homeschool assignment ideas

Project Based Homeschooling – 43 Project Ideas

Please also see 2nd to 4th Grade At-Home Activities and Projects . Which can be used with the free 13 Week Unplugged Curriculum and Schedule , and the 4 Step Homeschool Planning and Organization .

You’d think that kids that homeschool without a curriculum have a lot of extra time, but they are often incredibly busy. One of the reasons is that they engage in undertakings that are multifaceted, and require a lot of time and focus, and even come back to it latter to continue to work on the project.

Mostly, it happens in their mind: thinking about how things are going to happen, what needs to come next, visualizing, estimating, weighing in the variables, compensating, concluding.

When parents allow kids to spend as much time as they need on a project, they might see their kid who can’t sit still spend hours as his work table shaping his vision and making things happen. Although the beauty of project-based learning is that it is dynamic, and not always requires to be siting down, you may need to stand to work on something, go to the store, sit and make lists, go around the house gathering supplies, sitting down again to put it all together…

As kids get older project-based learning takes a shape that resembles actual project management, but it is better if they start early so they gain familiarity and learn a lot about themselves in the process.

Project-based learning for the younger ages is child-led, there are activities that we refer to as projects here but for kids is more like another form of play. It is this connection with play that will lead kids to continue to engage in projects and thus learn through project-based activities.

What Is a Project

A project starts with an idea. Identifying the steps and completing those steps to develop a final product from the initial idea is the Project.

A project can be taken on by one person but may need others with different skills to complete the project. Depending on how complex or ambitious the project, it may require more people or can be done by just one kid. Often, projects need a leader. Most of the projects we list below can be undertaken by one or two people and may require an adult to guide kids through the process. However, the more projects kids take on, and the more responsibility they are given by the guiding adult, and more concepts they learn from the projects, the more capable they become to leading.

Parts of a Project

Concept development is part of the “pre-production phase” as well as viability. Once you have figured out you can do this thing and have an idea as to the most viable way to do it…

Identify all the steps you will need to take . Also the materials, and all the resources you will need in order to…

Make it happen – “Production” is when you use all the resources you gathered and start crossing all the steps or tasks off the list to reach your goals.

Completion – At this point, you are done. You should have an end product.

Projects by age/skill level, from Older to Younger:

1. create a play or musical.

Kids that are familiar with what a character is, and a story line can take this project on with other kids or on their own. There are different ways to do this:

-When kids are young some theater classes focus on creativity. So while the instructor may introduce or reinforce the notion of creating a character and a story, the kids are encouraged to create their own play.

-It can be a team project. If all the kids in the group are committed, kids may distribute tasks based on interest and skill. So that there may be kids that are too shy to act but are great at making props or costumes. There might be kids that love music and want to be in charge of the music and sound. Etc.

-But if you have a child that is inclined to literature or music, you can encourage him or her to come up with a character, write a story, and maybe even make a song for each story. It can be as simple or ambitious as they are comfortable with.

2. Exhibit Artwork, or Organize an Exhibition

For kids that love art exhibiting their work and even selling their work is a great way to getting their artwork out there, seeing how people react to their work and sharing their Art with other people is a big part of being an artist.

However, it takes planning, doing the work, submitting the art, delivering and having it ready for presentation. Depending on whether the work is being exhibited at an local Art Fair, a juried exhibition, a co-op, etc. there will be different parts that will define the project and require different planning and expectations.

3. Make a Green House

This is a project that involves, a fair amount of planning, building and science. From figuring out what is the best spot, to making a list of the supplies for all the different parts of the project, to deciding what to plant, to putting it together, finding the right people to help with different parts of it…The more granular the planning the smoother it will go. This is the kind of project that illustrates the beauty of project management at an early age.

4. Reorganize your closet

Or your room. Easier said than done! Kids are usually very intransigent about changing where their things live. Because their world is play and there is so much fantasy involved, there are so many moving parts to what to keep, where and why.

Even when they are a little older they may have collected so much stuff that organizing just their closet can be a big undertaking of: letting go of things, making a donate pile, making a yard sale pile, storage…storing items based on seasons, accessibility, how much they will be using it or wearing it. There are so many different criteria…Maybe they need more shelves or less shelves, drawers, etc.

5. Grow a monarch garden

There is so much fun and educational parts to this project. It is important to first educate yourself on the journey of monarchs, there are some beautiful short documentaries that you could watch together for inspiration. A field trip to a butterfly conservatory or natural science museum will be very timely. Then, you can set out on learning about the different plants to have in your garden and decide on a design. These are some sites where you can get some step to step how to and some important information to help your kids create a meaningful garden. Page with info for how to start one.

Another page with info on how to grow it .

6. Design a Game

Kids are always making up games, so even though this sounds ambitions games are not hard for kids to design. However older kids might get more sophisticated and want to design a role playing game. In this case, there are a lot of different parts of this project. Such as concept design, making decisions as to how this game will be played and how many people can play it, what materials will be needed. Perhaps there will be a set of characters, perhaps each character has different traits, weaknesses and strengths, or magical powers…Maybe they will design the game and the character on the computer or perhaps it will all be drawn by hand.

Maybe it is a card game, a strategy game, a board game.

7. Start a business

There is the production aspect, buying supplies, doing the math to figure out how much to buy of each item, figuring out if the business is profitable. And once they figure all that out they actually have to produce the product, identify milestones and commit to them. Etc.

Whether kids are just selling their artwork or coming up with an ingenious product, there are so many moving parts to starting a business and the learning is so rich and varied that we have a Post just for How to help your child learn entrepreneurship and start a business .

8. Prepare a treasure hunt

Kids love Treasure Hunts. They love to engage in the searching, having one clue lead them to the next, and finding treasure. They also love hiding the treasure for their friends to find, making a map, writing clues, and coming up with ingenious ways to hide things.

This is a project in that it will require to figure out how many “treasures” to collect or buy depending on how many people will be participating on the hunt.

They will need to make a list of what will need to be treasure, to hide treasure, and to create clues.

