List Of Fun Unschooling Activities

In 2005 I created An Unschooling Life, a blog detailing our unschooling experience after adopting our three children. Over time, An Unschooling Life became a hub for unschooling support and advice. The blog has been featured in print and digital media and was home to the popular Unschooling Carnival. I’m in the process of updating and moving all the posts to this blog where they will be housed under the An Unschooling Life section. This post was originally published on May 4, 2006.

Unschooling requires parents to be more hands-on than most. Being in tune with your child’s interests and working on creating a rich, interesting life for them at home takes thought and time.

I scour the internet for ideas for my own kids. Some are simple activities we can do as a family while others are right in line with a current passion they have. I want to share my own fun activities and games for when you need a new idea.

There are some fantastic unschooling ideas here for when your children are looking for something different to do.

• Play mailman. At our house, we each live in a different room. We use a box or container for our mailbox and we send each other notes, bills, and homemade junk mail.
• Listen to books on tape – They are especially great for in the car.
• Finger knitting.
• Finger crochet.
• Plastic canvas and yarn projects.
• Hand sewing (felt works well for little ones) make bean bags, rice bags (to heat and sleep with), stuffed animals, doll blankets and pillows, and other doll items.
• Make bubble gum – you can buy gum base on line in a craft kit.
• Make silly putty- recipes online.
• Borax snowflakes- recipes online.
• Blow soap bubbles when it’s below zero, they freeze and break when they crash.
• Play store – Price items in your home and use real or play money and take turns being the cashier.
• Create something from a big cardboard box. It can be as elaborate or as simple as your tools and imagination.
• Scavenger hunt – inside or outside, finding the things on your list or find things others have hidden.
• Learn to follow a compass and make an orienteering course to follow to find a treasure.
• Bury a time capsule.
• Have some friends over for a club with a theme. My kids like Club Survivor or Fear Factor, where they dare each other to eat gross things and win prizes.
• Guess the smell…blindfolded
• Guess the item (by feel) …blindfolded.
• Ask for a tour of a local business.
• Make candles, soap, or candy.
• Go for a nature walk and collect rocks and leaves. See if you can identify the trees or leaves.
• Visit a local farm and bring the animals a treat. Horses and goats love carrots or apples.
• Volunteer at a farm to brush the horses or goats, shovel stalls, etc.
• Go skiing, snowshoeing, or sliding.
• Go to the beach or go camping. It doesn’t have to be 80 degrees out. The beach is beautiful when it is 50 and sunny. The sand is warm and the wind gives you healthy rosy cheeks.
• Build a campfire in your yard (might need a permit) and toast marshmallows or make smores.
• Play a board game or a card game.
• Write a story. Pick a topic and get going…You could have a story night with a different topic each week. Mystery, Horror, Love, Family, Non-fiction, etc.
• Make your own newspaper about your family. You can put it in pictures too.
• Make paper Decorate your house for the next holiday…hearts on the windows, snowflakes hanging from the ceiling, shamrocks, pumpkins, leaves, bats, etc.
• Make tissue paper snowflakes.
• Make a bank or mask from paper mache’.
• Make clay pots with self-drying clay.
• Paint ornaments or little wooden figures from the craft store.
• Paint a picture.
• Tie-dye your underwear, socks, or t-shirts.
• String beads for necklaces or bracelets.
• Make necklaces or bracelets out of cotton string.
• Paint a clay flower pot with a whimsical motif.
• Work with polymer clay, make pins, beads, little figures, or magnets.
• Make cards with rubber stamps.
• Make a bank from recyclable plastic containers.
• Print out coloring pages with your favorite theme and color them.
• Buy shrinky dinks, color and shrink them