Amazing & Fun Science Experiments For Kids To Do This Summer

Are you looking for ways to get your kids excited about science? Sometimes all you need is a little extra help and a few amazing and fun experiments. 

One of the easiest, low-prep ways to accomplish this is by implementing your science lessons with a monthly science kit. These monthly kits contain ALL of the supplies and instructions so you don't have to do any special shopping or prepping beforehand. 

Disclosure: I am an affiliate for the Generation Genius science subscription kit and recently they sent me a kit to try out in our homeschool. Today I'm going to share with you what my 10-year-old 4th grader learned, what experiments he did, and his overall like/dislike of this kit. I did not receive any compensation, besides a free kit, and all opinions are mine.

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTION BOXES WE HAVE TRIED IN THE PAST:

We have tried many different subscription kits over the years in our homeschool. In many cases, the kits have been a great addition to our school days by adding a little excitement or newness to our daily routine. There have been some monthly kits we really loved and some that were just OK. Here is a list of the kits we have used so far:

• Kiwi Co - Kiwi Crate
• Kiwi Co - Doodle Crate
• Kiwi Co - Tinker Crate
• Kiwi Co - Maker Crate
• Kiwi Co - Eureka Crate
• Let's Make Art - Watercolor Painting
• Let's Make Art - Mixed Media
• Annie's Kit Club - Young Woodworkers Kit
• Raddish Kids Cooking Kit

Whew, that's a lot of kits! 

When the Generation Genius kit arrived I let my 10-year-old 4th grade son take a crack at it! I have to admit that at first, he was not very excited about a science kit because he thought it would be "baby-ish" and boring. Even though these were his initial feelings he still decided to open up the box and try it. 

After opening the box we found three separate and sealed individual experiments inside. Each experiment comes nicely labeled and ready to be used with all the supplies you need (except for tap water). 

Since my son is only 10 years old and still needs some help and adult supervision I fully expected to work on the kit alongside him. We pulled out experiment #1, cut open the bag, and got started. 

GETTING STARTED WITH THE GENERATION GENIUS SCIENCE KIT

I expected to find an instruction sheet inside the first bag like other kits we've done but there wasn't anything like that in the kit. After searching the rest of the box and its contents and not finding any instruction sheets I decided to check out the kit website to look for instructions. After a few minutes of searching, I discovered that instead of printed-out instructions Generation Genius uses video instructions taught by Dr. Jeff. 

After getting the video ready to play for experiment #1 my son was well on his way with the first experiment. 

Here are my thoughts on the Generation Genius Science Kit instruction video:

• The video is a professional production that thoroughly explains the kit contents in detail and at an age-appropriate level. 
• Dr. Jeff has a great teaching personality and does not "talk down" to his audience. He presents the scientific objectives of the experiment using real scientific terms and explains how the experiment student will see this lesson happen when they use the kit.
• The video has automatic pauses built in so that students can stay on track and follow along with the instructions at a reasonable pace. The experiments are meant to be done while the student watches the video 

Get your kit today!

GENERATION GENIUS SCIENCE KIT EXPERIMENTS

As I mentioned before, each box comes with three full experiments! The three experiments in our kit were:

1 - Liquid Worms

2 - Light Painting

3 - The Countdown Reaction

Without explaining all the scientific details each experiment taught - I'll leave that to Dr. Jeff, I think telling you what my son and I thought about each one would be more helpful if you are looking for an educational science kit. I will just highlight a few things for each experiment as well as give you my son's rating of the experiment on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 stars being the best.

LIQUID WORMS EXPERIMENT

This kit comes with this large, amazing, almost indestructible "splat" mat to keep any spills and messes contained and to protect the surface, a.k.a the kitchen table, from any potential harm. As a mom, this little detail within the kit was so very much appreciated! Honestly, none of the other types of kits we have tried had one of these protective mats included (bonus points for Generation Genius!!)

At this point, my son was still very skeptical at this point but willing to do the first experiment. This first experiment includes two different activities to try. In the first activity, the student created liquid art and in the second activity, the student made liquid worms.

The science lessons from this experiment were to see how a chemical reaction between two natural resources can form new synthetic materials as well as learn what viscosity is. One of the chemicals used in this kit was sodium alginate. This is a thick liquid chemical that actually comes from seaweed, a fact my son thought was so cool! The second chemical is calcium lactate gluconate which is found in calcium vitamins.