They will need to decide the logistics of it all. It sounds easy but it can be quite a project for a kid.

9. Organize a birthday party

Think about the logistics! Prepare the list of guests and make the invitations. Prepare the decorations, the snacks, the birthday cake. Prepare activities, party favors, or crafts. Kids get very excited about birthdays. Yes, they appreciate a level of surprise but they do enjoy being able to participate in their won birthday preparations, or, throw a birthday party for a relative or friend.

10. Make a Costume

Figuring out what the costume is going to be.

Identify all the components of the costume.

Figuring out what can be used to create each part of the costume.

Figuring out where to procure or purchase the items.

Can anything be make? For example, if the costume is a Wizard, can you make the hat with a poster board or paper? You’ll need to paint it, or decorate it or both.

Will it require a trip to the fabric store or can you use something from around the house for the cape and the gown?

How would you make a beard? Perhaps some pillow filling?

What tools will you need? Hot glue gun, glue, scissors, needle and thread? Make a list of everything you need. It’s always easier to execute when you have know ahead of time everything that you need and that needs to be done.

11. Set up The Christmas Tree

Grown-ups get very excited about setting the Christmas tree. I have seen adults that have a method for this project and no-one can interfere. They can enlist helpers, but the grown ups run the show.

One of these years, give your child this responsibility and see how they embrace the challenge. Don’t worry if it’s not professional, it will be perfect.

Moms love setting the Tree, but kids live for this.

12. Make a Fashion Bag

If kids want to learn to sew or already know how to sew two pieces of fabric together they can easily build the bag. If they do not know how to sew, or they are too young to take on the task there are other ways to build a bag. The challenge is not so much in the construction but in comping up with a simple enough design that you can take on based on your skills.

13. Decorate your room

Or redecorate your room. Figuring out where to move the furniture, where to put the bed, the mirror, the bedside table or the desk. You may have to take into account where are the outlets for the lamps, or to plug in the computer. You may think about where is the window in relation to your bed? What about access to the closet? Do you need any extra space to play on the floor? Or to store certain items or toys?

What is the best way to move furniture? Will you need to relocate all the stuff on the tables before you move the tables? Etc.

14. Go shopping

Make a list. Find the items, look for sales, pay a the teller. At the end kids can say they did the shopping all by themselves.

15. Make a Blanket

Depending on the size of the blanket this may not be a one person job. The method is taking two pieces of fleece, flannel or another fabric that doesn’t fringe at the edges, making one inch thick (wide) cuts along the edge about four inches long, and tying them together.

It takes patience and practice cutting fabric. But it also is fun to pick out the textures and colors for the blankets, and they make great gifts.

16. Make a Lemonade Stand

A lemonade stand can be a really fun activity for kids to do on their own. It’s a good introduction project because it is composed of different parts that are very easily achievable. Kids seek to do things independently and they love to make lemonade. More so if they can share with others and realize an actual transaction.

Our daughter made a lemonade stand when she was 5 with mom’s help, and we set up a little table at the driveway. After a while the mailman stopped by, got out of the car, and bought a lemonade and a cookie for $1. After that sweet experience our daughter would decide she was going to make lemonade all by herself, then she’d  grab a box and a chair and set it out in the driveway. It’s all I could do to run out there and seat with her!

17. Organize a Yard Sale

Yard sales are great because it translates into a great project-based learning activity encompassing real life math skills and organization as well as learning to let go of beloved toys and things that they are not using anymore. Encourage your kid to make signs and put a few around the neighborhood.

Sorting out their items in different categories, pricing, giving change, are some of the things kids learn through this project. They may even make a little money. And at the very least they will learn to let go of toys and things and clear up some clutter in your house!

18. Making a gift bag, an envelope, wrapping a gift

It sounds simple but it takes a lot of dexterity to wrap a gift. Presentation is a big part of our culture and kids know that people appreciate a nicely presented gift. Making an envelope requires to gather the right size paper and to research how to make an envelope. Making a gift bag can be a challenge even for an adult, but if your child is up to the challenge it can be fun and there is so much understanding of geometry to take away from this project. It’s also a great skill to have for when you just need a gift bag.

19. Make a model of the solar system

This can be an activity as part of a science or astronomy class. See our Free Natural Science Guide for 5 – 8 Year Olds.

20. Build a Pirate Ship

If your child is interested in pirates, of you just want to suggest a fun activity, building a pirate ship can be done with cardboard, a box, or wood. There are some great kits out there like this Melissa & Doug one.

21. Design and make a shoe rack

If your kids are anything like what so many kids I know including mine, the shoes end up all over the house or come off in front of the door or in the middle of a room. If you find yourself repeating over and over “Put your shoes away, please” how about “Why don’t you design a shoe rack so we can all put our shoes in it when we walk into the house!” What can they use? Whatever you have at hand: cardboard, wood, boxes, etc. They will find a way to put it together depending on the age and skill -whether it’s put together like a puzzle, stacked, or nailed.

22. Make a Pillow

Go to the fabric store, pick out fabric, design how big your pillow will be – a 12 inch pillow is about as big I think a child can commit to sewing, any larger you’ll have to take on some of the sewing.

And deciding what to use for filling and how much filling you’ll need. Put it all together and enjoy the final product.

23. Build a Fort

Building a fort takes a lot of practice and skill. It takes so much practice to become fluent in the fort building arena. There is so much frustration that is taken for granted, but also there can be so much leaning about what works and what doesn’t.

24. Make a model of an Ecosystem

I have only seen this done once and it was by our daughter when she was 7 years old. But I watched it unfold and it went like this:

There was clearly a vision or concept before it all started. It may have sparked from a box someone gave her, or perhaps from the previous activity the day before when she was making a Toy Store for her dolls and play-dough pets.

The structure was put together in a certain way fastened very tightly with duck tape.

Then she made a mama fox and a baby fox. She asked if I would sit with her and help and I made a hen and a chick.

She said that the fox ate dear and she made something that looked like bacon.

