Stress Free Homeschooling Ideas

In light of all the new homeschoolers out there, I thought I would put together a list of educational activities that don’t require you to purchase any curriculum, are fun, and most can be done without a parent’s help.

Fun, Free, Homeschool, Learning Activities

1. Work on Life Skills. Learn how to:
   • Cook
   • Do Laundry
   • Check the oil in the car
   • Change a Tire
   • Paint a room
   • Budget
   • Grocery shopping online
   • Make a meal plan with a budget, then shop online
   • Banking online
   • Home repair
   • Mow the lawn
   • Start a garden
2. PE Ideas
   • Online exercise video
   • Family Olympics
   • Obstacle course
   • Train for a 5K together
   • Bike rides
   • Roller skating/blading, skateboarding
   • Family game of basketball, soccer, football
   • Google different ways to play tag, and have a family game of tag
3. Learn about Outer-space
   • Learn the constellations
   • Research the planets
   • Family stargazing party
   • Visit https://www.nasa.gov/
   • Learn about the phases of the moon
   • Go for a walk in the full moon.
   • Look at the moon with binoculars or a telescope
4. Do some Family History
   • Write down favorite family stories
   • Write your personal history
   • Organize family photos
   • Make a slide show of favorite family pictures and/or videos
   • Interview Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles
   • Type up their stories
   • Research where your parents/Grandparents/Great-grandparents were raised
   • Learn how to use Family Search. (It’s free) https://www.familysearch.org/register/custom/1
   • Make a book of one of your ancestors, include pictures, and stories
5. Do something kind for your neighbors
   • Plant some flowers
   • Shovel/sweep their side walk
   • Cover their door with hearts and kind messages
   • Rake/mow their lawn
   • Wash their windows
   • Go caroling, sing fun songs
   • Walk their dog
6. Nature Ideas
   • Go for a nature walk, everyone bring back something you found and research more about it.
   • Have a nature scavenger hunt.
   • Put up a bird feeder in your yard.
   • Research and record the birds that come to the feeder. What do they like to eat?  How can you attract other birds to your yard or feeder?
   • Go bird watching
   • On YouTube listen to bird songs of local birds so you can identify them.
   • Start a nature collection, i.e.: leaves, rocks, feathers, bugs, bark rubbings, wildflowers
   • Research the wildlife that live in your area. Look for evidence of them where you live, i.e.: scat, tracks, fur.
   • Keep a nature journal
   • Learn about native plants around you. See how many you can identify.
   • Document the weather and temperature each day.
   • Learn about weather prediction and patterns
   • Watch the clouds, find shapes, and research types of clouds
7. All about books
   • Book club with family or online. Everyone reads the same book and then you discuss it.
   • Book Party with family or online. Everyone brings their favorite book and gives a brief synopsis of the book and tells why it is their favorite.
   • Write and illustrate your own book.
   • Illustrate your favorite story or book
   • Research your favorite book. Where did the author get the idea?
   • Join a fan club centered around your favorite book.
   • Write a story that offshoots your favorite book, or continue the story.
   • Make a mini movie of your favorite book
   • Research your favorite author/s.
   • Read other books by your favorite authors.
   • Create your own fantasy world. Write stories about it, create a language, customs, maps, style of dress, mythical creatures, magical powers etc.
   • Have a read-a-thon complete with snacks
   • Listen to an audio book in a homemade fort.
   • Be a book character and have others ask questions to figure out who you are.
   • Write your own graphic novel or turn your favorite book into a graphic novel.
   • Read a book then watch the movie. Compare the two and have a family discussion about the similarities and differences.
   • Write a letter to your favorite author.
8. Watch How Things are Made on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCELt4nocnWDEnYJmov4zqyA
9. Watch science videos on YouTube
10. Google Easy Science experiments and do your favorites.
11. Make a family newspaper to send to friends and neighbors, ideas for articles could include: things you have learned for school, family news and activities with pictures, weather report, recipes.
12. Learn more about your favorite animal.
13. Math games, you can find a lot of ideas online
14. Plan a family vacation you can take after this is over. Research the area, find fun things to do, plan a budget for your vacation, and plan travel time.
15. Keep a journal
16. Family game tournament. Chess, checkers, dominoes, Yahtzee
17. Learn stop motion photography.
18. Make a claymation movie.
19. Memorize the continents.
20. Memorize the countries on a continent.
21. Memorize the 50 states.
22. Make a map of your neighborhood.
23. Make a map of an imaginary country.
24. Learn about how movies are made.
25. Research how your favorite movie was made.
26. Learn how cartoons are made.
27. Make your own cartoon.
28. Learn about an event in history and make a movie about it.
29. Read to a younger sibling or to your cousin or grandparents over Facetime.
30. Write to a pen pal, with everyone homeschooling it should be easy to find someone willing to write back.
31. Start a family Youtube channel. You could share recipes, book reviews, movie reviews etc.
32. Start a podcast
33. Design and draw your dream home.
34. Study church history. Learn more about a specific person or time period.
35. Learn Morse Code as a family and leave each other secret messages all over the house.
36. Learn about other codes
37. Create your own secret code and share it with a friend. Write secret messages to each other.
38. Learn a new language. (There are many apps now to help you learn a new language)
39. Memorize your favorite poem
40. Have a tea party and everyone share their favorite poem or one they have memorized
41. Look up what happened this day in history. What happened the year you were born, the year your parents or grandparents were a born?
42. Make a soap or wood carving.
43. Get a house plant and research how to take care of it. How much water, sun, and fertilizer does it need?
44. Read stories from Greek, Roman, Native American, or Norse mythology.
    • Write your own mythology story.