My skeptical student tried both activities and to our surprise, this experiment blew our minds! As the saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words", and I think from this picture you can see how amazed and excited my little guy was with the liquid worms. 

Pros of this experiment:

• unique - introduced something new!
• comes with all supplies you need
• has plenty of supplies to repeat this experiment over and over
• allows the child to use their imagination 
• splat mat keeps everything clean
• rubber gloves & safety goggles that are kid size
• included 2 activities
• the video explains real-world uses for the chemicals used

Cons:

• fairly messy (again, the splat mat is awesome)
• the liquid worms get discarded when you are all done (this is my son's only disappointment)

LIGHT PAINTING EXPERIMENT

On to the second experiment which was light painting. This experiment allowed my son to learn about light and how ultraviolet light differs from other light like red and green light. Inside the experiment bag, there were three different colored lights, two sheets of special paper, and a spinning wheel covered in a special paper. 

This experiment requires your student to be in a dark room which for us is our pantry. After watching the video and then testing which of the three lights, red, green, or ultraviolet worked best on the special paper my son was ready to create his own designs with the UV light in our dark pantry. 

We taped both pieces of special paper to a wall in our pantry where he spent the next hour (yes, a full hour!) experimenting! He even cut out different shapes from a piece of paper, taped it to the special paper, and then used the UV light around the shape to create different prints. This experiment really encouraged him to use his imagination!

The second activity included a spinning disk covered in the special paper that when spun created amazing spiral patterns when the ultraviolet light tip was touched to the paper. 

Pros of this experiment:

• student can do this experiment over and over!
• good quality equipment is provided in the kit
• an engaging video that explained the differences in light in an easy-to-understand way
• allowed for imaginative discovery
• no mess at all

Cons:

• the special paper provided in the kit was small (8.5" x 11") - it would have been nice to have a larger size piece of paper to use
• once the student "drew" on the paper it took quite a while for the light image to fade

CHEMICAL CLOCK REACTIONS

The last experiment from this kit was the iodine chemical reaction countdown. 

The chemicals used:

• puffed starch 
• sodium iodide
• hydrogen peroxide
• vitamin c pellet
• destain

By the time my son got to this third experiment, he was a total fan of the Generation Genius science kit! Because this kit included chemicals (like the worm kit) he knew it was going to be cool before he even started it. There is just something cool about using chemicals so he opened up the bag, cued up the video, and got started. 

The main science lesson from this kit was about chemical clock reactions which is a process where a periodic change in color will be observed with the progress of a reaction. 

This kit really required the student to follow the directions exactly as Dr. Jeff explained to them so that it would work properly. As a parent, I appreciated the "following directions carefully" portion of this experiment since this seems to be a constant struggle with my ten-year-old. Because he was so into this science kit and he knew beforehand that he struggles with listening and following directions he suggested that we replay the video a few times so he could get everything right and not mess up the last experiment. (proud mom moment!!) 

There is plenty of chemicals supplied in this kit for the student to try this experiment over and over as well as allowing the student to try mixing the chemicals in different proportions and observe what happens. 

Oh, and did you see from the supply list that it included DESTAIN! Yep, Dr. Jeff thought of everything so dear ole mom doesn't need to scour the internet or even call Generation Genius to ask how to get the blue chemical stain out of your dear little one's favorite shirt! Thank you so much Generation Genius for covering all of the bases for us moms. And if you are wondering, yes, I did have to use a little destain on some of my son's clothing and yes, it did work!

Pros of this experiment:

• plenty of chemicals were supplied to allow for lots of experimentation 
• destain - need I say more!
• an interesting and engaging experiment that is age appropriate

Cons:

• a little messy but, again there is destain!

To say we are thrilled with Generation Genius is an understatement! My son absolutely loved this kit and is now begging for more. 

If you find teaching science in your homeschool a little lackluster consider adding the monthly Generation Genius science kit to help add some interest to your lessons! 

Generation Genius science kits can be used by individual students, in co-ops, public and private schools as well as a summer school option. Shipping is free with a 3-month subscription and the monthly price is very affordable too. To start your subscription or to just try out one month click here now! 

Easy Splatter Painting Art Tutorial For Kids

 Are you looking for an easy and fun art project to do with your kids? 

Splatter painting is not only easy to do but just about anyone can enjoy creating a colorful splatter paint masterpiece! The best part is no two paintings are alike and they always turn out amazing (really, you can't mess this up!)

This post contains affiliate links which means I receive a commission from purchases you make through these links at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page. Thanks!

