Summer break is a wonderful time for homeschool families to slow down a little, travel, spend time outdoors, and take a break from formal lessons. At the same time, many of us still want to keep our children thinking, creating, exploring, and learning in fun low-pressure ways.

That is why we created this free Interactive Summer Learning Calendar for elementary through high school students. Inside, you’ll find a wide variety of educational activities including science experiments, geography games, coding challenges, virtual field trips, art activities, logic puzzles, and hands-on projects. Most activities are quick, free, and designed to work well for mixed-age homeschool families.

You can use this calendar of summer learning activities in whatever way works best for your family. Some families may choose to do one activity each day, while others may pick a few favorites each week. Older students can work independently, while younger children may enjoy doing activities together as a family. The calendar is designed to be flexible, low-stress, and easy to fit around summer camps, vacations, pool days, and relaxed schedules.

Many of the digital resources included here are the same types of interactive tools we use in the web-based unit studies at FundaFunda Academy. We believe learning is often far more memorable when students actively explore and interact with content instead of simply reading about it.

If you enjoy these kinds of activities, you may also want to listen to the Homeschooling with Technology podcast, where we regularly share practical technology tools, websites, apps, and ideas homeschool families can use to make learning more engaging.

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Did you know that advent calendars can be educational? They can be great ways for homeschooling families to bring some holiday fun into their learning routine.

There are all kinds of advent calendars for all kinds of ages and interests: reading calendars for younger kids, STEM builds for middle and high schoolers, or group puzzles for the whole family.

You could pick one calendar per child, or even one calendar for the whole family, and turn it into a daily routine as a part of your homeschool: open the day’s door, discuss what’s inside, and then journal about it or pair it with a quick activity.

Advent calendars are not just treats — they’re opportunities for daily learning, curiosity, and connection during the holiday season. Below are some Advent calendars that we recommend. 

1. National Geographic Amazing Science Advent Calendar

This calendar, great for ages 8-12, contains a mixture of gemstone specimens and simple science experiments (everything from growing a crystal tree to making your own snow!). Perfect for curious kids who love hands-on science exploration.

2. National Geographic Gemstone Advent Calendar

This calendar contains 24 real gemstones your child can collect, identify, and learn about. It’s a great option for elementary-aged geologists and perfect homeschool families trying to take a fun spin on earth science.

3. Thames & Kosmos Science Advent Calendar

The Thames & Kosmos Science Advent Calendar includes 24 unique science experiments covering chemistry, physics, and biology. Each day reveals a new science tool or activity, which is ideal for older elementary and middle schoolers who love structured experiments.

4. Japace Kids Science Experiment Advent Calendar

This calendar includes a plethora of hands-on STEM activities like slime-making, crystal-growing, volcanic eruptions, and more. It’s a great option for older elementary and middle schoolers who enjoy fast, exciting science they can do mostly on their own.

5. 24-in-1 STEM Building Projects Advent Calendar

With this calendar, your child can open a new engineering challenge every day: build small mechanical projects such as a glider, catapult, traffic light, and windmill. This calendar is great for hands-on, project-based homeschooling, and is especially appropriate for ages 7-13.

6. STEM Wooden Engineering Advent Calendar

This engineering-based advent calendar contains daily wooden STEM builds including a hand-cranked generator, mechanical vehicles, a fiber optic light, and more. In a homeschool setting, it can be used to encourage creativity, ingenuitive thinking, and fine motor skills. It’s great for curious students ages 8 and older.

7. STEM Microscope Discovery Advent Calendar

This calendar reveals daily prepared slides and tools. It’s ideal for pre-teen students who enjoy biology, observation, and lab-style science work.

8. STEM Electronics Advent Calendar

This electronics-focused advent calendar includes lessons in electronics, circuits, and introductory engineering. Teens build a different small electronic project each day. Excellent for homeschoolers interested in robotics or engineering careers.

