Category: Learning at Home

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How to Stop Spring Break from Breaking You!

It’s Spring Break season! If your kids are anything like mine, the sudden lack of structure has them going a little bit wacky. On top of being out of our normal routine, our Spring Break has felt more like Winter Break, especially with the 2” of snow currently on our lawn. 

Since outdoor activities are a bit limited at the moment, we’ve had to come up with our own fun! I thought I’d share some ideas of things to do in case your Spring Break isn’t going how you had planned. The best part of these activities is that they involve learning or practicing skills in some way, but most of the time your child won’t even notice it’s a learning activity! Win-win!

  • Coloring pages- the internet is full of free printable coloring pages for any interest, age, or skill level. Or, you can click here and download the freebie I posted last week!
  • Easter Egg Match- cut out several plain white egg shapes and decorate them however you’d like. Then, cut them in half using different kinds of cut lines (zig-zag, wavy, scalloped, etc.). Spread them out and have your child match up the halves. 
  • Alphabet Match- On a large piece of paper (even the back side of wrapping paper will work!), write all the letters of the alphabet (choose either lower case or upper case). Next, on 26 different small pieces of paper or sticky notes, write the letters in the case opposite of what you wrote on the large paper. Put each paper inside a plastic Easter egg. Hide the eggs around the house, and as your child finds them, have them open it up, find, and tape the correct letter match on the large paper. Other options for this activity would be to match numbers, shapes, colors, or pictures. It is easily adapted for any age.
  • If weather permits, take a walk around the neighborhood. Before you go, create a simple list of things to find while you are on your walk. Take your list with you and do an outdoor scavenger hunt while you walk. Mark off the items on your list as you find them. 
  • Do some themed days! Have all activities and snacks tie to your theme. Learn about your theme, if applicable. Possible themes might include Disney, insects, colors, letters, or a specific place.
  • Make and deliver a treat and card to someone in your neighborhood who might be lonely or need some cheering up.
  • Create a spring time mosaic— draw a simple spring-themed shape (Easter egg, bunny, flower, etc.) on a plain white piece of paper. Cut up pieces of varying colors of construction paper into small squares. Have your child glue them onto the traced shape, covering the whole space. Cut out the shape and enjoy your child’s masterpiece! 
  • Think of different simple objects that can be built from Legos or other building blocks. Write them on small cards. Have a building competition where you pick one of the cards and everyone has to build whatever is on the card. Have fun seeing the different things your kids (and yourself) come up with! 

Hopefully your Spring Break is less winter-y than ours has been, and hopefully you’re able to find at least a few minutes each day to slow down with your kids and have fun. Use one or more of these ideas to inspire some fun, creative play and watch the magic happen! 

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St. Patrick’s Day Free Printables

St. Patrick’s Day is right around the corner– time to prepare your leprechaun traps and gather your pots of gold! If fancy traps and extravagant celebrations aren’t your thing, it’s your lucky day! I’ve put together a couple of fun free printable I Spy games you can do with your students or with your kids at home. I’ve included both a color and a black and white version to fit all printing needs and capabilities.

**Free printables are only to be used for home or classroom use and must not be resold, distributed, or used as your own.**

Click on the links below to download and print yours!

St. Patty’s I Spy ColorDownload
St. Patrick’s Day I Spy BWDownload
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Homework?! Ugh! Is It Even Worth It?

I’ve seen a meme going around that says something along the lines of, “If you hated homework as a kid, you’ll hate it even more as a parent!” If you are a parent or caregiver of a school-aged kid, you may understand just how true that statement can be. You know what I’m talking about— the nagging your kid to get it done, the whining that ensues, the time management balancing act that happens. It can be a lot for some households. 

This struggle begs the question: is homework even worth it? If it is just one more thing to add to the list of things to do, is it even worth the time and energy it takes to get it done? Are students even benefitting from it?

The short answer is sometimes. The long answer is a bit more complicated and has a lot to do with what the assignment is and what skills a student is using or gaining by doing it. If the assignment is just filler work that doesn’t practice any skills learned beforehand in class, homework isn’t going to accomplish much, and will likely leave both the student and the parent frustrated. 

But… if the assigned homework truly is an extension of what was learned in class, employs useful skills, and isn’t just a time filler, homework can indeed have some benefits. Let’s explore some of them— and maybe I might convince a few nay-sayers that homework can be at least a little bit helpful.

Benefit #1: Additional Practice

Additional practice time can provide kids with the extra practice they need to really understand a concept. Sometimes all it takes for a kid to “get” it is a little additional time working on it. If they already understand a concept, extra practice never hurts, and can help solidify the knowledge in their mind. Reading homework is especially beneficial, as reading skills are something that will be used their entire lives and are always useful. It never hurts to improve!

