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Learning Activities for Kids

Autumn Scavenger Hunts for Kids

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I don’t know about you, but I always want to get outside on a beautiful fall day to look at the colors and enjoy the crisp cool air.

These fun autumn scavenger hunts are the perfect family activity to get you and your kids outside.

Fun autumn scavenger hunts for kids

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Autumn Scavenger Hunts for Kids

Are you ready to have some fun?

These scavenger hunt ideas are all so much fun! You can hunt for the makings of a nature sensory bin or look at all the colors around you.

All of these ideas are perfect for exploring fall treasures and will get your family outside, exercising, and having fun.

Autumn Scavenger Hunts for Kids

Get outside and explore this fall with this fun selection of autumn scavenger hunts for kids.

Image for Thanksgiving Game: Photo Scavenger Hunt on Your Smartphone

Thanksgiving Game: Photo Scavenger Hunt on Your Smartphone

Photo Credit: www.kcedventures.com

Use this free printable Thanksgiving scavenger hunt to take photos of things you are thankful for.

Image for Fall Scavenger Hunt

Fall Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: organized31.com

This fall nature scavenger hunt is fun for kids of all ages, but the pictures on the printables makes it perfect for preschoolers.

Image for Pumpkin Patch Scavenger Hunt

Pumpkin Patch Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: www.reallifeathome.com

Go on a scavenger hunt at the pumpkin patch with this fun scavenger hunt idea.

Image for We're Going on a Leaf Hunt

We're Going on a Leaf Hunt

Photo Credit: www.craftymomsshare.com

Go on a leaf scavenger hunt with this fun idea based on the book We're Going on a Leaf Hunt.

Image for Autumn Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Autumn Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Photo Credit: blissfuldomestication.com

Hunt for items in nature with this fun scavenger hunt which included photos on the printable to help you identify everything.

Image for Printable Fall Scavenger Hunt

Printable Fall Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: wondermomwannabe.com

This fall scavenger hunt has 33 items which makes it perfect for a group activity.

Image for Scarecrow Hunt with FREE Printable

Scarecrow Hunt with FREE Printable

Photo Credit: capriplus3.com

Hide the pieces of a scarecrow around the house and let your kids find them to put together with this great idea for a scavenger hunt craft.

Image for Forest Scavenger Hunt

Forest Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: www.kcedventures.com

Go on a scavenger hunt on a hike in the forest with this fun idea.

Image for Nature Color Wheel Printable Scavenger Hunt

Nature Color Wheel Printable Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: mothernatured.com

Explore the colors of fall with this fun nature color wheel scavenger hunt.

Image for Signs of Autumn Fall Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Signs of Autumn Fall Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Photo Credit: rhythmsofplay.com

Search for the signs of autumn with this fun scavenger hunt.

Image for Fall Scavenger Hunt List

Fall Scavenger Hunt List

Photo Credit: www.kcedventures.com

Go on a simple fall scavenger hunt with this list that would be perfect for a trip to the park or nature center.

Image for Search for Autumn Printable for Kids

Search for Autumn Printable for Kids

Photo Credit: www.kitchencounterchronicle.com

Search for autumn and sketch your finds in this fun printable mini booklet.

Image for Nature Scavenger Hunt

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: www.messylittlemonster.com

This simple fall nature scavenger hunt is perfect for your toddler or preschooler.

Image for Nature Hunt Cardboard Hearts

Nature Hunt Cardboard Hearts

Photo Credit: www.learningandexploringthroughplay.com

Make your own nature hunt on these fun cardboard hearts.

Image for Nature Sensory Bin Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Nature Sensory Bin Scavenger Hunt for Kids

Photo Credit: rhythmsofplay.com

Collect items on a nature hunt to make your own sensory bin with this fun idea.

Image for Fall Camping Scavenger Hunt

Fall Camping Scavenger Hunt

Photo Credit: www.lookwerelearning.com

Go on a fall scavenger hunt at the campground with this fun idea!

Which one is your favorite? I can’t decide, they’re all so awesome!

Enjoy the outdoors this fall with one of these fun Autumn Scavenger Hunts for kids. Your family will have so much fun exploring fall treasures.

More Family Outdoor Activities

10 Fun Family Exercise Ideas

Discover a New Playground for Outdoor Family Fun

10 Fun Walk Ideas for Families

Tips for Hiking with Toddlers

Find More Outdoor Family Ideas in One of These Books

We’ve got a small library of books at home to help inspire us to get outside together. Here are some recommendations you may want to add to your home library.