9. Disney Storybook Collection Advent Calendar

This calendar contains 24 mini storybooks featuring favorite Disney characters. It’s perfect for young readers because it can help families to build and maintain daily reading habits throughout the holiday season.

10. Usborne Advent Calendar Book Collection

The Usborne Advent Calendar Book Collection holds 24 small books full of bright illustrations and engaging stories. It’s great for younger kids who are just learning to read.

11. National Park Puzzle Advent Calendar

This calendar includes 24 mini jigsaw puzzles that all fit together to make one large puzzle. It’s great for teaching logic, patience, spatial reasoning, and can also be used as a fun study-break. This is a good option for a family calendar, because siblings can take turns building each section of the puzzle.

12. The Purple Cow Shocking Science Advent Calendar

This advent calendar features 24 surprising science “tricks” and experiments — fun for kids who love wow-factor science like static electricity, color reactions, and illusions. It’s recommended for ages 8 and up.

13. Hidden Games – Professor Charlie’s World Tour

This advent calendar is an escape room and a board game and a murder mystery all rolled into one. Each day reveals a puzzle to help you get closer to catching the culprit. The answer to each day’s puzzle will tell you which clue to open on the following day. This advent calendar is great for teens, and can build reasoning and critical thinking skills.

14. EXIT: The Game – Advent Calendar: The Intergalactic Race

The premise of The Intergalactic Race advent calendar is to race across the cosmos in order to hold the best Christmas party! Each day reveals a riddle to be solved in order to move forward. This advent calendar is recommended for ages ten and up, and is an excellent way to incorporate creative problem-solving into your homeschool throughout the month of December.

15. Brain Teaser Advent Calendar

This brain teaser advent calendar contains one metal or wooden puzzle (and answer key) for each day leading up to Christmas. This is a great family-friendly option, where family members can take turns solving puzzles, or all can compete to solve the day’s puzzle in the least amount of time. This advent calendar is most engaging for tweens and teens, although younger children can enjoy it as well. It’s beneficial for homeschooling, building critical thinking skills and spatial reasoning, as well as patience and determination.

BONUS: LEGO Advent Calendars

While not strictly educational, LEGO advent calendars that contain Lego mini figs, are a great option for homeschoolers because Lego bricks in general encourage engineering, logic, fine motor skills, and creativity. Plus there are lots of options, from themes like LEGO City and LEGO Friends, to LEGO Harry Potter and LEGO Star Wars. Click here to view a whole bunch of different LEGO advent calendars, appropriate for all LEGO-loving ages.

We hope that you found this guide helpful and educational, and that you and your family enjoy incorporating advent calendars into your homeschool this holiday season!

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In this post, we’ll explore a range of options to unlock the joy of reading for every child.

1. Comic Books:

Comic books are a fantastic gateway to reading for children who may find traditional books intimidating. The visual appeal and concise text make comics an exciting medium.

Look for comic books that feature characters you loved when you were their age, or characters they’re already familiar with. Comics like “Garfield” by Jim Davis or “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson are excellent choices to kickstart their reading journey.

2. Audiobooks:

For the auditory learners in your homeschool, audiobooks offer an immersive reading experience. Encourage your child to listen to audiobooks of their favorite stories or explore captivating narrations of new and exciting tales. Platforms like Audible provide a vast selection of children’s books, with many narrated by skilled performers who bring the stories to life.

3. Choose Your Own Adventure Books:

These interactive books empower readers by allowing them to make decisions that influence the story’s outcome. For kids who crave engagement and adventure, these books provide a unique reading experience. Titles like “Choose Your Own Adventure” series by R.A. Montgomery or “You Choose” series from a variety of authors are sure to captivate their imagination.

4. Graphic Novels:

Graphic novels are a blend of visual and textual storytelling, making them an excellent choice for reluctant readers. With captivating illustrations and compelling narratives, graphic novels can make the reading experience more accessible and enjoyable. Explore titles such as “Zita the Spacegirl” by Ben Hatke or “El Deafo” by Cece Bell to introduce your child to this engaging format.