Benefit #2: Less Stress

Doing work at home can often be less stressful for kids, as they are in their own environment where they (hopefully) feel safe. Usually at home, the time constraints aren’t as tight, thus providing kids with a less rushed experience. When they are able to slow down and really focus on what they are doing, they are able to work more effectively and, oftentimes, more accurately. For students who, for a myriad of reasons, don’t like to ask for help at school, doing work at home can help them to feel safer asking for help from a parent.

Benefit #3: Time management

Managing time can be a tricky skill for kids to learn. This can be especially true for younger kids, as their brains can’t quite comprehend time and scheduling things. They tend to look at the now rather than a few hours ahead, and don’t understand that if they do “fun” things first, they have to still fit in their homework, dinner time, and night time routine. 

Having homework can help them learn how to better manage their time. Parents can use it as a tool to teach their kids how to schedule their time effectively so that they have time to do all the things they want to do and need to do.

Benefit #4: Time with a parent or caregiver

Homework can open opportunities to allow kids and their adults to have time together. Sure, sometimes that time can be stressful, especially if homework is involved, but the time spent working one on one is never wasted. Oftentimes, parents know how to reach their kids better than the teachers do. This can help students to understand concepts in a new or different way. Parents can also provide useful tricks and tips that helped them in school. I still remember working with my mom and grandma to memorize all 50 state capitals in fourth grade— they came up with fun mnemonic devices to help me remember what I needed to— most of which I still remember today. They provided me with really helpful tools to accomplish what I needed to, and as an added bonus, I got extra time with my mom and grandma. It was a win all around!

While I know homework can be a divisive topic, with not everyone agreeing on its benefits, hopefully I’ve shed some light on the topic and have helped you see it in a different way, and maybe, just maybe, convinced you that homework isn’t totally useless!

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The Benefits of Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles are, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest things ever invented. Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved putting puzzles together. I have fond memories from my childhood of sitting down with my grandma, doing puzzles and chatting. She even used to gift all of her adult grandkids a puzzle every year for Christmas, which only fueled my love of puzzles. She would often set up a puzzle to work on when we’d come for Sunday dinner— she knew my husband liked puzzles, too. 

As I’ve had children of my own, I’ve always kept puzzles in our game closet. When my kids were babies and toddlers, I’d get the chunky wooden puzzles that matched shapes and colors. As they grew, we progressed to the 24-48 piece puzzles. Now that my youngest is in preschool, we’ve started doing bigger puzzles together. My 4 and 5 year olds can easily do 48-100 piece puzzles on their own, or with little help. My older kids do really well with 300-1,000 piece puzzles. They’ve provided us with lots of quality family time and memories as we’ve worked as a team to put them together. 

This morning, I sat down with my daughter and helped her do a puzzle, and it got me thinking about the many benefits that come from puzzles, and how they are more than just a quiet activity for people to do. 

People who do puzzles can benefit in the following ways:

  • Increased short-term memory
  • Reduced stress and anxiety
  • Improved fine motor skills
  • Improved spatial awareness
  • Increased problem solving abilities
  • Better mood
  • Screen-free time
  • Quality time with friends and family 
  • Time to relax and take your mind off of other things
  • Increased concentration— this is especially good for people who tend to jump from one thing to the next
  • Improved collaboration skills
  • Improved cognitive abilities
  • Increased attention to detail

I’m sure there are many more I could add to this list, but what is on the list shows just how beneficial doing puzzles can be. The best part about these benefits is that they aren’t just limited to children. People of all ages can experience these positive side effects! They are a universal tool for people of all ages and abilities. 

Puzzles don’t have to be limited to just a home activity; teachers can use them, too! Puzzles make a great activity for centers, free time, or group time. They will get students focused, having fun, and working on their critical thinking skills. Those are things I think every teacher can get behind!

The next time you’re bored, have some free time you don’t know what to do with, or just need a change of pace, grab a puzzle and get to work! I promise you will find yourself more relaxed, happier, and feeling more accomplished as you enjoy some puzzle time.

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Valentine’s Day Fun: Preschool Edition

A few days ago, a photo memory popped up on my phone from a few years ago of my older kids doing a Valentine’s themed activity. I remembered it being a lot of fun for them, and remembered it being super easy to set up. I tucked the memory back into my mind, thinking that if I had time in the next few weeks, I’d set it up for my preschool aged kids. Well, as luck would have it, neither of those kids have school on Mondays, and we were all going a little stir crazy yesterday, so off to the craft store we went, returning with a pack of pipe cleaners. A few minutes later, my kids were happily playing!

