I knew when I was starting this school year that I would need a few tricks up my old mom sleeve to help me out when things are a bit crazy around here. With a 9, 5, 3, and 6 month old, I am no stranger to crazy. I expect it to happen at some point every day. This is life right now. One of my mom hacks for this school year was to create what we refer to as Learning Buckets. This idea has proven to be super helpful to me!
Full disclosure: I’m a mother of four who homeschools and still requires sleep. If you’re a homeschool mom who can’t stay up til 4 am doing ALL. OF. THE. THINGS, then this post may be something you’ll appreciate!
What are Learning Buckets?
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Learning Buckets are several little caddies that I picked up over the summer and filled with some fun, educational goodies to help me out and offer learning opportunities when I have my hands full. Literally. I thought it would be a great place to put in some independent activities for my kids to grab when crazy inevitably happens when school is in session.
This has proven to be a great way to help my little ones have some independence while also stretching their brains. Much like literacy or math centers, our Learning Buckets have housed a variety of activities this school year.
Here are a few examples of what we’ve used in our learning buckets so far:
–Pompons and tweezers: sort by color, size, use tweezers for finger strength and fine motor
–Letter stamps and paper: stamp words, name practice, etc. I snagged a printable pack from Teachers Pay Teachers with lots of practice pages.
–Geoboards and rubber bands
Geoshapes and shape cards This one is the one I like because i comes with 24 cards, so it’s open and go!
Play dough and math mats I snagged on TpT
The only limit is your imagination.
There are plenty of ways you can easily incorporate Learning Buckets into your homeschool day, whether it’s first thing in the morning while you’re just getting your bearings, in between when you need something to keep your littles occupied while you cook or work with older kids, or in the afternoons when boredom can sometimes set in and your kids start looking at the TV and game consoles longingly.
These are all highly engaging learning activities that I can vouch for as kid-approved! My sons are all a bit on the antsy side with little interest in sitting to color or draw like many of their peers. These little caddies of learning goodness have been a great addition to our homeschool rhythm!
How do you incorporate independent tasks to your child’s day?