5. Books on Topics Students are Obsessed with:

One of the most effective ways to encourage reading is to tap into your child’s existing interests. Whether it’s dinosaurs, space, or superheroes for younger students – or football, Taylor Swift and video games for older students, find books that align with their passions. Series like “National Geographic Kids” or “Magic School Bus” offer educational content in a format that feels more like an exploration than traditional learning.

Search for topics for older children and look for books that are short and have plenty of photos included so they won’t feel intimidated by the book, but excited to read it.

In the diverse world of literature, there’s a match for every child, even those who initially resist reading. By exploring alternative formats you can turn reluctant readers into eager bookworms.

Remember, the goal is to make reading a joyful experience, so be patient, supportive, and most importantly, have fun discovering the wonders of literature together.

Happy reading!

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There are many benefits to incorporating robotics in your homeschool

• A fun introduction to STEM
• It’s hands-on learning
• It’s creative and encourages innovation
• Students learn problem-solving
• Students learn to persevere when things don’t work
• It equips students with tech skills they can use in future careers

But you may not know where to start. So here are some ideas based on my own experience (my one son built robots in middle and high school), and the experience of other homeschoolers I know.

Online Robotics Class

Robotics Workshops for Kids offers a free online workshop so that you can see what their classes will be like. Younger students can be accompanied by parents as they may need some help. If you love the free workshop then sign up for the class that teaches you to build Robby the Drummer robot. You will be mailed all the parts and then your child can follow along during the class to build and program it

Listen to my podcast interview with Vinod Agrawal, the owner of Robotics Workshops for Kids to learn more

Robot Kits

Some kits just have students building the robot. Some will have instructions to copy exactly and these are good for beginners as they can learn slowly.

Then it is good to progress to kits that also allow creativity as by changing things up and making their own version, students will be taking this to the next level. Many of these include the ability to program the robot.

My son had the Lego Mindstorms set. This now uses Scratch as the default programming language. Lego no longer makes Mindstorms, but the replacement is called Boost, and you can find it here.

Make a Robot from Scratch

A great way to learn more about electronics is to make a robot from scratch. Here is a simple one even elementary-age children should manage

Robotics Competitions

The most popular Robotics Competitions are hosted by FIRST. My son was on a First Lego League team in 8th and 9th grade and a few years later, I ended up coaching a middle school team for 3 years. The Lego Mindstorms robot is used for this competition. Teams consist of up to 10 students and if you ask around you are sure to find a few in your area.

Older students can participate in FIRST Robotics and FIRST Tech Challenge – also team events. Listen to this podcast episode where I talk to a student who has been competing in FIRST.

You may also find that your local community college or university hosts robotic competitions, and if you can find a Science Olympiad team to join, robotics is often one of the events.

As you can see, there are many options for adding robotics to your homeschool. Whether you include it as part of your curriculum, or add it as an “after-school” activity, it is easy to do even if you know nothing about robotics or coding.

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Are you looking for some ways to incorporate games to make your curriculum more engaging for your children? Look no further! Here is a list of 18 different websites and apps (most of which are free!) that contain grammar or vocabulary games you can use in your homeschool.

Here’s a  big list of Online English Language Games to use in your Homeschool – there are games for all ages! 

