Our recent post, Adventure Day—Our Quest to Supplement Learning for our Kids—struck quite a chord with families looking for fun and educational activities to do with their kids while we are remote and hybrid learning and not doing all of our usual activities. We’ve been busy researching more ideas we’d love to share with you as we move into fall. As we said before, we’re all in this together and the more resources we can share, the better!
Outdoor Fun:
- There are many caves in Ohio and exploring them is tons of fun!
- The Fairy Trail at Infirmary Park in Granville might be just the adventure you’re looking for. Search for 30 fairy homes, schools, and businesses as you walk the path. Check the Infirmary Park website for details.
- Young’s Dairy Farm offers fun, food and a can’t miss adventure!
- A trip to Roscoe Village is a trip back in time. Learn about the town on the canal and how it helped shape Ohio.
- Apple picking is underway at many orchards. Here are a few of our favorites: Lynd Fruit Farm, The Orchard and Company, Cherry Hawk Farm, and Branstool Orchards.
- Spend time hunting pumpkins, or at least picking some out at a nearby farm! Circle S Farms, Lehner’s Pumpkin Farm, Pigeon Roost Farm, Lynd Fruit Farm, or Leeds Farm.
- Pyramid Hill – It’s a bit of a trek but exploring 300 acres with 80+ sculptures as well as a museum sounds fun and educational.
- Walk through Old Worthington and learn about the African American history with the PocketSights App.
- Visit animals at The Farm at Walnut Creek. This is a working farm with exotic animals as well.
- Sauder Village is a historic village filled with activities and exhibits for your kids to explore.
- Slate Run Living Historical Farm is time turned back. This living historical farm shows you and your kids what life was like on a farm in the 1880s.
- Head up to The Olentangy Indian Caverns and explore. Even if you don’t want to go in the caverns, there are outdoor play structures, gem mining, and the ever-popular animal encounter area.
- Make raking the leaves a game. Who can rake the biggest pile? Do it near a place kids can jump from and you’ll have that much more fun! Or use the leaves to build a fort. We found this great website which shares all kinds of activities you can do with leaves!
- Take a hike someplace new here in Ohio!
Indoor Fun:
- Cosmic Kids Yoga offers yoga, relaxation, and mindfulness. You can also check out their website.
- Make some slime and let the fun begin! https://mommypoppins.com/new-york-city-kids/crafts-recipes/simple-slime-recipes
- Put on a puppet show using socks or paper bags with faces. Maybe the puppets can “teach” you what they learned in school that day.
- Play 20 questions or I Spy.
- Decorate pumpkins without having to carve them with these decorating ideas.
- Head outside on a nature hunt and create some art from what you find. Googly eyes and feathers on a pine cone becomes a bird. Draw faces on acorns, create “stamps” from nature, dry and create a leaf book—you get the idea.
- Read recipes and create some amazing breakfasts or lunches. This site will help get you started.
- Gather up some leaves and make leaf rubbings. Lay a sheet of paper over some leaves and using different colored crayons, gently rub the crayons over the leaves.
- This site is filled with fun ideas. We love the DIY laser maze and origami bookmarks!
- The Kiboomers music channel encourages dancing and movement games. There’s even a Floor is Lava dance! What a great way to get the wiggles out and take a break.
- The new Play:CBUS adventure gym is an eye-popping space that will be opening soon in Worthington. This 52,000 sq. ft. facility features 16 climbing walls, a 130 ft zip line, multiple ropes and obstacles courses, and more. Watch for the upcoming opening!
Educational Help:
- Do you have budding astronauts in your house? Follow the Perseverance Rover on its way to Mars on the NASA website. Your kids can even send their name to Mars!
- Learning Games for Kids will keep your kids “working” for hours and have fun doing it. There are even typing practice games!
- Turn your child into a budding chef with Spatulatta.
- Emily’s Wonder Lab is a Netflix series that brings STEAM activities to life. Doing the at-home experiments will be fun! Watch on Netflix or find them on YouTube.
- BrainPOP brings learning to life. There is even a topic a day post. https://www.brainpop.com
- The PhotoMath app makes math easy to understand—for young students and caregivers helping with school-at-home!
- Dinosaur Pictures is the largest dinosaur database. You can spend hours researching dinos. While the writing is not for younger kids, the drawings will keep them engaged!
- Search “Dinosaurs for kids” on YouTube and discover a plethora of videos. Here’s one from Club Baboo.
- This educational site, PBS Kids, is filled with games, videos and printables.
- Educational shows on Netflix abound and we’re sure you’ll find one to encourage learning for your kids.
- Find fun, differentiated printables at Fun Learning for Kids.
- Do you need to find some new, creative ways to say “Good Job!” as you help young ones at home? Check out Teach.Train.Love.’s blog post with great ideas on how to give praise, as well as the author’s animal videos for pre-K learners.
- Invest in a Balance Ball, under desk bike, or Wobble chair for your active kids. This encourages movement but keeps them engaged in learning.
- Can you??? Do your kids know how to do these things or is it something you, your pod leader, your nanny, or another family member can teach your kiddos?
We’re all navigating at-home, virtual and hybrid earning in ways we haven’t before. Hopefully, some of these ideas will resonate with you and your kids. Remember, we are all doing the best we can—and that is enough! Happy Fall and Happy Learning.