Do you want to do more activities with your family?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Spider Toss Number Game for Toddlers

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Spiders are a fun learning theme that’s popular around Halloween. Try our spider toss number game for toddlers to practice number recognition.

Practice number recognition with your toddlers when you play this fun Spider Toss Number Game. It's so much fun to play and learn!

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Spider Toss Number Game for Toddlers

What You’ll Need for the Number Game

Painter’s tape
Cardstock or paper (recycled paper would be great for this)
Marker
Scissors or paper cutter
Spider (made from 5 bump chenille stems)

How to Setup the Spider Themed Number Game

Use your painter’s tape to create a spider web. I like to start with a + and an x. Then connect the lines to make the web. [Painter’s tape should be fine on most surfaces but I don’t recommend leaving it on for long periods of time. Use a large piece of cardboard, posterboard, foamboard, or something similar if you’re wanting to play longer.]

Cut up cardstock or a piece of paper into small squares. Write a number on each square. I used the numbers 1-10. Work on higher numbers if your child is ready. You could even work on number words with older children.

Place the numbers around the spider web.

Create your spider with 5 bump chenille stems (pipe cleaners). I simply twisted the chenille stems together and then wrapped the stems around and around to create the spider body, 8 legs, and 2 pedipalps (short appendages by the spider’s head). I first made this spider for a sponsored post. You can watch a video or read step by step instructions on how to make the pipe cleaner spiders.

Feel free to use any toy spider you have around. Spider erasers or the plastic spiders found in the Halloween section would work well, too. Just be careful of the small size around toddlers who still like to put things in their mouths. A homemade cardboard tube spider would be great for this activity as well.

How to Play the Spider Toss Number Game

Have you child stand near the spider web and toss the spider onto it. What number does the spider land near?

Continue tossing and dropping the spider as long as your child is interested.

The goal is to talk about the numbers as much as possible. Are there certain numbers your child tends to struggle with?

As a second option, you can call out a number and have your child toss or place the spider on that number.

Say, “Where is the number 4? Can you take your spider to the number 4?”

Practice number recognition with your toddlers when you play this fun Spider Toss Number Game.

This is a super simple way for toddlers to practice naming numbers. The spider adds a bit of fun and interest.

If you want to practice counting from 1 to 10, have your child move the spider from number to number in the correct order.

Practice number recognition with your toddlers when you play this fun Spider Toss Number Game. It's so much fun to play and learn!

More Spider Web Games for Preschoolers

Spider Math Games – Work with a number line to practice counting and number recognition.

Fizzy Spider Web Art – Combine science and art to create colorful fizzy spider webs.

Sticky Spider Web Gross Motor Activity – Build a sticky web and see if your spider can catch what you throw.

Spider Web Walking Game – Can you balance on the spider’s web? Another great one for working on gross motor skills for toddlers.

Do you want to do more activities with your family?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Bats in a Cave: Bat Sight Word Game

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We’ve been practicing sight words a lot lately. Have you? They’re so crucial to reading and a good knowledge of sight words can help your kids grow into strong readers.

Since it’s always my goal to help my girls have fun while learning at home, I came up with this fun Bat Sight Word Game that gets my girls moving, learning, and having fun. (I never want to recreate school at home! Do you?)

Have some fun practicing sight words with this Bat Sight Word Game by putting all your sleeping bats in the correct place in their sight word cave.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

How to make your bat sight word game

To create the game, I started out by making my bats. I wanted a bunch of sleeping bats hanging upside down so I drew a quick template on a piece of cardboard from my recycle bin. A cardboard template helps so much when you want to make several duplicate items.

The bat template was super-simple to draw and I promise you can do it even if you don’t think you have any artistic skills. Check out my template below – it’s so easy!

Start with a large teardrop shape for the body. Add a curvy triangle to the top overlapping the pointy end of the teardrop for the feet. Add a circle with a slightly pointed top for the head. Finally add two pointy ears. Cut around the outline.

Because I didn’t want to sit and cut out bats all day (and I know you don’t want to either), I folded a piece of black construction paper in half and then in thirds. I was able to trace one bat on the paper and cut out six at one time. So much easier!

I did this twice so I had 12 bats altogether. I put a piece of rolled up painter’s tape on the back of each bat.

Finally, I cut off a piece of brown wrapping paper and drew a simple cave opening.

I then wrote 12 different sight words on the paper and hung the wrapping paper on a door.

Choose your sight words

I chose words from a list of sight words my daughter’s teacher had sent home. Pick words that your child is having difficulty with or just hasn’t learned yet.

If you need some ideas, you can print off a list of all the Dolch sight words sorted by grade level here. I refer to this list all the time!