The concept is simple: form several pipe cleaners into hearts and toss them in a pile on the floor. Give your kids some different objects that they can use to pick the hearts up— things like straws, plastic forks, tongs, chop sticks, popsicle sticks, clothes pins, etc.— and watch them go! Having them simply pick up the hearts is the most basic task with this activity. There are also many other variations, such as:

  • Assign a color and have them work on only picking up that color. Provide papers that match the colors of the hearts and have them sort the hearts onto the pieces of paper. This is great for color recognition and matching.
  • Have them transfer the hearts from one place to another. This helps with hand-eye coordination.
  • After they pick up each heart, have them create a pattern. Early math skills are in play here as they figure out a pattern to make.
  • See how many hearts they can fit onto their pick up tool, without any falling off. They can count their hearts once their tool is full.
  • Have them stack their hearts as they collect them, seeing how tall their stack can get before falling over.

As I watched my kids play with this super simple activity, I got thinking about some other activities I have done in the past when my older kids were preschool age. Most of these activities can be set up with little effort, and require materials that you may have around the house (or can buy for very cheap at the dollar or craft store). 

Pipe Cleaner Beading

Give your child a pipe cleaner and a handful of pony beads. Have them put the beads onto the pipe cleaner. This encourages fine motor hand-eye coordination. They can also create patterns, count their beads, and name colors as they go. 

Paper Heart Sort

Using whatever paper you have on hand, cut out hearts of varying sizes and colors. Have your child sort them from largest to smallest, smallest to largest, or by color if you have more than one color of paper. Again, kids can count hearts, make patterns, and recognize colors as they work through this activity.

Valentine Necklace

Cut a heart out of craft foam or felt and attach a piece of yarn, ribbon, or string of some kind. Give your child a bunch of pony beads and have them make a necklace. As with other activities, this one also allows for kids to work on small motor hand-eye coordination, counting, patterning, counting, and color recognition. 

Another great thing about these activities is that they are practically mess free! There’s no cutting, gluing, or coloring. Sure, the beads could spill, but that’s about the biggest mess that could come from all of these activities! Pro-tip, though— if you do the bead activities, have your child sit on the floor. That way, if the beads do spill or drop, they aren’t going to bounce all over your kitchen floor.

Not only are these not very messy, they are also great activities for promoting several learning skills and coordination skills. And, as a bonus, mom or dad might get a little break for a minute while the kids play and learn! 

Let us know in the comments if you use any of these with your kids or class!

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Internet Safety: Why it Matters

When I was in high school, the internet was just starting to really gain traction and become useful. Honestly, I still used my super awesome Encyclopedia Brittanica CD-Rom or a physical book for my research projects. I had to sit an listen to the obnoxious dial up noise while I waited for my computer to connect to AOL, and was very limited in my time online— because when your phone line and internet line are the same, you had to hurry so people could get through if they needed to call someone at your house. 

The internet was so new that we didn’t really understand the dangers that could be lurking with one single click. We were blissfully ignorant to those kinds of things. Public chat rooms were my favorite place to go online. I would spend as much time as possible chatting away with complete strangers, often sharing details about my physical appearance, location, age, grade in school, and so on. Yikes! 2025 me is appalled that 1997 me was so naive and open with people I didn’t even know. No one is at fault here; my parents and I didn’t know any better back then, but I can’t help but think about how unsafe that was. Knowing what I know now, I will make sure my kids know how to be cautious when online. 

Teaching internet safety begins at home. Today’s kids are exposed to the internet long before they even step foot into a school setting. Gone are the days where a computer had to be stationary; kids today have access to the internet via so many methods– iPads, phones, laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, and so on. Parents have a responsibility to teach their children what is and is not okay when it comes to online habits. Thankfully today, parents can set filters on their computers and phones. While these filters are not fool-proof, they do help. Online content can be sneaky and can find a way around filters— and so can kids who are determined to bypass them. 

Kids need to know what kinds of words to use in their searches. They need to know what kinds of websites and images are safe to explore. They need to know how to get out of an inappropriate website if they somehow stumble upon one. It’s imperative that kids today understand the dangers of interacting with strangers, and that they know to never give out personal information online. 

So how do parents and teachers go about teaching these kinds of skills? We model them! We allow our kids to be on the internet while we sit next to them, coaching them on what search terms to use, what websites are okay to go to, and so on. We let them sit by us as we are online, so they can see how we safely use the internet. 

Another way to teach internet safety is to talk about it regularly. We talk about the red flags, the kinds of words that will generate inappropriate search results, the kinds of things strangers might say if they are grooming a child, and so forth. Having open conversations about things that can potentially be a danger will help kids and teens to be more aware as they are online, and it will also help your kids to feel more comfortable coming to you on the chance that something does go wrong or does pop up. 

We ought to be careful to do our best to not make the internet sound like a super scary and terrible thing. Rather, we teach that it is a useful tool and amazing place that has potential dangers, and what we can do to protect ourselves if/when faced with them. 

