If you’re an educator or a parent, congratulations!... you’ve survived the first few weeks of school. Keeping the kids nicely occupied and engaged is something that is always on the minds of adults who care for children, whether they’re at home with you doing remote learning or going to school during the day but back home in the afternoon before you’ve completed all your own work.
So, we’ve put together some ideas that require almost no planning up front, but will keep the little ones busy for short chunks of time. These are ideas that involve paper/notebooks and pencils – not screens! Teachers, maybe you can integrate some of these ideas into your lesson plans, or maybe you can share some ideas with us (feel free to send us an email or leave a message in Instagram or Facebook). We came up with these ideas with our Set of 3 Medium Notebooks in mind, but the large spiral notebooks work too because they have 3 sections of paper. The notebooks included in each 3-pack have lined, grid and blank pages, which offer convenience and multifunctional use.
Lined paper notebook
- Lines are a great way to help children practice writing. If they’re young, they can learn to write the alphabet and their name; and if they’re older, they can learn spelling and cursive writing.
- Starting as young as grade 2, kids can journal. Prompt them with ideas such as what they did on the weekend, description of their friend or sibling, what they had for breakfast or who is their favourite superhero and why.
- Lists are fun and there are numerous topics for lists your children can create. Animals that start with <insert letter>, Christmas list, favourite foods, what to bring to <insert event> are just some easy ones to get them started.
Grid paper notebook
- Graph paper is the go-to type of paper for math-related activities. Use it for copying shapes, creating graphs, sorting, and even drawing the multiplication table. Fine motor skills and concentration will be adopted in full force!
- One of our favourite activities is asking the child to create their own word search. Drawing the grid, coming up with a theme and list of words to find, and then filling in the grid with the words and random letters encourages creativity and practice of math, writing, and problem-solving skills. Then, watch the joy on their face as you or a sibling do their word search.
- Other games such as Snakes and Ladders and cross word puzzles are also a great activity for older kids. And if they are eager, challenge them to create their own game!
Blank paper notebook
- With no restrictions at all, blank paper is optimal for free hand drawing. The possibilities are endless and it doesn’t matter the age. Older kids can do their own comic strips, which will encourage them to be creative in coming up with a plot, illustrating and writing the dialogue.
- Who doesn’t get excited over stickers? Younger children can use them to create letters and shapes. Mom and Dad can also create matching games or trackers for potty-training or daily food consumption according to food guidelines.
- Connect the Dots is another fun and easy activity because parent or child can imagine real or abstract shapes, then plot the numbers and connect them with lines to make that image come to life. This one never gets old.
Now all these activities are organized and kept together in the notebooks. The kids are busy learning, creating, and practicing. Yay...stickers for everyone!