Two hours latter she had a fox family, a chicken family, a bird family, and a dear that resembled something more like road-kill.

She came back to it the next day after all the playdough had hardened and made the caves, lairs, and nests for the different animals. She painted the background so it looked like a forest. She also made some incredibly realistic lizards (mom and baby) and a parrot family. She made nests out of masking tape and mounted them around the box. There were worms and seeds. She set a string with knots for the parrots to climb up to get to their nest, and some fun swings. Another three hours latter her vision was complete.

Kids at school sometimes engage in projects like this, but usually the learning is superficial. Each kid is assigned a part of the project by the teacher, they can’t indulge in their own vision, they don’t learn anything about themselves in the process, and  they would never be allowed to spend so much time on the project.

25. Make-Up a Dance

This is a nice group activity or it can be done by themselves. Choreography is a project. It starts with an idea and kids model the steps, and synchronize the steps with music. They might chose a piece of music or perhaps the song can be the inspiration to kick off the project.

The performance is the culmination of the project and this can be a project in and of itself, where costumes are put together, audience is summoned and the stage is prepared, etc.

26. Make a Doll House

What doll doesn’t need a house at some point!

Whether you suggest this activity or your child asks she wants a doll house, encourage kids to build and make things themselves. There is so much joy in building…It’s no accident that LEGO is such a huge success. Kids love building things, but they don’t need an $60 LEGO Kit to make it happen.

Provide some boxes, foam-board, tape, hot glue, small nails. Show her how the materials can go together. Once you get her started she may come up with more ideas and may build them by herself out of necessity.

Praise her for her great work.

When she is old enough to be taught to use a cutting knife, with supervision, you may show her how to make a more straight house, or rooms lined with wall paper…See pic below.

27. Build a Cabin

We have a backyard with a few tress that need to be trimmed from time to time. Every time I ask that some of the brunches be cut in small pieces so that kids can use them to make and build things in the backyard.

Kids can build a little cabin from small logs and mud. And make a roof with leaves or sticks.

28. Make a Calendar

We made calendars because it served an important purpose: Our daughter was always asking what are we doing tomorrow and when are we going to…whatever play date, field trip or event.

It also served to get familiar with: the days of the week, the numbers from 1 – 31, and the layout of the months.

One year I suggested to make an advent calendar. After much back and forth it was decided on a material. The rest was child-led, and required only a little bit of help. This year the girls made calendars to celebrate the end of the year. See below:

29. Make a Book or Notebook

Little kids may know their limitations when it comes to reading, but they will not be denied when it comes to writing! And when it comes to literacy, they find they are so empowered with hands on projects such as creating a notebook, diary or book. Encourage them to write something on the cover and staple some pages together. They can use colored pages, they can chose to decorate the pages, they can make drawings…anything goes.

30. Prepare Breakfast

Yes! Kids as young as 5 years old are capable of preparing a simple breakfast. They can chop, spread, decide what to make, lay the table, etc.

31. Prepare a Picnic

I have never met any kid who doesn’t LOVE picnics. On top of that if they are allowed to prepare the picnic, they are as happy as can be. They get to decide where to have the picnic, they can come up with a good place to carry it (a basket, a backpack, a box, paper bag?), and they get to decide what to bring and prepare the snacks or the meal.

Don’t forget the drinks!

32. Make Pizza

Choosing the toppings is really fun for kids and sharing a meal they made with friends or family is one of the best experiences.

This hands-on activity is great for little kids because they get to learn and understand what comes first and why, an essential skill when it comes to projects.

33. Make Cookies

Playing with dough is a very attractive activity for most kids, but making their own creations is so much fun. You don’t just get to play, you get to eat it too!

Whether you buy the dough already mixed, or they help you make it, this is a multifaceted project that little kids will remember. They may not be able to recreate it by themselves but the exposure to different kinds of learning is there.

34. Make an Obstacle Course

Finding the different elements that may constitute an obstacle can be challenging for kids. Provide a set of things that could be obstacles, like logs, bricks, upside down garden pots, etc. Once the kids decide where and how to use those elements, and they run out, they’ll have to think about what else to use and to use it to make it fun.

This is a great activity because ideally it is carried out outdoors, and it will get the kids outside everyday to play their course and build more obstacles.

35. Make a Maze

It could be a maze out in the backyard, or at the playground, or on paper…the possibilities are endless. The materials may range from sand to play-dough, or yarn, or just markers.

Making a maze is not easy, but you can really get lost in the process!

36. Make Slime

Even though it sounds mundane at this stage to make slime. For kids who have never made slime by themselves this is a project. Firstly, they have to remember the materials or ingredients. Then they need to remember in what order and what quantities to use. And finally, they will learn from their fails and success.

37. Make Squishies

Memory foam, acrylic primer or gel, and acrylic paint.

Kids can figure out what shape they want, paint and let dry. Chances are you have a piece of memory foam that can be cut up into several squishes. This is a hands on activity that kids like because who doesn’t love squishies.

38. Make a Mother’s Day gift or a Father’s Day Gift

For Mom make a face scrub by combining a little rose oil and vitamin E oil into cornmeal (the granular kind). Add a little powder cinnamon into into the mix.

For Dad take a look at our post Impressive Gifts for Dad that Kids Can Make.

39. Bath Bombs

This is a step up from Experiments. Here is what we use in order:

Baking soda

Corn starch

Citric Acid (we have links for a lot of these supplies in Absolutely Must Have Supplies)

Little bit of almond oil or coconut oil

A couple of drops of essential oil like mint, jasmine…They can chose the scent.

A drop of food coloring

A tiny bit of water

Have them mix it all in a bowl and kneed it with their hands, then pack it into plastic Easter eggs. Let dry for a few hours and they are ready to hatch!

What I notice is that after a couple of times kids remember what ingredients they need, and after a few times they remember the quantities, and they can remember all the steps.

So it’s one of the first real projects.

What they will get out of it: The love the sensation of the fizzling bath bombs in their bath, they love to gift them to friends and mom as well.