1. Vocabulary Spelling City: this free online vocabulary game is designed for students up to middle school and includes games like Hangmouse, a version of the classic Hangman game.
2. Freerice: Help a cause while learning! Freerice comes as a website or an app where learning earns rice that is sent to countries in need
3. Vocabulary.com: comes as a free website or paid-for app. With this learning resource, students can play on their own, or teachers can use it to assign specific groups of words. It gamifies learning vocabulary.
4. Knoword: created for teens and up, this challenging vocabulary game works a little differently than the rest. Instead of getting choices, the student is only given the first letter of the word as a hint.
5. Madtakes: a free online version of MadLibs that can be incorporated into any middle school English lesson.
6. Brainpop: contains games and short lessons to learn almost any grammar concept from run-on sentences to semi-colons. Most of the grammar concepts listed have a “Sortify” game to use for practice
7. Semicolon Wars: The fight for Punctuation Island: This game from Mr. Nussbaum teaches more than just semicolon usage as you progress through different levels trying to win the island.
8. Extreme Sentence Surgeons Saving Critically Injured Paragraphs: Another game from Mr. Nussbaum, players perform “surgery” on paragraphs to correct mistakes and save the paragraph’s life!
9. Sporcle: Sporcle contains a host of games on numerous topics. Search for “grammar games” and you’ll be sure to find one that best suits your child’s needs.
10. Abcya: Like Sporcle, Abcya has a number of grammar games to pick from. One example is “Journey to Past Tense” which takes players on an adventure as they practice grammar.
11. RoomRecess: has two arcade-style games that teach grammar – “Grammar Police” and “Grammar Gladiator” as well as a few other vocabulary/spelling themed games.
12. Wordle: This popular game can be played both online and through the app. If you can’t get enough Wordle, similar apps like Klura and Wordus are available.
13. Words with Friends: similar to Scrabble, this fun game can be played for free online or through the app
14. Typeshift: move the columns of letters to create words trying to use each letter at least once. Like Wordle, there is a new one each day
15. 7 Little Words: find the 7 words to match the 7 clues using the letters/letter groups. Also, look at their “for the classroom” page for printable-themed versions of the game
16. Flippity: a hangman-style game where you can input the words to use  (listen to this podcast episode on Flippity)
17. Word Trip: a free app good for younger children to learn vocabulary
18. Whirly Word: a paid-for app that has over 5,000 puzzles where you use given letters to make as many words as possible

If you are looking for a middle school writing program that includes grammar and vocabulary games, check out our Writing Fun for Middle Schoolers course. This class uses games in each module to encourage the reluctant writer. The class uses topics and essay prompts designed to engage middle schoolers and encourage their enthusiasm for writing.

If your students are a bit older, you can check out our Writing Mechanics class where students learn writing skills needed in order to do well on the ACT and SAT, and write papers for and at college.

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1. Games

Games are a fun and interactive way for children to be exposed to new concepts. While you might not think there are many options for history games, there certainly are!

Video games are another option that are sure to catch your children’s attention. This website contains a variety of games and interactive videos and images for your student to view. However, as you would likely expect, some may contain violence or some graphic images, so do preview them before your student plays.

2. Videos, Stories, and Photos

Many children are visual learners. This can be difficult with topics like history where there aren’t as many interactive options for learning. Documentaries and even photos can be a great aid to social studies in your homeschool. There are several documentaries about World War II with valuable info and an engaging format.

3. Books

A list of “50 of the Best World War II Books for Middle Schoolers” is a must-have resource. You can find it on nourishingmyscholar.com. While no list is comprehensive, this one is very thorough. Each book has a short summary and recommended age range, from picture books to chapter books and audiobooks.

4. Ducksters

Ducksters is a history website aimed at kids to help them learn about various events and time periods in history. Their page on World War II is filled with a variety of resources including links to battles, leaders, events overviews, and more. You can find material here to supplement any history curriculum!

5. Puzzles

When children put together puzzles, they’re looking at the same reference image for extended periods of time as they work to assemble the puzzle. With this, they learn the information in the puzzle without even realizing it! Puzzles can be a great memorization tool for your student regarding history topics. This puzzle has pictures of the tanks from many countries involved in World War II. If you look in the suggested items, there are several other similar puzzles to look at, so you can choose one that works for you!

