
- Street paint. Use a driveway unless you have a no-traffic street or area that the kids can do this safely.
- Still thinking about the paint recipes I just listed? I’ll go one further. Take away the paintbrushes! Tell them to use things from nature instead like leaves, rocks, flowers, etc.
- Mosaics in the mud. Rocks + mud + ideas = pretty neat creations.
Free time. Just because you’re in the middle of your homeschool day doesn’t mean you all can’t break for 20-30 minutes to run off some energy.
Okay, so there are some ideas to get you started. Hope you and your children fully enjoy the better weather! Happy Spring!
This is great! We love these warmer, sunny days, too. We read outside, and even do some of our workbooks outside (depending on how windy it is). The free time seems to be essential for all of us on sunny days – it lets me breath and reorganize my thoughts, and I think it does the same for the boys. Thanks for sharing!