Learning Activities for Kids

Let’s Go On a Listening Walk

March 22, 2018 By Terri Thompson

If you want to add a peaceful element to your next walk with your kids, go on a listening walk.

Take the time to enjoy the peace and quiet or even the hustle and bustle of your neighborhood with this fun walk idea for families.

Listen carefully… what do you hear?

You can take an informal walk where the goal is to see just how many things you can hear.

Do you hear a cricket chirping? A car horn? Tweeting birds?

Emphasize quiet where the only time someone talks is when they want to share what they hear.

This is such a nice way to wind down together as a family at the end of a busy day. Or, it’s a fun morning activity to get the day started.

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Use your ears to go on a fun listening scavenger hunt while you walk around your neighborhood with this fun walk idea for families, a listening walk.

You can also bring along a list of items to create a listening scavenger hunt.We keep a stack of lists on a small clipboard that’s easy to grab and take along outside. You can print out our list here or you can make your own lists.

Here are some ideas you can add to you listening walk list:

A dog barking
Cars driving by
An airplane flying overhead
Geese honking
People talking
Children giggling
The wind whispering
Buzzing bees
Crows cawing
A car door slamming

Use your ears to go on a fun listening scavenger hunt while you walk around your neighborhood with this fun walk idea for families.

When making your list, think about the sounds you often hear in your neighborhood. If you live in the country, add a lot of nature sounds. A city walk could include vehicle noises, people, or construction noises.

Print your list here. Prints in landscape format.

Listen and learn about your neighborhood! What sorts of noises would you hear on a walk around your town?

You may also enjoy one of these outdoor family fun ideas:

Go Outside! Cards

Go Outside: Counting Walk

10 Ways to Make a Walk More Fun

My Five Senses Walk at Great Family Reads

Originally published 8/5/2013, updated March, 2018.

Parts of a Dandelion Nature Exploration

March 16, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Most adults see the dandelion as a weed, but to kids it’s magical.

My girls constantly pick me beautiful dandelion bouquets. They blow the seeds and watch them fly.

In a child’s eye, this sometimes pesky weed is beautiful. So, we’re going to take this natural fascination and use our backyard as a science lab while we explore dandelions and learn the parts of a dandelion.

The Dandelion Seed

We started our explanation of the dandelion with a book. We read The Dandelion Seed by Joseph Anthony and followed along on a dandelion seed’s journey.

It was a fascinating journey and one we could explore ourselves.

After we were done, I sent the girls off to find some dandelions. We were going to look closely at the flower and the seed.

Exploring the parts of a dandelion

We used our magnifying glasses and my daughter’s new magnifier to look at the parts of the dandelion. (This is similar to the magnifier we used.)

We tore the petals off the flower and picked the seeds off to look at them closer. Then, we tested our observation skills and learned about flowers.

We looked at the seed head, which is the round part of the flower that the seeds were attached to. We also looked at the hollow stem of the dandelion. Finally, we examined the seeds themselves.

If you want to try this lesson yourself, you will need nothing more than a magnifying glass.

I also brought out a piece of black paper to help us observe the small parts. You can see the tiny parts of a dandelion much better on the plain, dark background.

Here are some questions to ask while examining dandelions

How does a dandelion seed fly through the air?

What part of a dandelion flower becomes the seed?

Can you see the white fluffy part when you pull the petals from the flower?

What does a seed need to grow?

Why do you think there are so many dandelions?

We used our notebooks and drew all the different things a seed needs to grow. We drew the sun, water, and roots and we also drew a dandelion seed.

Our little notebooks are turning into a fun nature journal.

Lessons learned from the dandelion

Observation (using our five senses to describe a dandelion flower and seed)
The parts of a dandelion
How a seed grows
How a seed flies through the air

Have you ever spent time examining a dandelion?

Storybook Science

If you’d like more science projects inspired by fun children’s books, you can check out the Storybook Science series. Check it out here to find all the fun projects. I’m sure you’ll want to try them all!

Recommended Resources

For our nature exploration we used the book The Dandelion Seed, which was written by Joseph Anthony and illustrated by Chris Arbo. It’s a delightful book with lovely illustrations so you can follow a dandelion seed’s journey and learn about the life cycle of a seed.

You can buy it here: The Dandelion Seed.

And also, check out the sequel: Dandelion Seed’s Big Dream.

LEGO Addition: Add & Fill a Base Plate

March 7, 2018 By Terri Thompson

You know a great way to get kids excited about learning? Get out the LEGOs!

There are so many learning activities you can do with LEGO bricks, from science to STEM, storytelling, reading games, and of course, math.

This LEGO addition game is a fun and simple way to get kids excited about homework. So, grab your LEGOs and let’s go!

Set up this LEGO math activity

For this game, we’re going to use our addition skills to fill up a LEGO base plate. So, the first thing you’ll need is a LEGO base plate. You can grab any size you want, but keep in mind that the larger the base plate, the more time this game will take.

You also need a large selection of LEGO bricks. Make sure to get as many different sizes as you can. I found that it is helpful to have quite a few LEGOs with one bump for this game.

Finally, you’ll need a pair of dice and a willing player.

How to play this LEGO Addition Game

The goal of this game is to add and fill up your LEGO base plate.

Start by throwing the dice. Add the two numbers together and find a brick with the correct amount of bumps. You may have to combine 2 or 3 bricks to get the correct amount of bumps.

Attach your bricks to your base plate.

