Happy 32437924 day of Quarantine!

Lol… but seriously, I can’t keep up anymore!

Our state recently announced that we will not be returning to school for the remainder of this school year. I’ve had several people ask for ideas of things they can be doing at home with their kiddos so I decided to turn it into a blog post!

I do not have kids of my own but I am a teacher of the little ones, so I thought I’d share a few things you can do at home for “Quarantine Learning.” These are also some fun ways to make special memories during this time!

1. Cook together! Let your kiddos measure a cup of milk or water while baking a cake. Let your little ones count out 5 strawberries. If you’re looking for the Lemon Pepper Spice, let the little ones sound it out and help you find it, in the spice cabinet!

2. Let your little one help make your grocery shopping list. Let them sound out words like bread, milk, soap, etc!

3. Take a nature walk! Make a chart of things to look for during your walk like butterflies, leaves, trees, dogs, a stop sign, etc! They can cross things off the chart as you walk and count how many things you found when you return home. They could even keep tally marks for how many things of each they found. Then, you can turn that into a math lesson when you get home and discuss what you saw the most/ least of.

4. If you have little ones at home who are working on letters, give them some letter cards. Let them go around the house and tape the letter cards to objects that begin with each letter. You may have to give them clues depending on the age. For example: “Think of something in the kitchen that keeps things cold and starts with R. That’s right, refrigerator.”

5. Write letters to people!! Grab some stationary or plain old paper/ envelopes and pick a person a day to write a letter to! In the classroom, my students LOVE making mail for their friends in the writing center.

6. Art! Now is the perfect time to make things with your kids. Use those recycled boxes from grocery items and let them use their imaginations to make things. Give them some markers, construction paper, or paint. This will keep them busy for HOURS!

7. In my 4K class, we learned how to mix colors this year to make new colors. Then, we tie dyed t-shirts to expand the lesson. This is something that you can do at home also!

8. Sorting!! Now is a great time for them to learn household chores if they don’t already do these things. Let them help you sort utensils from the diswasher back to their locations. Let them help you sort their laundry to wash or put away.

9. If you’re old school and just want to do some things on paper, let them trace letters, write a paragraph about their favorite character from a movie they watched, etc. This can be tweaked depending on the age!

10. READ!! Oh my word, the skills that will be achieved just by reading. If they are not old enough to read on their own, read to them! Let them pick out a book to read. Have them locate things like the title of the book, the front cover, a space, a capital letter, and let them point to the words as you read!

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Okay, those are 10 things off the top of my head! Oh the things your kids can learn from hands- on learning and what sweet memories you’ll make along the way! Share your ideas in the comment section below!! 🙂