What they will learn from it: They learn that the key ingredient is citric acid, and they understand how the citric acid reacts with the baking soda when water is added. They understand this specifically because they see that by adding even just a little bit too much  water, the citric acid will start to fizzle before the bath bombs is made.

What they will need to practice: They’ll need to remember the ingredients, the order of the ingredients and the amounts. They need to practice some dexterity by putting the mixture into the molds and taking them out of the molds. We use plastic Easter eggs as molds.

What they will need to learn: The careful balance between all the ingredients so that they get a good fizzle that last for a while.

40. Bird Feeders

This is another project-based activity for early learners. Once you show them what they need and how to do it, you may watch them one random day showing their friends how to do bird feeders, or able to take on

What they will get out of it: The fun of

What they will learn from it

What they will need to practice

What they will need to learn

41. Rubber-band nail art

This activity requires some dexterity. Provide a board or sample laminate from the hardware store. Some small nails with wide heads, colorful string, and maybe 3ven some paper or plastic flowers. The kids can draw the shape and hammer in the mails themselves, or you can draw a simple shape and set the nails about half an inch apart. All the kids need to do at that point is loop the string back and forth in any pattern or direction they want until the entire inside of the shape is covered with string. Stick some fake flowers on it and hung on the wall.

Alternatively for young kids that prefer to do it by themselves this one works very nicely because the nails are easier to hammer in and it uses rubber bands instead of string:

42. A Yarn Bowl

This is a decorative bowl and a very simple craft that is messy, colorful, and fun to make.

Different colors and textures of yarn

A metal bowl turned upside down and covered with plastic wrap

A mixture of warm water and corn starch

Spray bottle with water, white glue squirt bottle

Mix the corn start homeschooling and water in a large bowl. Ask your kids to cut pieces of yarn or if the they are young you can provide the yarn cut for them to soak into the mixture and start covering the bowl with yarn. Keep going until all the sides are covered. Set to dry or leave out in the sun. When it’s dry, take the spray bottle and spray all over, specially the areas that didn’t stick, pour the while glue all over and dab with a paint brush until the yarn is all wet and covered with the glue and padded down. When it’s completely dry take out of the mold.

43. Marshmallow Constructions

This is a really fun activity. I was very against it at first because I thought kids would just want to do it because it involves popping a marshmallow in your mouth every once in a while. But what I found out was that a) If you tell them that they cannot use eat the marshmallows, kids will not respect the rules, b) The kids are so enthralled in the building and design of their creation that they forget about the sweet attraction. At least until they are done.

This activity is easy for a 5 year old, even 4 year old can build something. As they practice and grow they get better at making joints that will last and hold their construction.

They get exposure to creating shapes and angles.

What they will get out of it: The process is very rewarding for kids. They often want to keep their creations and admire them until, well, until the ants come.

What they will learn from it: They learn how to make joins, which angles are better for the forms they want to make. They learn three dimensional design.

What they will need to practice: Sometimes the instruction may take a colossal shape but if you look closely you can see the progression in their own learning. They practice technique over and over.

What they will need to learn: At this age and for this activity they done have any requirements for this type of project.

Learning through projects is a great way to learn because there is a process that is fun and the end result is always rewarding in one way. Whether it is watching the birds eat the seeds from the bird feeders they made to making some money from selling their invention at a fair, project-based learning  provides a means to an end.

As the guide, the adult should make the learning points fun and light. But be firm and gently show kids the importance of learning certain things that come up.

I think with all these ideas a child could do at least one project per month. We have done a lot of these over the years, and some we did when kids were little and then again when they were a little older. For example, “Starting a Business” is a project our daughter did first time when she 6 years old. Then she did it again two other times and came up with different ideas and learned more things every time. For example, the first time she only practiced sum, and was introduced to giving change, but she learned a lot about the commitment that is needed to pull it together. However, she did not understand what “profit” meant or what “marketing”. She was too young to multiply and divide.

Also, I have tried to include different levels of difficulty so the projects are age appropriate starting with the top ones for older kids, and at the end the projects for the little ones. But please take a look at Favorite Activities For Preschoolers and Beyond which is packed full of hands on activities and crafts for the 4 – 6 year old range.

Like I describe with the Business Project example, some of these can be revisited. They can be simple when they are younger and more ambitious as the kids get older, and therefore more parts of the project and therefore more learning.

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101+ Homeschool Unit Study Themes and a Free Planner

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Homeschool unit studies are a great way to create school units around your child’s interests. When you can use your child’s natural interest in their schoolwork , it just makes everything easier.

What is a homeschool unit study?

Especially for younger children. I know for my girls, when they are interested in a particular topic, they are much more likely to want to stop playing and do their schoolwork. Enter the homeschool unit study. A unit study is basically a thematic unit . You choose a topic and then learn about that topic in a variety of ways covering most of your core subjects such a history, math, grammar, spelling, etc. Unit studies are great to use for homeschool co-op class ideas, PreK units of study, or a preschool or kindergarten curriculum . They are so easy to tailor to your child’s specific interests that they make fantastic lesson plans for elementary. Unit studies are especially popular with kindergarten through elementary-aged students, but they are just as effective with older students, too.  So, don’t limit yourself.  If you are homeschooling teens and tweens, don’t think they are too old for unit studies.  Just find topics they like and build unit studies around those. You can grab a free unit study planner at the bottom of this post! Another reason I love unit studies is that they are easy to create.  Grab a few books , bookmark a few videos, find some worksheets and activities online and……voila!  You have yourself a homeschool unit study custom made for your child! You can make your homeschool unit study as easy or as in-depth as you want.