My boys just recently finished a study on Jackson Pollack and couldn't wait to try to replicate his splatter art process. They learned that he used all sorts of tools to create his art so, of course, they wanted to find their own "tools" to make splatter art too. 

How To Make A Splatter Painting

Today I wanted to share with you how we did our splatter art so you can try it with your kids too. Make sure to watch and read the easy tips & tricks I sprinkle (hehe...catch that pun!) throughout the instructions to help make your splatter painting more enjoyable. 

Here is the supply list to get you started:

• Paint - any of these will work: acrylic craft paint, tempera paint, watercolors
• Art paper, canvas, or cardboard
• "Tools" - paintbrushes, pipettes, egg beaters (the manual kind), spoons, old toothbrush
• Small paper cups
• Water
• Large empty box (if you do this craft indoors)
• Drop cloth (optional)

Tips & Tricks - we did this art project inside during the middle of winter and used a large empty box to put our blank art paper inside to keep the splatter paint from getting on my kitchen floor.

Step 1 - Allow your child to choose the paint colors they want for their painting. If you are using tempera or acrylic craft paint pour a little bit of paint into an empty paper cup then water the paint down and mix it well. 

Tips & Tricks - use watered down paint for more successful splatter painting results

Step 2 - If you are painting outside just simply lay your paper or canvas in your yard on top of dry grass. However, if you are painting inside you might want to spread out a drop cloth then put your big box on top of the drop cloth. This is definitely a messy art project so take steps beforehand to prevent a HUGE mess!

Step 3 - To start splatter painting, dip a "tool" of choice into the paint then flick your wrist or wave your arm over the paper to get the splatter effect started. Continue adding more splatters in whatever color paint you want to make your one-of-a-kind splatter art painting. (yes, that is my handheld electric mixer - used under my careful supervision of course!)

Tips & Tricks - allow your child to experiment with a variety of "tools" as well as different arm and body motions to create their art. 

 

Step 4 - Make sure to let your artwork dry completely! 

What To Do With Your Splatter Art Painting

There are a lot of creative ideas you can do with your finished (and dry) splatter art painting. Here is a list of the different things we have done with our artwork:

• Cut out shapes from the splatter painting (done on paper) and glued them to a piece of twine for a custom bunting
• Homemade greeting card
• Folded it into an origami shape (check out this resource to make origami)
• Picture frame mat
• Framed it and hung it on the wall
• Book cover
• Homemade wrapping paper for gifts

I'm sure you could come up with several more ideas to add to this list but hopefully, this list will get you started!

Art Resources For Your Homeschool

As a homeschool parent, I like to set aside time on a regular basis during our school weeks for art. Whether it is time spent reading about an artist, looking at famous paintings from different time periods, or creating our own artwork my kids always love this time. 

I've been asked many times what I use to teach my kids art and I wanted to share with you the resources I found and love to use for our art class. 

• Resource #1 The World's Greatest Artists by Confessions of a Homeschooler. 

This is the perfect art unit study to do with kids ages Kindergarten through 6th grade. This resource includes a series of art studies focusing on eight of the world's greatest artists. Each series exposes kids to the style, methods, and process each artist used when making their artwork. With several hands-on activities included kids will put together a wonderful Greatest Artists lapbook to refer to. 

In addition to the resource created by Confessions of a Homeschooler, this program also requires the use of the books by Mike Venezia called Getting To Know The World's Greatest Artists. These are GREAT books! You can find these books in your local library or purchase them on Amazon like I did because my kids love to read them over and over! 

• Resource #2 How To Teach Art To Children

Let me just start off by saying that I LOVE this book! Why do I love it? Because is easy to use as a homeschooling mom! It requires very little pre-prep work. Written to be used for grades 1st through 6th your child will learn about the seven elements of art through examples from various fine art in the world as well as get an opportunity to practice each element through the 96 hands-on art projects. 

Not only did my kids learn a lot from this art book but I did too!

More Art Activities For Kids 

• Easy DIY Upcycling Art Project To Make With Kids
• Easy Process Watercolor Art Project For Kids
• How To Make Watercolor Postcards
• How To Make A Unicorn Dreamcatcher

I hope this fun tutorial for creating a splatter painting helps inspire you to make art a part of your homeschool day! Let me know how your splatter painting turned out!