6. Museums

Museums make a great educational field trip, and you can find many that include exhibits on World War II. This can be a great chance for kids to learn the material in an engaging and interactive way. Many museums also offer discounts for homeschoolers at certain days/times, so definitely check on that! Or, if you don’t have a physical museum near you, you could look online for a virtual tour of a museum, like this one from the National World War II foundation.

7. FundaFunda Academy

Of course, here at FundaFunda, we have several resources to help your students learn about World War II as well. We have two unit studies about World War II in our store. This one discusses important figures in World War II, and this one gives a year-by-year breakdown of the events of the war. Additionally, we offer our high school U.S. History Class, where your child will learn about America’s involvement in WWII as well as many other historical topics

8. Choose Your Own Adventure Books

Choose Your Own Adventure books provide an engaging way for kids to learn about WWII by immersing them in interactive narratives where they make pivotal decisions throughout the story. By assuming the role of characters navigating through the challenges of the era, readers gain insight into historical events, perspectives, and dilemmas. These books encourage critical thinking, empathy, and exploration of WWII history while fostering a sense of agency and personal investment in the learning process. Popular titles include World War II: An Interactive History Adventure, What if you were on the Pacific Front in WWII?, What is you were on the European Front in WWII?, and Can you survive a WWII escape?.

9. Primary Source Analysis

Studying primary sources such as letters, diaries, photographs, and propaganda posters from WWII can help kids develop critical thinking skills and gain a deeper understanding of historical events and perspectives. Thanks to the internet, there is a wealth of primary source s to be explored! A great place to start is DOCSTeach, which is a collection of primary sources from the national archives. They have links to primary sources and teaching activities that go with them!

10. Hands-On Activities

Engaging in hands-on activities like building model airplanes, tanks, or ships from WWII can provide kids with a tactile learning experience while fostering an appreciation for the technology and innovation of the era. There are a lot of kits that you can find on Amazon, like this one that teaches you how to build a model Hawker Typhoon plane.

11. Family and Oral Histories

Encouraging kids to talk to older family members or community members who lived through WWII can provide personal connections to history and help kids understand the impact of the war on individuals and communities. Sometimes museums will also host events where people who fought in WWII will give presentations. Be on the lookout at museums in your community!

12. Role-Playing and Simulations

Engaging in role-playing activities or simulations that recreate aspects of WWII, such as air raid drills or rationing exercises, can help kids empathize with the experiences of people living during the war and understand the challenges they faced. It is an exciting way to learn history, and gives kids a greater connection to the material. Additionally, there are a number of online programs that allow kids to role-play as a world power during WWII, like this one from historysimulation.com.

We hope you enjoyed these World War II resources for homeschoolers! If you have other suggestions, as always, please leave them in the comments down below. Thanks for reading!

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**Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links. You won’t pay any extra if you choose to purchase, but we might receive a small commission**

1. Families of the World

Families of the World is a DVD series that showcases, as the name suggests, different families from around the world and how they live their daily lives. It is a great way for your students to se everyday life in other countries. It can also provide a great prompt for a writing assignment. You can tell your child to pick a few aspects of their daily routine and write a paper comparing/contrasting their personal routine with the routine from another country. For South America, Families of the World has Brazil and Costa Rica. Of course, you can also check your local library for these DVDs.

2. Man vs Wild Season 2

In episodes 5 and 6 of this season, Bear Grylls visits the Amazon and Patagonia. These are two fascinating areas of South America. if you have adventurous, thrill-seeking kids, this could be a great choice to get them interested in geography. As a follow-up assignment, you could have your student write about which activities they would like to participate in or make a map of the places Bear travels in the episodes. (Side note: This season is free if you have Amazon Prime!)

3. Mapominoes

This fun and educational card game is like dominoes but with countries! This deck contains countries of North and South America. The goal of the game is to play a country card from your hand next to a previously played country card that shares a border with it. This game will help your children learn the locations of these countries on the map, and they get to engage in some friendly competition in the process

4. GeoPuzzles

Puzzles are a great tool for visual learners to process what they are learning about! This puzzle of Central and South America is a fun activity for all ages to practice their geography skills. You can challenge your student to put together the puzzle without looking at the reference image to really test how much they remember!