Creating a Homeschool Unit Study

I’m a planner. I like to have a big plan for our homeschool year. What big topics do I want to cover? What are some big skills I want to make sure my children master this year? That kind of thing. Homeschool units make it easy to plan. Pick a topic and get to planning. Just pick out activities that cover skills you want your child to master. For example, let’s say you want your child to work on grammar and you are doing a unit study on polar bears. Find a short passage on polar bears, rewrite it with some grammatical errors, and have your student edit it. Working on math? Create or find word problems around your chosen unit study topic. Let’s go with polar bears again. You can do problems about the number of fish a bear eats in a set number of days. How fast will the ice melt if it gets 1/2″ thinner each day and it is X inches thick? The possibilities are endless! I’ve created a printable unit study planner for you to use! It also includes a printable version of the homeschool unit study ideas in this post, a five step process to create your amazing unit study, note pages, planning pages, and some tips for a successful unit study. Just sign up at the bottom of the page or before you leave. Here is a sneak peek of the download:

Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

These homeschool unit study ideas are appropriate for a variety of ages. You can easily adapt and find different activities for each topic depending on the age of your child. Here are over 100 homeschool unit ideas! apples zoo Autumn weather explorers oceans family Halloween heroes forest Thanksgiving Europe winter Christmas countries jungle money letters pirates unicorns Valentine’s Day farm St. Patrick’s Day Spring desert cookies community helpers strawberries world landmarks plants circus rainforest Memorial Day American landmarks beach superheroes airplanes robots toys dice reduce – reuse – recycle butterflies colors ice cream Olympics monsters baseball penguins polar bears sports dinosaurs forest rocks dragons fairy tales mammals insects George Washington Native Americans healthy eating fitness poetry trees volcanoes Spanish trains amphibians shapes music body parts cooking measurement patterns five senses rhymes manners Narnia Winnie the Pooh family Black History Women’s History gemstones water cycle Dr. Seuss pets immigration moms dads friends Asia Oregon Trail South America Camping North America Antarctica Australia pioneers gardening lighthouses fire safety Africa jazz emotions money thoughtfulness kindness gratefulness electricity space

Get creative and have fun!

Using unit studies in your homeschool is intended to spark your child’s interest in learning and make school fun. Don’t get bogged down in making sure you complete every activity. Be sure to keep your plans appropriate to your child’s skill level and not what you think sounds fun (am I the only one who does that?!) Have fun and enjoy the excitement in your child! Don’t forget to sign up below to get your free unit study planner. I’ve also included a printable list of the ideas in this post as well as some tips to successful unit studies.

1 thought on “101+ Homeschool Unit Study Themes and a Free Planner”

Heya. You can do a entire unit study on Europe. Make brief summary notes and use them as a initial source of fodder. Good luck. Then prepare a list of activities in order to do in lessons. These include researching a few different European singers. Other activities that are worth trying are math questions on what current costs are. Or you can even have a lively discussion on geography in Europe.

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How to Make Homeschool Fun: 50+ Ideas for Every Age!

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Figuring out how to make homeschool fun is a perennial problem. Every year, you’ll reach a point where learning just seems like a slog. Some new homeschooling parents hit this first wall and panic, thinking homeschooling was a huge mistake and they need to ditch all their plans. 

If you’ve hit a homeschool wall recently, know that there’s plenty you can do to change things around. One of the easiest ways to lighten up the mood and make learning enjoyable is to inject some fun activities. I’ve got a huge list of ideas for you, so let’s dive right in.

General principles for a fun homeschool at any age: 

Keep it real. .

Kids at every age want to know their lessons are connected to reality and the great adult world beyond. Focus on actual problems in your communities, tangible experiments or manipulatives, and people they know. 

Follow their passion

If your child is obsessed with Frozen or Minecraft, lean into that. Or if you have a kid who is a talented musician, athlete, or coder, let them use those skills to gain new ones. Kids are much more willing to attempt hard or “boring” lessons when favorite characters or activities are involved.

Think outside the workbook 

Who says you need textbooks and worksheets to learn? Start looking around your daily life for lessons to jump out at you. Nature walks, 

It doesn’t take a wizard to figure this one out. It could be review games like flash cards, trivia or trashketball. You also can make homemade versions of monopoly or chutes & ladders where game pieces and spots require subject knowledge. Of course, there’s also actual board games designed to teach certain lessons, plus plenty of learning apps with games.

Related article: 10 FUN Geography Games for Kids

Get those energetic kids moving! Children need to move for their bodies to be in tip-top shape of course, but there’s more, too. Especially for children with “kinesthetic” learning styles, doing physical activity while learning can help tremendously in imprinting knowledge in a child’s brain. 

Field trips have been a teacher’s saving grace since schools were invented. Not only will it mean fun learning ON the trip, but you generally get students very motivated to work hard leading up to the trip, too. Museums, natural spaces, historic landmarks or cities, and special events are all excellent opportunities. 

How to make homeschool fun for kindergarten (and pre-k)

• Count with hopscotch or a number line written in chalk
• Plant beans, peas, sunflowers, or squash
• Give out stickers for hard work 
• Finger paint letters & numbers
• Act out social scenarios and role play appropriate behavior
• Visit the fire station
• Play dress up when discussing storybook characters
• Get magnetic letters and practice spelling sight words on the fridge
• Go to the park and encourage them to ask questions about what they see
• Do some activities to build fine motor skills

How to make homeschool fun for elementary students

• Do work in strange places: under the table, upside down, on the stairs, etc
• Do a work race! Set up a course around your neighborhood, yard, or park. Each checkpoint has one worksheet/assignment. The child who finishes the race first/fastest with the least number of errors wins.
• Put on a puppet show about a history lesson, book, or scientific concept
• Get a pen pal! Bonus points if they’re from a far away place or even another country.
• Learn a second language. Bonus points if you pair it with another, related activity like learning taekwondo. 
• Actually, learn any foreign language. Go around your house with a label maker and write the second language’s word for everything. 
• Participate in a Reading Challenge like this one from Scholastic . 
• Learn about area & perimeter using Cheez-Its
• Hold a lemonade stand and count money 
• Learn to play an instrument like the recorder or xylophone
• Grow a garden
• Have a “dress up like your favorite book character” day
• Encourage them to illustrate scenes from history or a book, 
• Sign them up for clubs at the library
• Host reading parties! Grab all the pillows & blankets from all over the house & pile up in one room, then lounge around in PJs reading
• Use faceprint on each other to answer questions
• Play mini-golf, where they need to putt only into the holes with the correct answers (You could do “a, b, c, or d” multiple choice over and over or make your own, more complicated course.)