• Buzz Lightyear Kid's High Top Shoes
• 
• Price: $49.99

• Pokemon Pikachu High Top Adult Shoes
• 
• Price: $49.99

• Super Mario Kids Shoes
• 
• Price: $29.99

• Adult Marvel Thor God of Thunder Shoes
• 
• Price: $49.99

• Pokemon Low Top Adult Shoe
• 
• Price: $49.99

• Adult Marvel Loki God of Mischief Shoes
• 
• Price: $49.99

How To Write Course Descriptions For Your Homeschool High School Student

Writing detailed course descriptions for all of the high school-level classes your homeschooler took can be a bit overwhelming. Keeping track of grades and creating a high school transcript are big jobs but an even bigger job is writing course descriptions! It can make a homeschool mom's head spin!  

This post may contain affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page. Thanks!

A course description is a way to explain what your student covered in each course they took in high school and how they were evaluated. As more and more families choose to homeschool, college admission departments are becoming a lot more familiar with homeschooled student transcripts. Providing colleges with course descriptions will help them understand your student's level of academic achievement, course difficulty, and how they earned their grades. 

I have a confession to tell you about course descriptions. I admit I was one of those homeschool moms who waited until my child was in 11th grade before I got serious about writing course descriptions for all of the high school level classes she had taken! I really regret not starting them earlier because it would have saved me a lot of time and wouldn't have been so overwhelming. I ended up setting a goal to have them all written by the end of the summer so that when she started applying to colleges that fall they were done and ready to be submitted with her transcript. 

I'm telling you all this not to scare you but to encourage you to get started pulling together these vital course descriptions today. 

How To Write High School Course Descriptions For Your Homeschooler

In this post we are going to cover the following 3 things you need to know about course descriptions:

1. What is a student portfolio.

2. How to write a course description and what to include in a good course description

3. How to submit a course description to a college. 

 

Student Portfolio

Speaking of college - I'm proud to say that my daughter was accepted into every college she has submitted an application! I'm not sharing this to brag (ok, maybe a little) but to tell you that your homeschooled child can and will get into college because homeschooling does works!

Even though college admission staff are beginning to become more familiar with homeschoolers I still wanted to make sure there was no confusion when they got her application. Instead of just sending each college her official transcripts (grades only) I put together and submitted to each college what I called a "student portfolio". Her student portfolio included the following:

• Official transcripts - make sure the words"Official Transcript" appear somewhere on the transcript you submit and that it is signed and dated)

• Course descriptions for all classes taken 9th grade through 11th grade - updated class descriptions for her 12th-grade year will be sent once her classes have been selected.

• Complete reading list of the books she was required to read in high school

• List of activities, achievements, and volunteer opportunities she participated in or received in high school

 Maybe I went a little overboard, but not a single college admissions department has asked for additional information or clarification of her transcript. The portfolio speaks for itself and I consider this a success!

I came up with the idea to call this bundle of information a "student portfolio" so if you call and ask an admissions counselor if you should submit a student portfolio they might react a bit confused about this concept. This is a term I use in our homeschool so my kids (and husband) know what I'm talking about. 

How To Write A Course Description 

Don't let writing course descriptions scare you! Once you learn how to find course information you will be well on your way to getting the task done. This is a task you don't want to put off until your homeschooler's senior year. Instead, begin writing the course descriptions for each class your child takes starting their freshman year.

Today I wanted to share with you how I wrote course descriptions for my daughter's high school classes and what they actually look like. My hope is that this example will be a springboard to get you started writing course descriptions for your student today. What I included in the course descriptions are what I determined to be the "must-have information" which I am going to try to break down into small easy to follow sections:

#1. Course Title

The course title should match the title from your student's official transcript. I listed all of the courses in bold so that the college admissions department could easily find each course within the course descriptions. If the class had a lab component include the words "with lab" in the course title. I chose to group my course descriptions by subject rather than by school year. You choose what works best for you!

#2. Credits Earned and Academic Level of The Class

Again, the credits earned should be consistent between the official transcript and course description. It is also helpful to state if this was a high school or college-level course especially if your student took the course as a dual-enrolled student. Here is an example:

This is a 1.0 credit high school level course.

 

or

This is a 1.0 credit dual enrollment course taken at Grand Rapids Community College.

#3. Written description of the course.

 This part should include skills acquired, material covered as well as details describing lab work if applicable. In addition, you should include how the student was evaluated - tests, quizzes, oral discussion, and essays. Lastly, a list of the course textbook(s), supplemental materials, and if this was an online class or lecture.