5. Lost on the Amazon (Choose Your Own Adventure)

Choose your own adventure books are an immersive way for your child to learn about various locations and periods in history. They also teach valuable critical thinking and cause-and-effect skills, and they motivate your child to read more! This choose your adventure book is set in the Amazon in South America. After reading the book, your could tell your child to try and research and design their own choose-your-own adventure game based in South America.

6. YouTube Vlog Series

While you might not think of YouTube as the first place to go for teaching resources, there are actually many great videos on there that you can use in your homeschool. Vlogs are video diaries that many creators do for their daily life, trips they go on, etc. There are many creators who make vlog series about traveling through South America. These videos will likely entertain your child, but they also give insights into traveling, the climate and physical geography of countries, activities, foods, language, and more. My favorite is this one from X Overlanders of their adventures overlanding across South America.

7. Unit Study

Here at FundaFunda, we offer an “Around South America in 30 Days” unit study. This unit study is fully online, self-paced, and contains interactive assignments for your student to complete. The course is aimed toward 4th-8th grade and discusses many aspects of South American geography. Even better, once you purchase the unit study, you will have lifetime access for your whole family!

We hope you enjoyed these teaching resources on South America for Homeschoolers! For more resources, check out this blog post on “Playing Your Way Around the U.S.A.” And, as always, if you have any more suggestions, please leave them in the comments below! Thanks for reading!

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Choosing and Customizing Your Scavenger Hunt

Meryl and I decided on this scavenger hunt for Knoxville, but there were a couple of other options in the city as well. The hunt that we did had a focus on history. Others focused on art, entertainment, sports, etc. You can find an option that fits you family’s interests! Let’s roam is available in hundreds of cities both in and out of the U.S.A., so you’re likely to find one near where you live. Once we purchased our tickets, we were ready to go! (Note: each person with a device will need a ticket to participate. If you have two parents and two children with separate devices, you will need four tickets.)

The app clearly told us what location to start at and gave us a few customization options. We could choose whether we wanted to work together or compete against each other (we worked together!), say whether we were local or visiting, and decide if we wanted to interact with people outside of our group for photos and questions. These options gave us some control of our game experience, which we both enjoyed. After that, the fun began! The app instructed us to take a selfie to commemorate the start of our hunt. 

Exploring Your City

Lets Roam gave us our first question, and we looked around our starting location to find the answer. After answering the question, we received the next location we would walk to. The map in the Lets Roam app showed our location as well as a marker and name the next location. There was also an option to view photos of the spot to help guide you. This was great practice using maps and navigation skills and would be a fun challenge for older kids. Meryl took the lead navigating for us!

Our hunt took us to 11 different locations in downtown Knoxville. Each location had a couple of questions to answer using info at the site. The questions were timed, but we didn’t feel rushed and were able to complete them in the given time. The app also provided additional historical facts about the location and people who were involved with it. Despite living in Knoxville my entire life, much of this information was new to me! It was fascinating to learn all of the unique stories and history about locations that I see so frequently. Once you finish the questions for a location, the app waits for you to say you’re ready to move on to the next clue. This allows you to explore as much as you like at each spot without worrying about time limits. 

Fun Challenges

Lets Roam also had a variety of challenges that required us to take photos and videos of things we saw. Some were specific to the locations in the hunt, such as the picture below of a sculpture we had to find in a park. However, there were also bonus challenges to complete while walking between locations. These challenges had us find a license plate from another state, video ourselves quoting Disney movies, take a picture pretending to play an instrument (also pictured below!), and much more!

Any pictures taken and submitted for points are reviewed by AI (artificial intelligence) software in the app to see if they meet criteria. We tested this and found that it was quite accurate at determining if pictures met requirements or not. On an occasion where it wasn’t correct, we were easily able to report an error for someone to review, and they fixed the issue and adjusted our score accordingly in around 15 minutes.

