Enhanced – with website links
10 Ways to Make it Fun

with
Wendy Hilton

Spring into Learning title
In

some ways, homeschooling in the spring is challenging. After all, many of our children (and we homeschooling parents, too) experience spring fever. After being indoors much of the winter, it’s hard to sit and get work done.

Now for the good news. You don’t have to sit to get work done!

1. Grow a garden.

Whether you plan to have a flower, herb, or vegetable garden, begin by going outside and marking your garden spot. Or, get some raised beds or even containers ready for planting.

If you only have room for a single pot, plant a pizza garden! A pizza garden is simply a pot full of the plants and herbs you’ll need to make your own pizza once it’s harvest time. For example, you might include bell pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, and tomatoes. You can find instructions for making a pizza garden on Only Passionate Curiosity.

If you have more room for a garden, raised beds, or multiple containers, browse some seed catalogs together or take a trip to the local garden store to buy seeds or seedlings. This can double as a lesson in budgeting, using money, making change, writing and following a list, and more! If it’s not quite warm enough to plant outdoors, find out how to sprout your own seedlings indoors before planting outside later. There are so many ways to make gardening educational.

2. Observe the life cycle of a butterfly.

There are lots of butterfly kit options! This makes a fun and hands-on way for kids to watch the butterfly life cycle up close. Some kits come with journals—or you can make your own. Keep in mind that mail-ordered kits usually come with a certificate to use to order your butterflies.

10 Ways to Make it Fun

with Wendy Hilton

Spring into Learning title
In

some ways, homeschooling in the spring is challenging. After all, many of our children (and we homeschooling parents, too) experience spring fever. After being indoors much of the winter, it’s hard to sit and get work done.

Now for the good news. You don’t have to sit to get work done!

1. Grow a garden.

Whether you plan to have a flower, herb, or vegetable garden, begin by going outside and marking your garden spot. Or, get some raised beds or even containers ready for planting.

If you only have room for a single pot, plant a pizza garden! A pizza garden is simply a pot full of the plants and herbs you’ll need to make your own pizza once it’s harvest time. For example, you might include bell pepper, garlic, basil, oregano, and tomatoes. You can find instructions for making a pizza garden on Only Passionate Curiosity.

If you have more room for a garden, raised beds, or multiple containers, browse some seed catalogs together or take a trip to the local garden store to buy seeds or seedlings. This can double as a lesson in budgeting, using money, making change, writing and following a list, and more! If it’s not quite warm enough to plant outdoors, find out how to sprout your own seedlings indoors before planting outside later. There are so many ways to make gardening educational.

2. Observe the life cycle of a butterfly.

There are lots of butterfly kit options! This makes a fun and hands-on way for kids to watch the butterfly life cycle up close. Some kits come with journals—or you can make your own. Keep in mind that mail-ordered kits usually come with a certificate to use to order your butterflies.

You’ll find lots of fascinating butterfly facts and information on The Homeschool Scientist. And, just for fun, you can make a butterfly toilet paper tube craft from Only Passionate Curiosity too!

3. Go on a nature walk or scavenger hunt.
This is a perfect time to look for bugs and plants that look interesting! Take photos or make drawings to add to your nature journal later. Or print a scavenger hunt or nature walk guide to take with you on your walk. Talk about what you see and be sure to look up more information later to add to the fun and sneak in a little more educational value. There are even lots of grown-up nature study ideas for teens on Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

4. Do a project.
There are all kinds of educational outdoor activities you can encourage your children to do. Give them a chance to get creative by building their own obstacle courses, homemade kites, bird feeders, ladybug houses, or whatever else they can dream up!

5. Have fun with bubbles.
Try making unpoppable bubbles and regular bubbles. Use both kinds to do some of these activities.

  • Paint with bubbles. Mix food coloring with bubble solution to make different colored bubbles.
  • Blow a bubble inside a bubble. Cover a plate with a small amount of bubble solution. Then use a straw to blow a bubble on the plate. Try to insert the straw into the top of the bubble and blow another bubble if you can!
  • Make scented bubbles. Mix powdered Jell-O with bubble solution. Just make sure your little ones don’t try to taste it.
  • Make glow-in-the-dark bubbles by adding a squirt of fluorescent paint or glow-in-the-dark paint to a mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Look at them under a black light at night!

6. Learn about rain and rainbows.
Take advantage of spring weather and learn about rain and rainbows. Together, watch these videos about rain and rainbows and then do some rainbow-related arts and crafts!

If possible, choose a rainy day when there’s no lightning, of course, and ask your kiddos if they’d like to play in the rain with you for a while. Splash in those mud puddles! I promise it’ll be a fun family memory they will always treasure!

wiman digging into dirt with kid

7. Enjoy outdoor activities and games.

  • Use paintbrushes dipped in water to “paint” on the sidewalk and watch the paintings evaporate.
  • Find things like twigs, fallen leaves, rocks, pinecones, grass, seeds, acorns, seashells, etc. to make outdoor art masterpieces.
  • Play some old-fashioned outdoor games with your kids and their friends! Try games like Duck, Duck, Goose; Simon Says; Mother May I?; and Leapfrog.
  • Do some leaf rubbings.
  • Play in the dirt or sand.

8. Chalk it up to fun!
Use sidewalk chalk to create fun backgrounds—like outer space, zoo animals, or clouds—and pose for photos. Draw self or family portraits or create a chalk art flower garden or cityscape. Draw a hopscotch and tic-tac-toe board and play the games together.

9. Treat yourself.
Try having a campfire and roasting marshmallows or making s’mores. Make it more educational by looking up recipes for variations for s’mores, learning more about fire safety, making your own marshmallows (which will work for s’mores but probably not so well for roasting), or looking up other campfire recipes or campfire games.

Or try some barnyard treats and reads! Use Nutter Butter cookies to make your own cookie animals, and then read books featuring the animals you just made.

10. Be kind.
Doing something nice for others isn’t seasonal. Take advantage of a hobby such as crocheting, playing the guitar, sewing, or even doing card tricks to create something for someone else or entertain them. Walk a neighbor’s dog, babysit or do a random act of kindness.

No matter which ideas and activities you choose to do, be sure to enjoy them along with your children! Spring will be here and over before you know it, and so will the years with your children. Savor every moment!

Happy Spring!
Wendy signature typography
Wendy Hilton headshot
W

endy Hilton is an introverted extrovert who lives in the South. She’s been married to Scott, her high school sweetheart, for thirty years, and they have two adult children and one teenager who all homeschooled. She loves writing and editing, reading, and working out and teaching classes at her local gym. She also loves Jesus, her family, homeschooling, and her dog. To read more from Wendy, visit one of the websites she co-owns along with Trish Corlew. You’ll find her at Hip Homeschool Moms, Only Passionate Curiosity, and Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.