Here are some examples of the course descriptions I wrote:

Remember, I am not a professional course description writer so I'm sure there are bound to be a few inconsistencies but I tried my best and I think it does the job! If anything this is a good springboard for you as you prepare your high schooler's student portfolio and write course descriptions. 

How To Submit Course Descriptions To Colleges

As a homeschool mom, a.k.a. high school guidance counselor, I took a proactive approach when submitting my daughter's transcripts to each college. I saw myself as a kind of translator who was responsible for translating my student's homeschooling career into an easy-to-understand language the admissions counselor would understand. What worked well for me was to email the full student portfolio as one pdf document directly to her assigned admissions counselor.  

Plan on the course description document alone to range anywhere from 10-15 pages in length. This combined with the transcript, reading list, and activities/volunteer record can make for a lengthy document. Don't panic! Most colleges would rather get more information than too little and it is up to their discretion if they need to dig through every page. Most colleges do read every page! Not only will your child's complete student portfolio be helpful but it will show how seriously your homeschool student took their education. 

BONUS - Free Course Description Download!!

Now that you are all ready to start on this course description writing journey I thought I would lend a hand and give you access to a free Google doc with the course descriptions I wrote for my homeschooled high school student! 

Hopefully with this in hand all you have to do is tweak a few things here and there, add classes your student completed and add it to your student portfolio. 

Click this link to Free Course Descriptions

I wish you the best of luck as you and your homeschooled high schooler begin to navigate the "next step" on their educational path! 

What has been the most challenging part of the college application process for you and your student? Leave a comment to share!

5 Fun Addition & Subtraction Math Games For Kids

Kids love to play games so why not turn learning a new math concept into a fun game! I found that my kids learned faster and new concepts "stuck" in their brains better if we played games centered around the new skill they were learning. 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page.

As the saying says, "practice makes perfect" so when my kids were in their early elementary years learning how to add and subtract, I knew that in order for them to grasp a new math concept and learn their math facts they were going to need a lot of practice. 

The practice part can get a little boring if they use the same method of practicing over and over and over.... 

Today I am going to share with you 5 fun games I played with my kids as a way to get them to practice their addition and subtraction facts! These games are so fun they won't even know they are learning and doing school work!

5 Fun Addition & Subtraction Games To Play With Your Kids

ADDITION & SUBTRACTION WAR 

Grab a full deck of cards to play this game! Prior to playing mark the following numbers in pen or marker on the face cards: Joker = 0, Ace = 1, Jack = 11, Queen = 12, King = 13. 

Shuffle the deck then deal all the cards out alternating between you and your child until the whole deck has been dealt. Players should be sitting across from each other so that the space between them can be used as the game playing space. Each player should have a pile of cards (draw pile) in front of them placed face down. 

Before the first turn, players should agree if they will be playing the addition version or the subtraction version of the game. 

On the count of three (1...2...3) both players take their top card from their own draw pile and flip it over placing it face up in the middle of the playing space. The players add or subtract (depending on what was previously agreed to) the value of the two face up cards and shout out the answer. The player who shouts out the correct answer first wins and gets to collect both cards placing them next to their face down draw pile. 

When a player runs out of cards from their draw pile they can flip over the cards they won during the round and use this as their new draw pile. 

Play continues until one player wins all of the cards!

* Advanced version: If during a turn matching cards are played (for example two 4's are played) then each player on the count of three turns over an additional card from their draw pile. Players should add all four cards values together and shout out the answer. The player that gives the correct answer first wins all of the cards in play. (this may not work well for subtraction since the answer could result in a negative number - a concept young elementary students would not be introduced to yet!)

PIG DICE GAME

This is a game our family loves to play when we have a few minutes to spare waiting for food at a restaurant or in a waiting room at an appointment. Because we like to play it so much I always carry a dice and a piece of paper and pencil around in my purse! 

This is a fun addition game! Players take turns rolling a dice and adding the value of the dice after each roll until they choose to stop and pass the dice to the next player. The twist is that if a 1 is rolled at anytime during a player's turn, their cumulative score for that round goes to zero, their turn ends and they pass the dice to the next player.  During a player's turn they can roll as many or as few times as they want as long as they don't roll a 1. Each player can choose to keep rolling, increasing their risk of losing all their accumulated points or stop rolling and keep their score for that round.  

