Fun & Creative Homeschool Activities

One of my favorite things about homeschooling is having fun while learning. I find a lot of opportunities to teach my kids how to be creative. We do art, we bake, we build Lego castles, we go on backyard scavenger hunts, and we make a lot of memories while learning! Here are some of the fun things our family does while homeschooling!

Homeschooling our three kids ages 5, 6 and 8 has opened up a lot of opportunities for our family. Once the kids finish up their school workbooks for the day, we can go on family hikes, set up a lemonade stand, work in the garden and even go on family adventures! Last year (2020) in January we went on a road trip down the California coast and visited Disneyland. This year (2021) after Christmas we headed down to Arizona with our kids for a 3-month RV trip. While traveling, we do school in the mornings and get out to explore in the afternoons. We often do creative and educational kids activities wherever we are.

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Exploring nature is a great start for learning on the go! Kids can go on a nature scavenger hunt in the backyard, on a camping trip, or even in a national forest. All you need is a list of things to find on the scavenger hunt. Popular scavenger hunt items for my kids include shells, interesting leaves, bugs, moss, shiny rocks and minerals, flowers and feathers. My kids love exploring the great outdoors and finding interesting treasures.

Additionally, going on a forest hike is a great opportunity to get some exercise, enjoy being outside and possibly glimpse some forest animals up close.

Crafty Kids Activities

Other days we do creative kids activities indoors. This Crayola kids activity kit came packed full of coloring activities, paper crafts and art supplies. My kids colored a miniature dog figurine, made paper lanterns and colored puzzle pieces to create their own ornaments.

We received this kids craft set from Crayola, which was a great kids activity to do after school. It also came with a link to a 2-hour video which demonstrated instructions about how to do each craft.

Crayola make so many of our favorite art supplies such as markers and crayons. I think it’s awesome that the company also offers activity sets to help out parents and inspire kids to be creative.

My kids really enjoyed making the paper lantern craft, which was just one of the kids activities included in this Crayola kit. This kit came with all the printables needed for each craft. I made a few copies of the lantern printable so each of my kids could make one. Crayola’s activity kits are packed full of creative fun!

After my kids complete their math and language arts work pages, they love doing a craft or even playing with play dough. The flexibility of homeschooling allows me to customize our school days to include each of my kids’ interests!

Homemade Play Dough

My kids also love playing with play dough. This soft sensory dough is especially fun for preschool and kindergarten. We’ve made many batches of homemade play dough in all colors. We’ve even added glitter and fragrances! I love this recipe for making a batch of homemade play dough using a few simple ingredients. Once the play dough is cooked and cooled, kids can help by adding the food coloring, glitter and a few drops of fragrance to this fun sensory dough!

Homemade mint play dough is fun to play with and smells like fresh mint!

3-D Marshmallow Designs

Another really fun educational activity is building with marshmallows! Kids can make 3-D marshmallow shapes and geometric designs using large marshmallows and wooden skewers. You can also use mini marshmallows and toothpicks to create miniature 3-D shapes. Simply insert the end of a stick into a marshmallow and connect it to another marshmallow. Build up or outward to create all sorts of designs and structures.

Building with marshmallows is a fun science activity that teaches kids about balance, angles and dimension. Creating 3-D shapes with marshmallows may sound fun, however kids may discover it’s harder than it looks!

Lego Creations

Playing with Legos is another great kids activity. When my kids build with these colorful blocks, they practice creative design skills and imaginative play. Often they create a storyline to go with their Lego buildings and people. When my kids get a new set, they practice another great skill; learning how to build it by following the directions. After my kids finish their school workbooks, which include math, language arts, spelling and handwriting, they often get to take a break to play with Legos.

Painting Rocks with Craft Paint

Last but not least, my kids love painting rocks. We often use colorful craft paint to paint small rocks with stripes, dots and designs. Once my kids have finished painting their rocks, we often spray them with clear acrylic spray paint to seal the designs. Sometimes my kids hide their painted rocks along hiking trails or at a park for others to find!

We’ve found a lot of creative ways to make learning fun! We’ve also discovered that we can easily do homeschool on the road, which opens up a lot of opportunities for traveling during the school year. Even on RV trips while camping, or at a vacation rental, my kids can easily complete their workbooks and continue progressing in school. After the foundational subjects, we love doing crafty activities, science experiments and art projects! You can find some of our other creative kids activities here.