How to make homeschool fun for middle schoolers

• Learn fractions and ratios with culinary projects: cut pizzas into eighths or sixteenths, convert measurements, and make a double (or half) batch of cookies
• Grab a telescope and a star chart. Have them identify and track different stars. 
• Learn to sew historically accurate outfits for dolls or stuffed animals
• Have them make a lego stop motion video as a final project for a literary or history unit. Lego guys are the main characters!
• Create mini books with stories they write and photos they take
• Take a roadtrip (either to a different state or just to the grocery store) and have your middle schooler calculate miles per hour, miles per gallon, gas costs, and distance. 
• Print out giant timelines to put around your walls for history lessons or to track the plot of a novel
• Create dioramas 
• Volunteer at a local animal shelter and chat up the vets about animal biology
• Take a giant piece of butcher paper and trace your child’s body. Then have them draw and label organs, bones, and/or systems

How to make homeschool fun for high school kids

• Help them join or start a team for debate, academic decathlon, Odyssey of the Mind, or robotics
• Teach them basic car maintenance 
• Practicing budgeting by planning out a real (or imagined) vacation
• Let them get an internship or apprenticeship in a field that interests them
• Have them write their own songs, where the lyrics are subject matter 
• Build bottle rockets with a mini air compressor  
• Do a job shadow for a day
• Try doing fun creative and academic challenges that also double as college scholarships, like the duct tape prom attire contest . 
• Set out to solve curriculum-related problems in your local community, and pull together a team of teens to help with the solution
• Eat dinner with your teenager and ask questions with a philosophical, ethical, or moral bent 
• Let them take their books or laptop and work in a coffee shop, bookstore, or other public place  
• Go to an amusement park and calculate angles, trajectories, speed, etc for all the roller coasters. (Then ride them, of course.)

For more reading on this topic: 

• Learn from Apps- The Best of EdTech
• Executive Functioning Activities: 50 Skill Builders for Kids of All Ages!
• 10 Great STEM Games for Kids!

Hillary is a former teacher who went rogue and became a freelance writer. When not offering support and advice to homeschooling families, she tends to her own garden, family, and cat. You can connect with her on her website, homegrownhillary.com .

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100 Unique Homeschool Group Activities You Will Love To Do

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If there is anything that homeschoolers love, it is learning, creating, and having fun with a group of fellow homeschoolers. Doesn’t it just amplify the excitement?

As a local homeschool group leader, we have done a lot of different events over the years, and I am finally putting them all in writing. In addition to other ideas from some of my favorite bloggers!

I hope that this will be an excellent resource for families, homeschool groups, and co-ops. The ideas and options to learn together are truly endless, but here are…100 homeschool group activities to try with your group or co-op.

Make sure you scroll to the bottom and snag the PDF of all the homeschool group activities to keep!

Homeschool Group Activities For Serving Others & Your Community

1. Pack Operation Christmas Child Boxes Together . We have done this a few times, and it never gets old. You can fellowship together, create an entire event around this, and the best part is praying over your boxes together as a group. 2. Fill Blessing Bags . We enjoyed this and kept it as an annual event for our homeschool group. We set up an assembly line; and allow the kids to learn to work together while serving. Afterward, we divvy up all the bags and the children can pass them out through the holidays as they encounter the right opportunities, or some families like to take them directly to an area to pass them out and serve immediately in a small group. For a complete post on how to set this up – visit Homeschool Mastery Academy. 3. Creating Cards . Whenever we do a service project as a group, such as blessing bags or care packages we include cards with sweet encouragement from our group members. Not only does this ad a personal touch to our packages, it helps the kids to experience empathy and understanding toward who may be receiving the cards. We also pray over the recipients of the cards as a group before sending the bags or packages on their way. 4. Nursing Home Visits . We have done this one a few different ways, but one of our favorites was going around the holidays and signing carols, playing violin, or piano for them. We also brought a simple craft and let the kids pair up with residents to have some special one on one time while assisting a craft. The residents are always delighted to have children of any age visit. 5. Baked Goods to Local Service Responders . To show your appreciation to your local fire department, police department, or any other local government offices that have hosted us on a field trip have usually gotten a “thank you” of baked goods from us afterward. It makes their day to see families giving back to them after all they selflessly give up each day for the community 6. Service Workshop . If you have more than one nonprofit or charity, you want to contribute to, set up a workshop. I love hosting events workshop style; it gives you an advantage if you have multiple age groups too. You can set up tables with different age-appropriate options; make cards, a collection of various items or donations, and encourage team work. 7. Canned Food or Coat Drive . This is an extremely easy way to give back to the community. Host a park play date or play date at an indoor play scape and ask members to bring non-perishable food items or coats. Ask for 1-2 families volunteer to drop it all off at a food bank or appropriate donation facility for the group afterward. 8. Sewing or Crocheting . If you have a crafty bunch, sew some basic blankets and hand out to the homeless. Or crochet or knit hats for homeless, or baby clothes for a local pregnancy support facility. 9. Park Clean Up . We have gotten together as a group to pick up trash in our local parks. Give littles some water spray bottles and rags; they love it! Then we made bird feeders to hang at home afterward as a fun craft in the park.

Art Activities For Your Homeschool Group

10. Chalk Pastel Workshop . Set up a workshop and allow students to watch a tutorial all together while creating the same projects! This worked so well with a wide range of ages. Check out the link to see a step by step process of how to set up your own. 11. You Are an Artist Co-Op Program . Create a custom artistic event for your co-op, You Are an Artist will work directly with your group to customize an event. 12. How to Plan Art Appreciation for Home or Co-Op

Games For Your Homeschool Group

13. Games for the Classroom or Homeschool Co-op 14. Grab Your Tablet or Cell Phone, Let’s Kahoot! 15. Show & Tell . This can be all age friendly and organized by theme. Choose a monthly theme or book, and allow children to participate in a show and tell. They could bake a recipe, paint a picture, create a presentation to share, and so many other options to share what they learned personally with the group.