One person goes first and rolls the dice. The value of the dice is their current score for this round. The player can choose to keep their current score or roll again adding the value of the second roll to their current score. The risk of continuing to play is that if at anytime the player rolls a 1, their current score for that round goes to zero and their turn ends. The player whose turn it is can choose to continue rolling the dice, adding points to their score or they may stop rolling the dice and pass the dice to the next player. If a player stops rolling and hasn't gotten a 1 then their total score for the round is written down on a score sheet under their name. The cumulative score written on the score sheet cannot be wiped out in future rounds if a player rolls a 1. The first player to score 100 points as tallied on the score sheet wins the game! 

HOPSCOTCH ADD/SUBTRACT

Before play begins ask your child to draw hopscotch boxes in chalk on your driveway or sidewalk. To start use boxes up to 10 but as they grow in their math skills add more boxes!  

The purpose of the game is to teach/reinforce addition and subtraction facts to ten. Have your child stand behind the 1 box then you ask them math facts such as what is 1+3. They give their answer by jumping through the hopscotch boxes until they land on the correct answer (4). You then ask them a second math problem that includes the number they are currently standing on so for example you can ask what is 4+3. They should hopscotch hop to the number 7 box. At any time you can mix up the math problems and ask questions like what us 7 - 2.  Now your child has to jump backwards to the 5. Keep asking math problems until they reach the 10. Once they reach the 10 they "won" and they can start over and play again. 

* Indoor play - when I play this game with my children inside I use square sticky notes as the hopscotch grid, writing the numbers on the sticky notes and laying them out on the floor in the proper order. The child should jump from sticky note to sticky note just the same way as they would on an outdoor chalk hopscotch grid. 

FLOWER POWER MATH FACTS

This game takes a little pre-game preparation but once you have it done you are all set to play! Here is what you need to prep before hand so you can play this game anytime with your children:

Supplies

• 1 piece of red construction paper cut 10 - 2 1/2" circles
• 1 piece of yellow construction paper cut 10 - 1 1/2" circles
• 1 piece of green construction paper cut into 20 small leaf shapes (see pics)
• 10 large wood craft sticks (tongue depressors)
• glue sticks
• scissors
• sharpie marker

Cut out circles from the red and yellow construction paper and glue the small yellow circle to the center of each larger red circle. Glue the craft stick to the back of the circle. Next glue two leaves to the back of each flower. Using your sharpie marker write simple addition or subtraction problems on the front and back of each wooden craft stick - do not include the answers!

I like to keep my math flowers in a small mason jar filled with dried beans or peas so that we can play while we are sitting at the table. The peas prevent the child from seeing the math problem until they pull the flower out of the jar. Encourage your child to "pick" a flower, read the math problem and say the answer. If they get it right let them keep the flower but if they get it wrong have the child return the flower to the jar. The person with the most flowers after the jar is empty wins. 

Four In A Row

Looking for a game to boost your child's math skills and confidence as well as help them to think strategically? Four In A Row is a simple yet super fun addition and subtraction game that will help grow their math skills every time they play. Master each level and they can move on to a more challenging and difficult level!

This is a free printable game I created just for you! Play it as often as you like. I find that the Do-A-Dot markers work great for this game! Or laminate the pages and use dry-erase markers so you only have to print the game cards once.

Click HERE to download the printable.

*disclaimer - please do not distribute or sell this printable for profit or personal gain. 

More fun learning ideas...

Check out some of these other great games and activities you can do with your child to teach them math at home:

Top 10 Homeschool Supplies You Need For A Successful School Year

Whether you have been homeschooling for several years or this is your first year homeschooling there are some essential tools that will help you and your kids have a successful homeschool year. 

A popular questions I get asked is "What things/tools do I need in order to homeschool my children?" Since we are heading into our 11th year of homeschooling I decided to put together a list of my top 10 supplies and tools that help us to have a successful homeschooling year. 

I hope this list is an encouragement to you if you are just starting out on the homeschooling journey and for those who are veterans I'd love to hear what else you would add to this list! 

This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on a link and make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no additional cost to you. For more information please see my Disclaimer page. Thanks.

On a side note, you might be wondering why I don't have curriculum on this top 10 list of tools for a successful homeschool year. Because homeschool curriculum is such a HUGE standalone topic, I decided to exclude it from this list. Instead, I chose to focus on the other great supplies and tools you need to have a successful homeschool year. So with that said let's check out my top 10! 

My Top 10 Supplies You Need For A Successful Homeschool Year

Bookshelves

Scuba gear is to scuba diver as books are to homeschooler - ESSENTIAL! My love of books has been passed down to my kids and because of our book obesssion we had to invest in some big sturdy bookcases. Aside from bathrooms and our laundry room there is a bookcase full of books in every room of our house! My husband and I invested in some good quality bookcases for our homeschool books knowing that having our school books organized and located in a central location for school was essential for our homeschool year to be successful. 