45. Host a family or online Geography Bee with your friends.
46. Host a family or online Spelling Bee.
47. Learn how to do origami.
48. Play store. Give everyone monopoly money and have fun!
49. Research your dream job. What would you do on a daily basis? How much would you make?
50. Research your dream place to live. How much does a house or an apartment cost?  What is the cost of living in that area?
51. Research the type of car you want to buy.
52. Play school. Take turns being the teacher and teach something to your siblings, friends, or cousins online.
53. Learn to do paper mâché. (There are a lot of great tutorials on Youtube about paper mâché.)
54. Make a vision board.
55. Make a collage
56. Make a diorama
57. Make sock puppets or paper puppets
58. Make a puppet theater and put on a play
59. Learn to make shadow puppets, and a shadow puppet theater.
60. Make a life-size version of yourself. Lay down and have someone trace the outline of your body, and then color it.
61. Learn the systems of the body.
62. Learn how to take your pulse.
63. Write a song.
64. Study a famous artist, composer, sculpture, mathematician, zoologist, astronomer, author, botanist, actor, scientist, or world leader.
65. ACT or SAT prep
66. Learn how and write your own resume’.
67. Practice and have a pretend job interview.
68. Watch a movie based on actual events, then research more about that event. Was the movie accurate?
69. Research a pet you would like to own.
70. Study backyard homesteading.
71. Learn outdoor survival skills.
72. Build something with Legos or wooden blocks
73. Have a family art exhibit.
74. Have a photography scavenger hunt.
75. Learn to knit or crochet.
76. Make paper airplanes. Have a contest to see whose can fly the farthest.
77. Make play-dough.
78. Make slime.
79. Research your favorite sport, sports team, or player.
80. Measure things.
81. Weigh things
82. Play sink or float. In a large bowl of water put small objects in the water. Before putting the object in the water guess if it will sink or float.
83. Using magnets go around the house and see what the magnet sticks to.
84. Learn how to solve a Rubik’s Cube.
85. Look up riddles to solve.
86. Design your dream outfit.
87. Design a whole clothing line.
88. Learn to sew something.
89. Lean more about photography.
90. Tour a museum online.
91. Read the news online.
92. Explore the world with Google Earth
93. Research a country. Learn their customs, dress, products, and food.
94. Have a culture night, dress like and eat foods from the country you studied
95. Research the biggest man-made structures in the world.
96. Research the natural wonders of the world.
97. Learn about your favorite sea animals.
98. Read the Declaration of Independence
99. Read the Constitution of the United States
100. Learn more about your state.
101. Learn more about the city you live in. When was it founded, and who were the first people that lived there?
102. Write a ”Thank You” note to someone.
103. Watch an online music tutorial for an instrument you own and can practice.
104. Learn to make a PowerPoint presentation.
105. Learn to write computer code.