Homeschool Group and Co-op Classes

Sometimes taking a class or elective in a group creates a higher level of engagement, and responsibility to be involved. Here are a few posts with classes or electives that you can do as a group.

16. More Creative Homeschool Co-op Classes 17. Homeschool Co-op Class Ideas ~ The Ultimate List! 18. Homeschool Electives and Extracurricular for Multiple Ages 19. Boom Bags – A Fun Strategy to Review Material 20. Homeschooling High School: Planning a Course for Both High School & College Credit 21. Homeschooling High School: Curriculum That Works 22. Butterfly Class – One year we had a butterfly enthusiast give us a class all about the butterfly. She had visuals, each child received a kit full of information, and we learned a lot that day. Find individuals that are experts in their field and ask to collaborate somehow to make a class or presentation happen. She came to our local library, and we collected a monetary thank you gift for her time. 23. PE – Teach or join a physical education class, while also learning about nutrition and health. 24. Gardening 25. Food, Nutrition & Basic Cooking Skills 26. Finances. Budgeting, Money 101 27. Etiquette & Manners 28. Quilting, Sewing, or Knitting 29. CPR & First Aid 30. Sign Language 31. Nature Studies & Journaling

Projects and Activities For Homeschool Groups

32. Themed Workshops . Over the years we have hosted a lot of workshops. What worked well for us was choosing a theme; spring, ocean creatures, plant life, fall, basically ANY area of interest. Then build from that, we set up various tables with crafts, projects, or anything related to the theme. We also offered options for younger children and older children so that the entire family could come and participate. A fantastic way to keep the tables from crowding and organizing the flow was to group children into themed groups. (Ex. Ocean Theme – Create 4 Groups – Each One a Different Colored Fish – Red, Blue, Yellow, and Green) Then allow for a rotation, each group rotates from table to table in 15-20-minute increments. That allowed for everyone to participate and enjoy each activity without chaos. 33. STEM Workshop . You could get creative with this one, so many options. An easy one to do would be to have projects like snap circuits, and team kids up to read directions together, follow instructions, work as a team, and maybe even have a little healthy competition between groups to see who could assemble the fastest. 34. Simple Science Experiments: Simple Light Refraction Experiment 35. Ocean floor digging, search for the HL Hunley 36. Quick and easy archaeology dig to get your kids loving history 37. Cookie Fossil Dig 38. Science Fair . This one can be done relatively easy, and if you have a hard time finding a venue it can work at a local park. Often, families hear science project and think it will be too complicated, or don’t want to deal with the hassle. However, homeschoolers should experience a science fair at some point. It’s a great way for the student to take just an idea all the way to completion and project in hand. Problem- solving, presenting, and so much more can come from this. 39. Spelling Bee . I have seen these done in fun creative ways with co-ops or homeschool groups. Children can root their peers on, build their confidence up, and learn to get up in front of people to speak. With a small to medium sized group, it can be done in a decent amount of time too.

Party Ideas For Homeschool Groups and Co-ops

40. Host Traditional “Class” Parties . Host parties that happen in traditional class settings that we as homeschoolers don’t get to participate in. Our homeschool group has a Valentine party every year; we set up a line of homemade valentine boxes and children can go down the line and drop their valentines in. Much like a class party, but we also focus on God’s love. We have had musical guests, craft tables, and even instruction from our resident homeschool teacher on “how to” write a valentine. One year we filled a large mason jar with pink, red, and white gumballs, we let each child fill out a card with their guestimate of gumballs, and at the end of the event, the child who came closest went home with the jar. 41. Service Parties During the Holidays . Have a party with the goal to serve others. 42. Birthday Party for Jesus . Instead of the usual Christmas Party, celebrate the real reason for the holiday. You could read the story of the birth of Christ, enjoy some crafts, and have a birthday cake!

Music Ideas For Homeschool Groups or Co-op

43. Create a Music Theory Class for your Co-op . 44. Band . With a few participants, you could have an ensemble all the way up to a band of sorts. Practice reading and playing music together. 45. Choir . It doesn’t take but a handful of kiddos to enjoy choir or singing together, learn music or harmony. 46. Early Childhood Music & Movement . Grab some preschoolers, littles or early elementary children and a few simple instruments or songs and enjoy music & movement. 47. Musicals . If your co-op is large enough, you could enjoy the entire process of creating a musical. 48. Enjoy the Symphony Together . One year our group scored tickets to a Lemony Snickets Symphony for children, extremely memorable and entertaining. 49. Music Class . Recorders are an inexpensive and no fuss option to start a music class. 50. Music Memory . One of my favorite classes to take as a child was music memory. We had to listen to classical music and memorize the composer and the name of the piece of music. This began my love of classical education and music. I still have most of them memorized to this day. 51. Songwriting Class . This could be so fun for teen/tweens in a co-op or homeschool group setting. Such a wonderful creative outlet for children this age. 52. How to Add Music to Your Homeschool Co-op

Sports To Enjoy With Your Homeschool Group

53. Field Day . This one can be epic proportion sorts of fun! You will need to solicit parent volunteers, and maybe some borrowed materials. You can host this at a local park; set up various races, challenges, timed activities. This is also one that dads may want to join in and help too. 54. Team Sports . This is great for families who want to enjoy team sports but don’t want to sign up for a team all year or semester long. You may have a group that wants to learn or play soccer. Set up a weekly soccer game to learn more, or rotate different team sports. Each month a new sport theme.

Field Trips To Take With Your Homeschool Group

Field Trips are one of the most common options to enjoy with your co-op or group. The opportunities are endless, and there is always a way to add a new spin to a favorite trip. Plan creatively. Check out how to plan an event for maximum success!