We use a mix of curriculum but a majority of our books are from our Sonlight cores. I give each book in every core a color coded label and shelve them together on one of three bookcases in our home office. I don't think it is completely necessary to have a "school room" set aside in your home but it is helpful to have a space dedicated to homeschool books. This just helps with organization!

My kids all have their own bookshelves in their bedrooms too. The books they keep in their rooms are not school books but books they like to read for leisure like the Little House on the Prairie series, the Missing Series or Dog Man books and Fly Guy books. 

I recommend investing in solid, sturdy, quality bookshelves because they will get A LOT of use over the years. Investing in bookcases that are built to last will save you in the long run especially if you have more than one child you plan to homeschool. 

Pencils & Pencil Sharpener

It might seem pretty obvious that your homeschool students will need pencils and a good quality pencil sharpener but because they are so important I had to include them on the top 10 list. 

My kids LOVE to pick their own pencils out each year, which has become one of our back to school traditions. My oldest daughter prefers mechanical pencils and a good supply of extra leads. Everyone in our house knows that the mechanical pencils are hers and they better ask before using them. The other kids enjoy the "old school" #2 pencils. I try to get a few packs of decorated pencils too just to keep things fun. 

We always know when our school year is coming to a close because the pencil bin seems to be full of stubby, eraser-less pencils. My recommendation is to buy several extra packs of pencils at the beginning of the year when you can find great back-to-school deals and then toss out the used up stubby ones at the end of the year. 

With all of the pencils your kids will use this year you will of course want to have a good working, quality pencil sharpener. Electric or manual doesn't matter as long as the sharpener can do its job sharpening pencils to a fine point without breaking the lead in the process. My kids prefer an electric pencil sharpener - my favorite is the Wescott Halo, however I do have a small Mr. Pen handheld manual sharpener too as a back up or to take along if we do school on the go. 

Arts & Crafts Supplies

Sure this is a very broad top 10 item, but in our house arts and craft supplies are very important. Whether you are going to teach an art class to your kids or just allow them to explore on their own, having the supplies available up front will make your life so much easier. 

Here are some of the basic art supplies we keep on hand all year round that you might want to consider stocking up on prior to the start of your homeschool year (links to my favorites included):

1. Acrylic paint, watercolor paint, finger paint & brushes

2. Glue - liquid, sticks and hot glue sticks

3. Construction Paper

4. Colored pencils, markers and crayons

5. Ink pads & stamps

6. Yarn, knitting needles & crochet hooks

7. Sewing needles, scrap fabric & thread

8. Scissors - small, large, scalloped/decorative

9. Perler beads, pony beads and rainbow loom rubber bands

10. Pipe cleaners

My favorite art book that I've used in our homeschool over the years is How to Teach Art To Children. It is written for kids in grades 1-6 however, older middle school students will still enjoy it too. The book presents the seven basic elements of art and encourages kids practice each element. The book has simple projects that any parent can guide their children through with easy to make projects for each lesson. 

Storage Caddy

With all of the pencils, art supplies, scissors and other school supplies it is helpful to have a storage caddy to put these supplies in.

During our school day I usually take the pencil caddy out and put it on the table so that the kids can easily find their favorite pencil. When we do an art project I haul out the art caddy and paint bin. Having your supplies in a caddy that is organized can save you time during the school day and make clean up so much faster. 

Looking for a simple DIY supply caddy? This is a fun project for your kids to do on the first day of homeschool! To make your own caddy, wash out and pull off the labels to 4 tin cans. Wrap a piece of decorative paper or ribbon around a tin can and secure it with glue or tape to give it a little pizzazz! Hot glue or super glue the tin cans together. 

Notebooks & Paper

Having an ample supply of loose leaf paper, printer paper and lined notebooks is essential for any homeschool. All of my kids have several notebooks that they use regularly during their school day. 

I've found that if the paper is available kids enjoy filling up the pages! Let them have the freedom to write creative stories, make doodles, create lists, write essays or personal journal entries in these notebooks. Kids should be writing every day. Writing is a learned skill so practice is essential for them to do regularly.  