In school, teachers and counselors can show videos or slide shows illustrating things kids might come in contact with. Librarians can help students understand what a reliable website might look like and how to detect false information. Students can be aware of their surroundings and can help to alert teachers if they see something amiss with their own computer or a classmate’s. 

The internet isn’t going away, and people with wrong intent will only get smarter and sneakier. Filters and “safe” phones can only stop so much. This means that we as parents and educators need to be sure that we are giving today’s youth the tools they will need to safely navigate a digital world. Together, we can arm kids with the power to conquer the malicious workings of those that aim to harm today’s kids. Together, we can be a force for good.

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Winter Break Blues

The holidays are over, the excitement has died down, and you still have several days left of winter break. Routines are out of whack, kids are riding on a post-holiday sugar rush, the days are all blending together, and parents are completely and utterly exhausted. Maybe that’s just happening at my house? Just my kids? Hmmm. Well, at any rate, I’m sure there are at least a couple of you out there that understand the winter break blues. 

When the days are cold, there’s not any snow to play in, but the backyard is muddy from the rain storm a few days ago, what do you even do with your kids? Here’s a few ideas to try that will hopefully let you regain some of your sanity and provide your kids with something fun to do. Oh, and as a bonus, your kids just might learn something while they play, too!

Color Scavenger Hunt

This activity is great for kids of any age, and can be done while you sit and catch up on laundry, clean the bathroom, cook dinner, or even sit and read a book. Pick a color, then send your kids on a mission to find something in the house that is that color and bring it to show you. The catch? They can’t make a mess, can’t bring you something that is breakable, and must put the object away where it belongs before moving on to the next color. This game is simple, requires no set up, and is easy for all ages. A win-win all around!

Picture Hide and Seek

This does take a little bit of prep work, but I promise it’s worth it and your kids will love it. Print off or draw several small pictures and cut them out individually. Next, create a paper that has the same pictures, or, if your kids can read, write the names of the objects you have printed or drawn. Then, hide the individual pictures around the house. Depending on the ages and abilities of your kids, you can choose how difficult it will be to find the pictures. Give each of your children a copy of the paper that has all of the pictures on it and send them on their way! To make it more challenging, give them a time limit. To make it easier, have them work in teams to find the pictures. There are many ways you can adapt this activity to fit the needs and ages of your children. You can do all themed pictures— sea animals, foods, sports, cartoon characters, etc. Another way to do this activity is to put your older children in charge of drawing and hiding the pictures for their younger siblings. So many fun ways to play!

Click the button below to download and print a copy of the Hide and Seek I created. Print one page to cut up and hide, and one copy for each child that will be participating. If you want to repeat this activity another day, I suggest putting your children’s copies in a sheet protector so that they can be reused. (Please only print and use for personal or classroom use.)

Picture Hide and SeekDownload

Letter Scavenger Hunt

This is similar to the color scavenger hunt, but instead of assigning your kids a color to go find, have them find an object that begins with a letter of your choice. The same rules apply— no messes, no finding something breakable, and everything must be put away before moving on. This is a great activity for older preschoolers or younger elementary aged kids who are learning beginning sounds and letters.

Rhyming Game

Another twist on the color or letter scavenger hunt, this game requires your kids to find something that rhymes with a word that they are given. Say you give them the word “cat”. They must then search the house to try find an object that rhymes with that word— perhaps a hat, a bat, or a mat. This variation is great for younger elementary kids and up who are able to rhyme.

Fortunately, Unfortunately

I wish I could take credit for this game, but I can’t. I saw this idea on Instagram @playfulheartparenting. This is another game that requires absolutely no prep work and can be done while you do just about anything. You start the game by saying, “Unfortunately, …” and fill in the blank with some sort of ridiculously silly situation. Your child then counters back with, “Fortunately, …” and fills in the blank with another silly situation that “fixes” the situation you presented them with. You continue this, countering back and forth, building a silly story together. This gets kids thinking outside the box and gets them to think about how to respond to a funny situation. It might look something like this:

“Unfortunately, I got a flat tire on my way to the dentist.”

“Fortunately, I was almost there and my dentist used his tooth fixing tools to fix my tire.”

“Unfortunately, he didn’t clean his tools after he fixed the tire, and then used them to fix my tooth.”

“Fortunately, I have a super strong immune system and the dirt and germs didn’t make me sick.”

“Unfortunately, though, the tools were black from fixing my tire, so now my teeth are black.”

And so on. You can continue this game for as long as you wish. You can establish ground rules such as no making fun of other people, no naughty or potty words, and nothing about hurting other people or yourself. It is a game that is totally customizable for your family and your needs. It’s fun and gets everyone laughing. 

Hopefully these ideas give you something to do over the next few days of winter break. If anything, hopefully they will allow you to slow down and enjoy some time with your kids before you send them back to their teachers!