Now keep going. Throw the dice, add them up, and attach your bricks to your base plate.

Keep on adding and attaching bricks. You may need to use your puzzle solving skills to fill in the plate.

The game is over as soon as you fill your entire base plate.

It can get tricky when you only have a few bumps left to fill at the end, so it’s up to you how you want to finish. You can keep throwing the dice until you get the exact number you need to fill your base plate. Or, you can throw the dice and just add the amount of bricks that it takes to finish filling your base plate.

How many LEGO bricks did you use altogether?

Extend the Fun

Play with two or more kids. Each player has their own base plate and they take turns throwing the dice. Who will fill their base plate first?

Practice your estimation skills. After you fill your base, estimate how many LEGOs are on the plate before counting. How close were you? Or, you can try estimating how many LEGOs you will use before you begin the game.

Start with a filled base plate and use subtraction to remove all the LEGOs. How long will it take to get an empty base plate?

Do you have any fun ways to play this LEGO addition game?

If you enjoyed this LEGO addition game, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest

You may also enjoy one of these fun math games:

Addition War Card Game

Subtraction with Loose Parts Math Activity

Math Paper Plate Games

Pick Two LEGO Math Game at Creative Family Fun

Thumbprint Addition Activity at Rainy Day Mum

Word Family Flags Activity

March 6, 2018 By Terri Thompson

Have you ever made a collection of words?

It’s a great way to be creative! So, for this Word Family Flags Activity, we’re going to collect words that fit into specific word families.

This activity is easy, fun, and when you’re done, you end up with a simple room decoration.

Supplies Needed

One sheet of construction paper per flag
Scissors
Markers
Printable Word Family Cards (optional)

How to make Word Family Flags

The set-up for these word family flags is super-simple.

First decide how many word families you are going to collect. You can make one, three, or as many flags as you would like. You’ll need one flag per word family.

For each flag, cut a decorative line along the bottom. I made zig-zags, but you can also do a curved bottom or any design you want.

At the top of each flag, write your word families. We used -at, -in, and -un word families. But, use whatever word family you want to work on.

Attach them to a wall, door, or bulletin board and get ready to collect words.

It’s time to collect words!

Now, we get to do the fun part, collecting words.

There are many ways to do this step.

– Your child can try to come up with as many words as they can off the top of their head and then write them on the flag.

– Print off coordinating Word Family Cards from our Printables Resources. Cut them out, sort, and glue on the correct flag.

– Cut words from newspapers, flyers, or magazines that fit each word family.

– Search through a book to find word examples and them write them on the flag.

Or, you can combine all the examples and do a fun collection of words.

Where would you find words?

If you enjoyed this fun Word Family Flags Activity, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

You may also enjoy one of these fun word family activity:

IN Word Family Game: Hide and Seek Words

Word Family Game: Four Square

AD Word Family Activity: Highlighter Words

Ice Cream Word Families Literacy Game from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary

Easter Science Activities for Kids

March 2, 2018 By Terri Thompson

When I started looking for Easter science activities, I was blown away by all the fun and amazing experiments I found.

There are Easter twists on classic experiments, science with Easter candy, science with eggs, and more fun ideas. I’ve got a whole list of things I want to try at home now.

Where to start? I have no idea! Which one of these Easter science activities do you want to try first?

Egg Science Activities

Add a twist to the classic naked egg experiment with this Rainbow Naked Eggs Experiment at Schooling a Monkey.

Create a cool spider web pattern on eggs when you make these Spider Eggs at JDaniel4’s Mom.

Walk on raw eggs without cracking them with this science project from Housing a Forest.

Learn about osmosis and make Shrinking Eggs at Science Sparks.

Use your empty eggshells to make Egg Geodes with Tinkerlab.

Can you dye a brown egg? Find out with this simple experiment from EDventures for Kids.

Try some science while you dye your eggs with this Volcano Egg Dying project from Housing a Forest.

How strong is an eggshell? Find out with this egg science experiment from Science Sparks.

Easter Candy Science Experiments

Use your leftover jelly beans for this fun Jelly Bean Color Experiment at Crafty Morning.

What happens with you add Peeps to different liquids? Find out with this Peeps Science Experiment from Gift of Curiosity.

Try the classic sink or float experiment with your Easter candy with this fun Peeps Sink or Float experiment from Playdough to Plato.

Explore your sense of taste with this simple science Jelly Bean Taste Test from Childhood 101.

Measure, collect data, and microwave your Peeps with these fun Peeps science ideas from Lemon Lime Adventures.

Find out how jelly beans react to different liquids with this simple Jelly Bean Science idea from Fantastic Fun and Learning.

More Fun Easter Science Activities

Grow Easter Egg Crystals with Fantastic Fun and Learning.

Or, you can make a different sort of crystal with these Salt Crystal Easter Eggs from Schooling a Monkey.

Explore physics and ramps with these Plastic Egg Races from Little Bins for Little Hands.

Do some Easter-inspired plant science when you try to grow a carrot top at Laughing Kids Learn.

Use plastic eggs to experiment with magnets with this fun Magnet Science idea from Modern Preschool.

Or, you can experiment with Magnetic Eggs like these from Frugal Fun for Boys and Girls.

Have you made up your mind yet? Which of these Easter science activities are you going to try first?

If you enjoyed these Easter science activities for kids, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

Learning Activities for Kids

Let’s Go On a Listening Walk

Here are some ideas you can add to you listening walk list:

You may also enjoy one of these outdoor family fun ideas: