Your child’s learning doesn’t have to (and shouldn’t) stop when they step foot out of the classroom. There are plenty of ways they can have fun and educational experiences at home too. Here are 6 sneaky ways to help kids learn at home without them even realising!

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Here are some ideas for ways to make it something they want to do, rather than have to do. In fact, they’ll be having so much fun they probably won’t even realise they are learning!

#.1 Technology and Computer Games can be Educational!

Are your kids constantly asking to play on the iPad, but you remain reluctant to let them for fear of too much screen time?

If you limit screen time while setting them up to use the right educational apps, they can keep your youngsters’ minds active outside of school and help support their learning in different subjects. If they are learning to read there are some reading apps that can help too.

There are some really cool science apps and some great websites for math learning.

#2. Let Your Child Read YOU a Bedtime Story

Young kids love to have a story read to them especially before bedtime – now it is time to turn this around and get them to read to you.

Them reading the story isn’t just important so they can actually learn to read, they will also learn from the stories as well as widening their vocabulary.

Once they have read the book, discuss it – get them to tell you what they learnt from it.

#3. Encourage Writing

There are several ways you can encourage your child to write at home. This could be as simple as writing a letter or postcard to a relative (what child doesn’t love licking a stamp and posting their letter at the letterbox). We write so few letters nowadays that this is a really unusual fun activity for a child.

Encourage them to keep a diary for a few days or weeks. If they feel their lives are boring then how about suggesting they keep a diary for their pet with funny stories about what the pet did while they were at school!

You could suggest they have a go at writing their own story if they enjoy being read to. Not only will they practice their writing skills, they will also have to use their imagination.

#4. Ask Questions

Asking your child questions can be a really nice way to bond with them and also helping them learn at the same time. Here are 25 questions to ask your child.

Have a mini quiz where if they don’t know the answer, you encourage them to find out using e.g. Wikipedia.

• What is the capital of France?
• Who invented the Internet?
• What does onomatopeia mean? Can you give me an example of a word that is onomatopeic?

#5. Turn Being Outdoors into an Educational Experience

Kids love to play outside – so turn this into a learning experience. Here are some ideas:

• Give your child a section of your garden, in which they can grow their own vegetables. This will teach them responsibility, as they have to tend to them to help them grow. It’s also a good opportunity to teach them about various fruits and vegetables. Then, when they are fully grown you can pick them together and show them how they go from the ground to the dinner plate.
• Take a nature walk together and see how many birds or animals or types of trees you can spot.
• Have a scavenger hunt outdoors or in the garden or backyard
• Measure a tree
• Go star-gazing when it gets dark
• Have a big bug hunt and then examine and find out more about the bugs you caught

#6. Try Some Science Fun

Have you ever made a volcano in the sink? Or made some ooey-gooey homemade slime? Or found out what makes cabbage red?

Doing some simple home science experiments together with your child is a way of making science fun for kids. (You may even learn something too!)