This game would also work with spelling words.

Hint: Lay the bats out on the paper before writing the words. You’ll know where you need to put each word and not have to worry about getting them too close together. 

Now it’s time to play your bat sight word game!

We played two different versions of a bat sight word game with this set up.

Game 1:

Call out a sight word and have your child find the word and cover it with a bat.

When they’re done, they’ll have a cave full of sleeping bats.

Game 2:

Have your child read each word out loud then cover that word with a bat.

Both games are fun and great ways to practice a group of sight words.

Note: This post was originally published on October 15, 2015. Updated and republished on September 14, 2018.

Be sure to check out all of the great Nocturnal Animal Posts from the 2nd Grade Blogging Team!

Bat Science Experiments: Echolocation Activities from Preschool Powol Packets

Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity from Look! We’re Learning!

Creating Growing Patterns with Nocturnal Animals from Life Over C’s

Nocturnal Animal Report: Hedgehogs from Crafty Kids at Home

Nocturnal Animals Writing Tray and Word List from Lemon Lime Adventures

Have some fun practicing sight words with this Bat Sight Word Game by putting all your sleeping bats in the correct place in their sight word cave.

You may also like one of these other sight word games:

DIY Sight Word Memory Game

Sight Word Tallies

Sight Word Pick and Spell

Fall Sight Word Scavenger Hunt at Life over C’s

Multiplication Practice with Jelly Bean Arrays

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Have you ever worked with arrays? It’s a great way to visualize multiplication and these Jelly Bean Arrays are a fun way to learn.

So, today we’re grabbing our Easter candy and having some fun. Are you ready to learn?

Learn about and practice multiplication with Jelly Bean Arrays. This fun Easter math activity is a great way to practice multiplying and is so much fun.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Arrays are a great way to describe a multiplication problem and help you “see”  how to get the answer.

It’s a great way to visualize multiplication. And it’s another one of those things I didn’t learn in school, but my children are. I’m glad they are!

Use jelly beans to practice multiplication arrays.

How Do You Use Arrays In Multiplication?

First of all, let’s define an array. Quite simply, it’s a visual representative of a multiplication problem (at least in our case) using objects arranged in rows and columns.

Take the multiplication problem, 2 x 4. The first number, two, represents the number of rows. The second number, four, represents the number of columns.

So, for 2 x 4, we would create two rows with four objects each.

Jelly Bean Arrays - a fun way to learn about multiplication

What Else Does the Array Show?

In the above photo, you’ve got three rows and four columns. It represents 3 x 4. Or, 4 + 4 + 4. Can you see that?

And the answer to both of those math problems is twelve.

Arrays can tell you a lot!

Jelly Bean Arrays

Now that we have an understanding of arrays, let’s grab our jelly beans and have some fun.

Our set-up was simple, I just used an index card to display my arrays and grabbed a pile of jelly beans.

Note: You can do this any time of the year. Just use M&Ms or Skittles instead of jelly beans.

The only other thing you need are some multiplication problems.

Let’s start solving!

Multiplication practice with jelly bean arrays

How do you solve 3 x 2?

You’d make 3 rows with 2 jelly beans in each row. Now let’s solve. Count up the jelly beans and you’ll find 6. 3 x 2 = 6

Let’s flip the problem around? Would 2 x 3 look the same as 3 x 2?

The answer is the same, but the array would look different. To make an array for 2 x 3, you’d have 2 rows with 3 jelly beans in each row.

Keep using jelly bean arrays to work on all your multiplication problems. I love how this helps you see exactly how to solve a multiplication problem.

This is such a great math tool!

Learn about and practice multiplication with Jelly Bean Arrays. This fun Easter math activity is a great way to practice multiplying and is so much fun.

More Fun Math Activities

Learn your multiplication facts with this fun and easy to make Paper Plate Multiplication Practice Activity

Visualize skip counting with this fun STEAM activity – Math Art: Skip Counting Pointillism

Hands-On Perimeter Activity: Perimeter Lab is a fun way to practice measuring and calculating perimeter using real objects.

These Patterned Multiplication Circles at Lemon Lime Adventures are another great way to visualize multiplication.

More Multiplication Resources

It can take a lot of work to memorize multiplication facts, so it’s great to have a variety of games and activities to help your kids.

Here are some fun ideas to consider:

Fun LEGO Math Games

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Do you know an easy way to get your kids excited about math?

Get out the LEGO bucket and try some LEGO math games!

LEGO Bricks are so versatile and can be used to illustrate many different math concepts. You can use them for counting, preschool math, and all through elementary school with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and more.

