Educational activities can make learning fun as long as you keep it exciting and innovative. Here’s how to engage kids so they want to learn more.
Our top educational activities for kids
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Science experiments
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Cooking
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Virtual field trips
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Geocaching
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Podcasts
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A mini beast hunt
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Starting their own business
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Photography
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Star gazing
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Designing a Roblox game
How can we make education fun for kids?
To make education fun for kids, you need to tap into their natural curiosity and make learning a hands-on and interactive experience. We can do this by incorporating creativity, games, and other forms of play into their education. This helps to keep them interested in what they are learning while also helping them develop a range of skills. By doing this, we can help our children become lifelong learners who are enthusiastic about exploring the world around them.
Educational activities you can do at home
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Science experiments. Interactive, explosive (in a safe way) and thrilling experiments instil a love of science and investigation. Think Mentos in Coke and Homemade Volcanoes.
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Make a time capsule. Get your child interested in history by asking them to gather items that represent their life right now. Put the things in an airtight box and hide the box in the loft to be opened at an agreed future date.
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Problem-solving board games. Playing games stimulates brain areas responsible for memory and complex thought processes such as strategic thinking. Try Battleships, Chess, Scrabble, Monopoly and Connect 4.
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Cooking. Cooking is just chemistry. When we cook food, an array of physical and chemical processes transform the ingredients (i.e. chemicals) to cook away.
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Play Minecraft. From problem-solving to creativity, resource management, and project planning to logic skills, Minecraft has it all.
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Expose them to different kinds of music. A variety of music genres activate both the left and right brain at the same time to maximise learning and improve memory.
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Take virtual field trips. Take your children on virtual tours of NASA, museums, online zoos or historical landmarks to show them new experiences and cultures.
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Watch educational documentaries. Forget the ones that bore your kids at school; take your kids' interests and find ones that inspire you on YouTube. Try Beyond The Spotlight: MrBeast to BBC's Our Planet.
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Learn to dance. It may have your child rolling their eyes at you but learning a dance teaches communication, collaboration and problem-solving skills, and persistence.
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Introduce them to podcasts. Play to their interests. If they love Science, try Brains On! Love books and reading, then What If World is a storytelling podcast for kids. What if there were a never-ending bowl of ice cream? What if cats ruled the world?
Outdoor learning activities
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Nature scavenger hunt. Take your children on a nature walk and encourage them to find and identify plants, animals and insects.
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Gardening. Planting and caring for their garden patch teaches children about responsibility, biology and the environment.
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Geocaching. A fun way to explore the outdoors while using technology to navigate and search for hidden treasures is Geocaching. Give it a try.
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Camping. Venturing into the great outdoors and sleeping under the stars helps children develop self-sufficiency, survival skills and an appreciation for nature.
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Photography. Learning to take good photographs teaches kids how to analyse situations. When taking a picture, they need to be aware of the environment and light and how to frame the perfect shot.
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Star-gazing. Looking at the stars teaches kids about maths, astronomy, the environment and mythology.
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Build a den. Building dens or treehouses helps children develop both their engineering skills and creativity.
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Create an outdoor obstacle course. Build an obstacle course using natural materials and teach your child about agility and teamwork.
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Have a mini beast hunt. Teach your child about different types of insects and their habitats by going on a bug hunt.
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Make a bird feeder. Making a bird feeder is a great way to teach children about caring for nature, how to identify birds, and how to feed them properly.
Creative educational activities for children
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Paint a picture. Encourage your child to paint a picture of something they see daily. This will help them develop fine motor skills and learn colour theory and composition.
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Create a stop-motion animation. Encourage your child to use a smartphone to create a stop-motion animation using toys. This will help them develop their storytelling skills and teach them about visual communication.
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Learn a new language. Teach your child a new language using an app like Duolingo. This brilliant app offers 30+ languages with daily short bite-size lessons based on science.
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Make a video. Get your kids to create a storyboard, film, and edit a short video. Making a video helps with writing, decoding, critical thinking and decision-making.