55. Bakery 56. Grocery Store 57. Pet Store 58. Farms 59. Farmers Market 60. Horse Ranch 61. Fire Station 62. Ride a Train 63. Imax 64. Dinosaur Park 65. Police Station 66. Nature Hikes 67. Nature Centers 68. Post Office 69. Library Tour 70. Children’s Theatre 71. Zoo 72. Museums . Art, History, Science, Military and Music Museums are always a hit. 73. Pumpkin Patch 74. Wildlife Preserve 75. Christmas Tree Farm 76. Planetarium 77. Recycling Center 78. Historical Societies 79. Colonial Reenactments or “Pioneer” Trips . We have seen butter churned, blacksmithing, woodworking, candle making, basket weaving and all sorts of other demonstrations on trips like these. 80. Roller Skating Rink . Many roller skating rinks now offer STEM field trips. 81. Factory Tours . Ice cream factories & honey are huge hits with kiddos, but this list could be extensive. Think of any factory where things are made, created, or put together. 82. Aquariums 83. Fruit Picking . Apples, Strawberries, Peaches or whatever may be in season in your area. 84. Cemeteries & Memorials . Sounds weird, I know. But, we did this with the intent to locate things in the cemetery which led to interesting discussions and research. We created a worksheet; it asked each child to find the oldest dated tombstone, record the year and name. Record the condition of the tombstone itself. They located the largest tombstone, and other interesting markings or findings they came across. 85. Homeschooling- Fun Field Trips for FREE

Annual Events To Celebrate With Your Homeschool Group

86. Promotion Ceremony . Every year our homeschool group hosts an annual all age friendly graduation or “promotion” ceremony. This is our end of the year “send off” into summer, and our last event of the spring semester. We hand out completion certificates for each child with their name & grade completed, and they each get a goodie bag. Afterwards, we play in the park and enjoy a family pot luck. Parents are encouraged to bring their cameras, and dads & grandparents are invited as well. It’s a fantastic way to commemorate the end of another homeschool year. 87.  High School Graduation 88. Family BBQ . In years past to kick off the new homeschool year we have hosted a family BBQ. This was a wonderful way to incorporate the entire family; even dads, and meet the other families we will be grouped with for the year. 89. Annual Back to Homeschool Bowling Party . We do this every August, and the kids love it! Bowling, meeting new friends, and cupcakes. It never gets old.

Teen & Tween Fellowship Events

90. Pizza & Pool Party 91. Escape Room Fun 92. Meet Up for Ice Cream or Starbucks 93. Bible Study 94. Game Night . Board games are such a great way to get kids this age to interact and have fun together.

95. Crafting, Sewing, or Cooking Clubs 96. Cupcake or Cookie Decorating 97. Ceramics . We did this years ago, and it was such a great time as a group. Contact your local ceramic or art studio; they usually have options for groups to keep it cost effective. 98. Self Defense. This was perfect for our teen/tween-aged girls specifically. We contacted a local martial arts studio who offered them a free class with basics of self-defense.

Book Club Ideas For Homeschool Groups

99. Book Club . Host a book club with classic literature, children’s favorites, or character building books the entire family can read together. Then host a book club for discussion, or dress up as your favorite character. You could have children come prepared with an oral or written book report to share with their peers. That is a fantastic way to get them comfortable with public speaking, presenting, and build confidence. The younger ones or siblings could share a drawing or piece of artwork as their presentation.

Support For Families In Your Homeschool Group

100. Support Meetings for Moms . We host monthly mom’s gatherings for our homeschool group, and each month we focus on a different theme. Here are some of our monthly topics. • Creating a Holiday Heritage   Meet with other homeschool moms and discuss how you can be intentional for the holidays and swap ideas. • New to Homeschooling 101 • Choosing Curricula • Service Events for Our Moms – Support a Local or Global Ministry/Charity • Semester Mom’s Night Out – We eat at a restaurant without children, and just enjoy a meal and fellowship together. • Curriculum Sale & Swap

Tips For Homeschool Group Volunteers

Handling the “Difficult” Student at Your Homeschool Co-op Enhance the Quality of Your Homeschool This Year Maybe you need some ideas on what to teach, even if you have no particular areas of expertise there are things you can teach your co-op! The Best Classes to Teach at a Homeschool Co-op

GET ALL 100 IDEAS IN A PDF LIST NOW!

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Great ideas! Thank you!

Awesome list!

Thanks Jennifer!

What a fantastic list! Definitely pinning this for later. Would love to see this as a PDF document, maybe a subscriber freebie?

Hi there DaLynn, I love that idea! Thank you ;)

great idea!!! thank you

Well thank you Brandi!

I am a relatively new homeschool mom and I’m trying to find out some activities for teen boys. Are you able to help me out? Thank you.

Hi Susan! Welcome to homeschooling and thanks for reaching out. Here is another post with some ideas for you: https://gracegrowedify.com/2018/08/11/homeschool-teens-social/

Hope this helps, I would also look into local homeschool Facebook groups to find events, community gatherings, and other local families looking to connect. – Courtney

Love this! Awesome awesome list!

Thank you Brandi!

This is great! We are running out of ideas of what to do with our group.

I hope this gives you some fresh ideas and/or inspiration Nicole!

Incredible! Thank you very much!!

You are very welcome! Thank you for stopping by. -Courtney

Do you have any resources on getting families to participate in activities? Any tips to encourage volunteering within the group? We always have the same few moms doing things, and when they don’t then our group isn’t active.

Hi Sarah! We used to give each mom a form at the beginning of the homeschool year with ways they could help. There are so many ways that parents can help with a homeschool group, sometimes they might need to know what is available. Each mom/parent will be in different seasons, so if they just had a baby for example, they would fill out the form and check a box that says “I’m not in a season to volunteer” and we would know that she wasn’t going to pitch in for this semester or year. Other parents might help in various areas that we suggested on the form, ex. planning park meet-up days, clean up after events, set up, and anything else your group might need help with. But we have these ideas and plenty more to help you streamline the running of your homeschool group here at HMA – https://homeschoolmasteryacademy.com/product-category/homeschool-groups-co-ops/

Let me know if you have any other questions, I hope this idea helps. – Courtney

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