Three Fun Ideas For Kids

1. Cooking & Baking

Kids love to bake and cook, that’s mainly because they get to eat whatever they’ve made! By cooking and baking with children, not only are you teaching them a great life skill but you can also teach them about math, science, nutrition, etc.

For example, when children are taught about measurements in math, the teachers will often give them a visual prompt to help them understand what each measurement looks like. Whether that’s measuring the height of children in the class, putting water in a measuring jug, etc.

Between metric and imperial, there’s a lot of terminology that the children learn. A great way to back up their classroom learning is by getting them to measure out ingredients for recipes.

The next time you bake a cake you can sneak some science in by explaining about how the cake rises during cooking. It’s never too early for children to start helping you in the kitchen. It’s a great opportunity to teach them about a healthy diet and the importance of good nutrition.

There’s a fantastic range of cookery books aimed at children. One that my children have really enjoyed is by the company Little Dish, called “Family Cookbook”. It has a great range of recipes and at the back of the book the children can earn stickers for the skills they have learnt. They can also earn a certificate, medal and apron depending on which level they get to.

2. Online Games

Children are fascinated by electronics. They can spend hours playing games but there are some great educational games out there.

Plays.org is a fantastic free site that have games aimed at children through to adults. They also have a good selection of educational games. I know with my children, if I sat them down with a pen and paper and asked them to do some math or English, there would be mass protests! However when I set them up to play one of these games they love it.

One game that has been a big hit with my 10 year old son, is “Guardians – Defenders of Mathematica“. It is aimed at KS2 children and has a range of math categories for them to pick from. It’s a role playing game and is set in the fantasy land of Mathmatica.

The children can choose their character (knights, elves, wizards, etc.) and then they can choose which battle they want to play. There are 16 different battles, each one is dedicated to a specific math category. For example The Dark Tower of Division, Ancient City of Algebra and Mines of Measurement.

With each battle they’ll get 10 questions. Every time they get one wrong their enemy opponent will damage their character. They need to get 7 questions correct to win the round. Their reward for winning is they’ll gain a shield. There is also a weekly event where they can win a weapon to use for the week.

The further they get in the game the trickier the questions get!

3. Go For A Walk

Whether you live in the city or the countryside, going for a walk can be a great opportunity, to not only get exercise but to teach your children. You can teach your children about nature, architecture, the history of your local area, etc.

Creating a list of items to spot on your walk can your walk purpose. There are great nature hunt tick lists that you can download online for free but you could also create your own list based on where you’ll be walking. Here are some suggestions of what you could add to your list

Nature walk – ladybird, bee, beetle, robin, heron, willow tree, oak tree, acorn, river, stream, moss, nettles, tadpole, frog, pinecone, birds nest, etc.

Village/Town Walk – church steeple, war memorial, flower baskets, butcher shop, greengrocery, trees, birds, zebra crossing, traffic lights, etc.

City Walk – specific types of buildings, blue plaques or dedication plaques, flowers, trees, church, bicycle, gargoyle, stained glass, tallest building, etc.

Make it fun and it will be a great chance to talk to your child and really notice your area.