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Build with LEGO. There’s a wealth of learning for your child with LEGO, including problem-solving, spatial skills and understanding semi-complex tasks.
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Learn to knit. Knitting teaches kids to focus, build their attention span and develop fine motor skills. And with any knitting job, kids will build on their multiplying, adding, and measuring techniques.
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Create a Roblox game. Building and creating games teaches your kids about coding, dealing with challenges and resilience.
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Write a story together. Building a story with your child will help them to break down how stories work from characters to themes, as well as spark their imagination and create curiosity.
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Create a family tree. Get your child interested in their history by getting them to research and create a family tree.
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Make slime. Horrible from a parent’s point of view, but your child will love it and learn about cause and effect and sensory play.
Educational activities to teach your kids about sustainability
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Composting. The natural process of recycling grass, leaves and food scraps into a fertiliser teaches kids a lot about soil health and organic practices.
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Planting trees: Planting trees in your garden or the local wetlands helps children understand the importance of carbon sequestration and the environment.
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Sustainable living. Encourage your children to adopt sustainable habits such as turning off lights, taking short showers and recycling to understand how to save energy.
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Sustainable crafts. Create crafts using recycled materials to help them see the benefits of reusing things. Empty containers, old greeting cards, ribbons and paper can all be reused for arts and crafts.
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Upcycling. Taking old, unwanted items and turning them into something new and valuable teaches kids about sustainability and resourcefulness.
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Eco-audits: Encourage your children to brainstorm ways to reduce waste and conserve resources. This helps them understand the importance of sustainability and empowers them to impact the environment positively.
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Save energy. Teaching your child how to save energy, such as turning off lights and unplugging electronics, will help them learn about energy conservation and reducing their carbon footprint.
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Donate to charity. Giving their money, time or old toys will help kids to develop a sense of social responsibility and learn about sustainable living.
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Grow your vegetables. Create a vegetable spot or patch for your kids. They can grow strawberries, tomatoes, plums and blueberries to learn about soil, nutrition, science and the life cycles of vegetables.
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Take them to the recycling centre. An outing to your local recycling centre is a great way to teach children about landfills, waste management and recycling in general.
Educational activities to help build your child’s financial education
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Budgeting games. Use games or apps to teach your children about budgeting, such as planning and managing money. This helps them understand the value of money and the importance of living within their means.
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Money talks. Encourage your children to speak openly about money with their friends and family. This helps them become comfortable discussing finances and understand the importance of financial literacy.
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Savings challenge. Show your children how to save money by setting challenges, such as saving for a specific toy or activity. This helps them develop a savings mindset and understand the benefits of saving money.
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Pocket money management. Give your children pocket money and encourage them to manage it independently. This teaches them about financial literacy and increases financial responsibility.
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Role-playing. Use role-playing games to teach your children about delaying gratification and needs versus wants.
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Entrepreneurship. Encourage your children to start a small business to teach them about financial independence and the value of hard work.
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Stocks and shares. Teach your children about investing and the stock market to help them understand the basics of investing and the importance of long-term planning.
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Charitable giving. Asking your children to donate a portion of their money to charity teaches them the importance of giving back and the value of philanthropy.
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Take them shopping. Put money lessons into action. Taking your child shopping is an opportunity to teach them about making smart purchasing decisions. You can teach them about comparing prices and looking for deals.
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Play money games. Game of Life, Monopoly, and Cashflow for kids all teach key financial literacy concepts such as budgeting, saving and investing.
How can GoHenry help?
GoHenry’s prepaid debit card for kids offers a range of tools and features that can help make learning about money fun and engaging for kids. Our app allows you to set tasks and goals for your children and to reward them for their accomplishments. This can teach kids the importance of budgeting, saving, and earning money in an exciting and rewarding way.
Additionally, the app offers Money Missions financial learning quizzes, videos and interactive lessons on everything from spending wisely to saving and planning for the future. Conquering a new financial skill means gaining experience points (XP) and badges, so kids stay motivated to fulfil as many missions as possible.
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