Even if your local school has resumed in-person activities, you’re likely still spending more time at home with your kids. There are only so many movies you can watch, games you can play, and snacks you can make before you start running out of ideas. Why not use this extra time for fun, educational activities to supplement your kids’ schoolwork?

At-home learning became a necessity during the pandemic, but there’s no reason for it to stop even as in-person classes resume. Give these educational activities a try! #LightHouseSchool #homeschool Share on X

How Can You Encourage Continuous Learning?

Not every moment of play has to be turned into an explicit lesson. However, whether they realize it or not, children are learning all the time. The best thing you can do is help channel their curiosity in a productive direction. Encourage your children to keep learning with these strategies:

1. Take advantage of teaching moments
2. See what interests your child
3. Encourage further exploration
4. Find helpful resources

1) Take Advantage of Teaching Moments

If you find a chance to connect an educational moment to whatever your child happens to be doing, take it! That doesn’t mean turn their playtime into homework time, but simply to go along with them in the moment. For example, suppose your child is watching geese migrating in the iconic V-shape flight pattern. You can admire the geese together and tell your child about what migration is, where the geese are going, and when they’ll be back.

2) See What Interests Your Child

If your child demonstrates a sudden interest in a topic, encourage them to pursue it. Come alongside them to keep their activities safe, but let your child lead the way. Are they interested in bugs? Encourage them to keep track of the bugs living in the backyard and even try drawing them. Discuss how to get rid of potentially harmful species. See if you can catch some bugs and examine them up close.

3) Encourage Further Exploration

Children learn best when they feel like they can pursue what they want to learn about. With this in mind, don’t give assignments or orders to your child on what to do next in their project. Instead, ask leading questions. “What do you think will happen if you do this?” “That’s a good question. Where do you think you can find the answer?” Let your child take the initiative as you help them learn.

4) Find Helpful Resources

Parents are rarely experts in every topic under the sun. Fortunately, you don’t have to be. You can find helpful resources at your local library, online, or even through friends with similar interests. Encourage your child to look for additional resources too. Not only will this give them experience with research, but it will also expose them to additional information and different perspectives on the topic in question.

Help Kids Teach Themselves

Kids have the most fun learning when they can lead to a certain extent. As a parent, your job is to encourage your child’s curiosity while preventing it from getting entirely out of hand. Try these learning activities for kids to keep your children’s minds engaged both in and out of school!

Contact us for more activity ideas and child development tips.