Love of Learning + Months (Years) of Activities!

What’s more important than education and learning? The LOVE of learning!

How do children develop a love of learning?

By immersing themselves in things they enjoy, things that interest them, and things they wonder about.

Below, we’ll include many “love of learning” ideas for your children to do, to experiment with, to research, to learn more about. These will cover Science, Math, Technology, Life Skills, Social Studies, Reading, Writing, Literature, Art, Music, and more.

Any topics that interest your children, or that they wonder about, will be learned and retained more thoroughly when topics or ideas captivate and fascinate them.

The brain has a huge capacity for constantly learning, for continuously absorbing new information, and for storing and recalling this knowledge. This occurs more rapidly when thoughts and ideas are truly interesting to your children.

Provide the freedom and flexibility for your children to wonder, ponder, peruse, and use the vast amount of knowledge and wisdom that’s literally at their fingertips.

Allow children time to experiment, create, try new things, and simply play throughout their day.

How do children “learn how to learn”?

Simple, really: “Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children learn how to learn.” – O. Fred Donaldson, Author and Play Specialist

Ask your children what they want to learn more about today. Then do that again tomorrow and each day that follows.

Here are some activities and ideas to help them start thinking about and developing a “love of learning”.

When doing the activities ask them:

1. Which is their favorite?
2. Why is it their favorite?
3. What more would they like to do or learn about?
4. How could they expand upon the experiments or activities?

Here are Activity Ideas for a Month of Learning or YEARS of Learning!
Remember to discuss each activity and ideas inspired by these:

1. Build with Legos, K’Nex, Magnetic Tiles, Marble Runs (math, technology)
2. Create clay figures, animals, jewelry, vases, mugs (science, life skills, art)
3. Draw family members, your backyard, your room (social studies, math, art)
4. Sketch urban areas, architecture, your city’s projects (social studies, math, art)
5. Paint landscapes, mountains, streams, oceans, habitats (science, art)
6. Paste shapes, tissue paper, stickers to create collages of landmarks (geography, social studies, art)
7. Design new games, board games, video games, fun games (technology, science, math)
8. Bake cupcakes, pastries, experiment with new food creations (math, science, life skills)
9. Experiment with creating slime, volcanoes, tornados, kitchen science reactions (science, math)
10. Glue junk items, gears, cogs, nuts, bolts to create sculptures (technology, science, art)
11. Make clocks, thermometers, rain gauges, anemometers (math, science, life skills)
12. Create dioramas of dinosaur eras, animal habitats, cityscapes (social studies, science)
13. Draw famous people, places, animals, insects, events (history, social studies, art)
14. Design maps of towns, cities, neighborhoods, states, regions, world (geography, art)
15. Construct stages for puppet shows, dramas, theater performances (math, science, art)
16. Make musical instruments, play music, perform concerts (music, art)
17. Write/Animate stories, plays, scripts, games, comic books (writing, reading, art)
18. Read stories aloud, using character voices or rewriting endings (reading, literature)
19. Draw favorite scenes from books, video games, or movies (reading, literature, art)
20. Compose music inspired by songs, musicals, video games (music, art)
21. Create scripts inspired by favorite movies, plays, video games (reading, literature)
22. Program code for games, apps, electronics, robotics (technology, science, math)
23. Hike through parks, take nature walks, photograph scenery (science, art)
24. Devise outdoor fun, games, scavenger hunts, forts, play items (science, math)
25. Create new styles of sports, basketball, baseball, football, soccer (research, reading)
26. Build bridges, architecture, sculptures with straws, toothpicks, marshmallows (technology, science)
27. Design solar system models or ecosystems, using new ideas, new materials (science, math, art)
28. Construct models of human body, dinosaurs, dragons, cars, planes, ships (math, science)
29. Build robots, transformers, solar-powered or battery-powered items, electrical circuits, snap circuits (science, math)
30. Design and create journals, sketchbooks, notebooks to record your experiments, activities, and paintings (math, science, life skills, art)
31. Construct and create boxes to display or hold your creations, by deconstructing other boxes and reconstructing new boxes to showcase your projects (math, life skills, science, art)

Encourage your children to take these ideas and run with them! To have fun with them, to be as creative as they want, to put their own unique spin on them. The “love of learning” that will occur can last a lifetime!

Happy homeschooling!