Make math fun with these awesome LEGO math games for preschoolers and elementary students. Find ideas for addition, patterning, multiplication, and more.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

LEGO Math Games

Check out these great LEGO math activities and you’re sure to find something that works for your child.

Are they working on addition? Try our fun Add & Fill game.

Do you want to illustrate symmetry? Build LEGO Symmetry Snowflakes.

Or are you working on multiplication? Build a 3-D multiplication graph.

You can find all these great ideas and more in the list below.

LEGO Math Games

Find ideas for patterning, addition, subtraction, multiplication and more with this fun collection of LEGO math games for kids from preschool through elementary school.

Image for Block Patterning with Legos for Preschoolers

Block Patterning with Legos for Preschoolers

Photo Credit: handsonaswegrow.com

Your preschooler will love to practice patterning with this simple activity.

Image for Lego Challenge Math Activity (Free Printable)

Lego Challenge Math Activity (Free Printable)

Photo Credit: buggyandbuddy.com

This simple math challenge will help you child practice math skills such as spatial awareness and geometry.

Image for Skip Counting With LEGOs

Skip Counting With LEGOs

Photo Credit: www.powerfulmothering.com

Use your LEGO Bricks to practice skip counting with this simple idea.

Image for LEGO Math Challenge Cards and Activities

LEGO Math Challenge Cards and Activities

Photo Credit: littlebinsforlittlehands.com

Set up a fun LEGO math busy bag with these printable math activity cards and a selection of bricks.

Image for Lego Bar Charts

Lego Bar Charts

Photo Credit: www.science-sparks.com

Use your LEGOs to make bar charts with this fun math activity.

Image for Learn Area and Perimeter Using LEGOs

Learn Area and Perimeter Using LEGOs

Photo Credit: www.schooltimesnippets.com

Using LEGOs to practice area and perimeter is a great way to visualize these math concepts.

Image for Teach Your Child Multiplication using LEGOs

Teach Your Child Multiplication using LEGOs

Photo Credit: www.schooltimesnippets.com

Use your LEGO Bricks to practice grouping for a hands-on multiplication practice.

Image for Star Wars Minifigure LEGO Math Game

Star Wars Minifigure LEGO Math Game

Photo Credit: inspirationlaboratories.com

Use your Minifigures and a deck of UNO cards to practice addition and subtraction with this fun game.

Image for Using Lego to Explore Symmetry in snowflakes

Using Lego to Explore Symmetry in snowflakes

Photo Credit: rainydaymum.co.uk

Explore symmetry when you create LEGO snowflakes with this fun math activity.

Image for Ways to Make Ten with LEGO Minifigures

Ways to Make Ten with LEGO Minifigures

Photo Credit: inspirationlaboratories.com

Use your LEGO Bricks and Minifigures to practice making 10.

Image for Easiest Proof Pythagorean Theorem with LEGO

Easiest Proof Pythagorean Theorem with LEGO

Photo Credit: igamemom.com

Check out how you can use your LEGOs to illustrate the Pythagorean theorem.

Image for Hands-on Multiplication with Legos (A 3-D Graph!)

Hands-on Multiplication with Legos (A 3-D Graph!)

Photo Credit: frugalfun4boys.com

Create a 3-D multiplication graph to help learn your multiplication facts.

Which of these fun LEGO math games are your going to try with your kids?

The Best LEGOs for Math Activities

Chances are, you already have the LEGO bricks you need for any of these fun math activities.

The most important items are base plates and a selection of bricks of different sizes. Despite all the pictures you see, it’s not crucial to have primary colored LEGO bricks. You can also pull together everything you need from LEGO Friends sets too!

If you are looking for some good, basic LEGOs, did you know you can buy them from the pound? Check out this great seller on ETSY who sells bricks by the pound.

Make math fun with these awesome LEGO math activities for preschoolers and elementary students. Find ideas for addition, patterning, multiplication, and more.

You may also like one of these fun math activities:

Grab some items from nature to practice math this fun fun activity, Addition with Rocks: An Outdoor Math Activity

Use a number line to solve a secret code with this fun Number Line Secret Code Math Activity

Grab a simple set of playing cards for this easy Plus 1 Minus 1 Card Game

There are so many Math Paper Plate Games you can make with a pack of simple paper plates.

These DIY Fact Family Triangles at Rainy Day Mum are a great tool to help your child with their math facts.

Great LEGO resources for learning

LEGO sets are awesome, but a general collection of LEGOs are perfect for learning activities and other fun. Here are some great resources to keep on hand.