Three Ring Binder

Three ring binders help me keep all the loose paper, art projects and endless other things organized and in one place. I give each of the kids a new three ring binder on the first day of school. They love making their own custom binder cover to slip inside the clear plastic cover slot too! My high school age kids keep their weekly schedule in the binder so they can write down what they worked on each day and include any papers they are currently working on in the binder too. 

Without a three ring binder all of their assignments, writing and schedules would be lost or missing by the time we made it to Thanksgiving! 

Library Card

If you ask any veteran homeschool mom what you need in order to homeschool your kids (K-6/7th grade) I can almost guarantee their response will be "a library card and a good math book." It might sound a bit crazy for some if you have never homeschooled before but I can tell you from experience that this statement is true. 

Your local library is a treasure trove for your homeschool student! The key is getting the right books in your child's hands and reading them. If you aren't quite sure what a "good" book is I highly recommend using the book lists from Sonlight. Sonlight is a homeschool curriculum company known for their amazing selection of literature (living books) in their cores. We are a Sonlight family and have found the readers and read aloud lists to be so full of good quality classic and modern books. 

During the school year I also allow my kids to check out a few "junk" books which in our house a junk book is like junk food - fun to read but provides very little educational value. 

 

Our local library allows every card holder to check out a maximum of 25 books at a time. We regularly max out this limit (per card!) and seem to always have a bunch of books on hold too. Toting around all those books is a big job so I highly recommend a BIG quality tote bag to use when you make your weekly trips to the library!

Cozy Reading Space

Reading, if you haven't already figured this out yet, is a BIG part of homeschooling! Why not work with your child to create a special reading space that is welcoming, cozy and all theirs. 

My oldest son created a space in the corner of his bedroom using a bed rest reading pillow, a clip on book light and his favorite fleece blanket. Most mornings before he comes down stairs for breakfast, he can be found cuddled in his reading nook reading a book. 

When my second oldest daughter was younger we created a reading space for her by hanging a round bed canopy from the ceiling in her room. We accessorized the inside of the canopy with a small, fluffy rug and some pillows. She spent hours in her little reading canopy reading, doing school work or playing.

   

Planner / Organizer

If this is your first year homeschooling I highly recommend that before you start the school year you have some sort of plan in place. This doesn't have to be complicated but it will help give your homeschool year a little structure which I guarantee will help you feel a little more in control. 

Not sure how to start, let me explain my process which might help you with your planning. Each summer I pick a few days to go through each of my kids main school books by subject noting how many chapters or units each subject contains. A typical school year has 36 weeks so I then divide the number of weeks in a school year by the number of chapters or lessons from each of the books to get an idea as to how many weeks each lesson should take. 

I use Excel or Google Sheets to record my planning for the upcoming homeschool year. The first column of the spreadsheet is a list of numbers from 1 to 36. In the next column I add a list of dates for the school year including holiday weeks. Then the following columns after the date column are a list of each subject my child will study with their lessons allocated over the school year weeks. For example, if a math book has 16 lessons I estimate that each lesson will take 2 weeks for my child to start and finish it. On the spreadsheet I allocate each chapter over two weeks. Of course there is a LOT of flexibility in this and I do expect there to be changes but this is just a tool to help me get started and have a plan so I can make sure we are on track. Here is an example of what my planning spreadsheet looks like:

There are TONS of pre-made homeschool planners and organizers available online so you don't have to make your own if you don't have time to! If you are a highly organized mamma who loves each and every activity, lesson and assignment planned and organized I'm sure you will love some of the options available. I recommend the homeschool planner 

  

Outdoor Space 

Kids of all ages need to spend time outside EVERY DAY. Speaking from experience, our homeschool day is better when my kids have spent some time outside in the fresh air every day. No matter the weather (except for thunderstorms or other dangerous weather conditions), my kids know that they are required to spend time each day outside. A lot of times they play together shooting baskets or playing a game but sometimes they just like to bring a book outside, sit in a camping chair and read. 

A change of scenery in the middle of the school day can help them (and you) clear their head, get their blood pumping from a little out door activity and help your little ones get the wiggles out! On many occasions my kids ask if we can do school at a park or beach - why not, this is one of the great benefits of homeschooling! I encourage you to get creative and find some great outdoor spaces to visit or even do school at during your homeschool year. 

 

What tools or supplies would you consider essential for your family's homeschool? If I missed any - please share in the comment section! 

More Homeschooling Help

Looking for more help with your homeschool? Check out the following posts to help you become a successful homeschooler. 

A Look At Our Daily Homeschool Schedule

10 of the Best Books For Children Ages 8 - 13