Ending the Hunt and Further Suggestions

After you’ve completed all the locations in your hunt, Let’s Roam gives you a breakdown of your game and your total score. It also shows how you compare to other people who have finished the same hunt. We finished in the top 29% of competitors for Knoxville, which wasn’t bad for our first time! The app also told us who answered the most questions correctly between the two of us, who completed more bonus challenges, and who answered the fastest. If your family is competitive, you’ll definitely enjoy comparing those stats! 

The hunt alone is very informative and educational, and there are ways you can expand on it for more educational value. For example, you could have your children pick a location you visited and do a brief report on it. Or, you could have them do some research and find a few locations in the city that weren’t included in the hunt. They can then come up with questions and make their own mini hunt! For younger children, you could guide them to make a simple scrapbook showing what you did that day. You can print out any fun photos you took and have them write short sentences about the places they saw. 

We hope you’ve enjoyed these suggestions for exploring your city with Let’s Roam. For more ideas related to education and travel, check out this post on Educational Road Trip Activities. If you have any other ideas for activities to go along with the hunts, leave them in the comments below! And if you do any scavenger hunts in your city, feel free to tag us on Instagram @fundafundaeducation so we can see your adventures!

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Thanksgiving

While not specifically for Thanksgiving, Music in Our Homeschool offers an online course on Music for Fall Holidays and Special Days. Thanksgiving music is included, as well as other fall holidays such as Veterans Day and Labor Day. 

Techie Homeschool Mom offers an online mini-course about Thanksgiving for upper elementary- middle schoolers. This course is one module containing 2-3 hours of activities, so it would be perfect to use one afternoon as a special study! 

FundaFunda offers a Pictionary-style game with a Thanksgiving theme. You can play this one afternoon to take a break from school or get the whole family to play together on Thanksgiving! Kid’s can practice their drawing and communication skills, all while having fun together. 

Winter Activities

Music in our Homeschool also offers a course covering Music for Winter Holidays and Special Days. The Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, and New Year’s Day are just a few that are studied.  

Literary Adventures for Kids offers various online book clubs for children of all ages. Winter is Here and The Snowy Day are two that are perfect for the start of winter. These are both nature-based books clubs, so they give you an excuse to get outside and get kids learning interactively. Activities help increase understanding of the book and teach about nature and seasons through hands-on activities. 

Science experiments are a great, hand-on way to hold kids’ attention during science lessons. This list contains experiments specifically for winter. By making the experiments relevant to the current time, you give kids an opportunity to apply their new knowledge in the real word.

Christmas

Study Christmas traditions from around the world to get students interested in social studies! You can do this in a variety of ways. Techie Homeschool Mom offers this unit study that teaches about global Christmas celebrations. You can also find a variety of videos on YouTube aimed towards different ages.

A Christmas study isn’t complete without Christmas music! Music in Our Homeschool offers this course that gives history behind well-known and loved Christmas music. It also talks about different music and traditions around the world, so you can combine it with previous idea to cover social studies and music!

Music in our Homeschool also offers this printable packet that contains worksheets for pre-k to 2nd grade. The sheets have fun, Christmas themes and cute characters to draw your student’s interest. 

Literary Adventures for Kids has online book clubs for Christmas books as well! This bundle contains two books: “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and Mr. Willowbee’s Christmas Tree. When you buy them in the bundle, you get a special discounted price!

FundaFunda offers a unit study on How to Design Digital Gifts. This unit study for 5th – 12th graders, can help improve you students’ computer skills, and they end with several projects to use as gifts for family and friends! 

We hope you’ve enjoyed these ideas for homeschooling for the holidays! If you’re interested in more ideas, check out this post on Christmas Activities from Around the World. Thanks for reading and happy holidays!

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