Simple At Home Learning Activities for Young Kids of All Abilities

As the new school year approaches, there are big decisions that need to be made! Whether you choose in school learning, virtual learning, cyber school, or traditional homeschooling, it isn't a decision that is going to be made lightly. Thoughts about the upcoming school year have been keeping me up at night for weeks!

Truthfully, I don't want to be a homeschooling mom, but the reality is that I will probably have to be one to some extent this year. I have a child who has Down syndrome, and with it comes extra needs to consider. There are lots of options for the upcoming school year, but none of them are ideal for Liam. No matter what I choose, Liam loses. Our country is barely prepared to educate neurotypical students in a pandemic, so students who have extra needs just get lost in the process. 

I don't really think I'm poorly equipped for homeschooling. I already boost my kids' educations with at home learning activities. I just don't want the pressure of juggling four educations on my own again. Liam thrives in school, and virtual/online learning and therapy was a nightmare this past Spring. I quickly learned that he learns best through play and hands on activities, so I jumped ship halfway through virtual schooling, and went my own way with his education. Although no decisions have been finalized yet, I'm prepared to do that again this school year. If you're with me, maybe some of these ideas will help you out in the weeks/months to come!

Simple At Home Learning Activites for Young Kids of All Abilities

Ripped Paper Letters and Numbers

This activity can be used to learn or review letters, numbers, sight words, or shapes while sharpening fine motor skills!

Items Needed:

• Construction Paper
• Glue Stick
• White Paper

Write the letter, number, or word, or draw the shape, on the white paper. Have your child tear a sheet of construction paper into small pieces, trace the letter, number, word, or shape with the glue stick, then stick the ripped paper to the glue.

Targeted Skills:

• Letter, number, shape, or sight word recognition
• Fine motor skills
• Pre-writing skills

Fingerpainted Letters, Numbers, Sight Words, and Shapes

If your child is creative, they will love learning/reviewing their letters, numbers, sight words, and shapes through fingerpainting!

Items Needed:

• White Paper
• Fingerpaints

Write the letter, number, sight word, or shape on a piece of paper. Let your child choose their favorite color of paint, pour it onto a lid, and have them trace the letter/number/sight word/shape with their fingerprints!

Targeted Skills:

• Letter/Number/Shape/Sight Word Recognition
• Fine Motor Skills
• Pre-writing skills
• Sensory 

Sticker Tracing

Kids LOVE stickers, so this is an engaging learning activity!

Items Needed:

• White Paper
• Stickers (pricing stickers are super cheap and versatile)

Write the letter/number/sight word/shape on a piece of paper, then let your child peel the stickers off and place them on the item. 

Targeted Skills:

• Letter/Number/Sight Word/Shape recognition
• Fine Motor Skills
• Pre-writing skills

Pro tip: You can also use these stickers for so many other things including letter matching, sorting colors, and simple math activities like counting and simple addition/subtraction!

Q-Tip Tracing

This is a great activity to learn or review letters, numbers, shapes, or sight words while working on pre-writing skills!

Items Needed:

• White Paper
• Q-tip
• Paint

Write the letter, number, sight word, or shape on a piece of paper, then let your child trace it with a Q-tip dipped in paint!

Targeted Skills:

• Letter, number, sight word, or shape recognition
• Pre-writing Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Alternate activity: This can also be done with watercolors and a paintbrush!

Stamped Letters/Numbers

Many of the activities above are very similar, but use different tools to keep kids engaged. Stamps are another kid-favorite!

Items Needed:

• White paper
• Stamp
• Ink

Draw the letter, number, shape, or sight word on the paer, then let your child "trace" it with a stamp!

Targeted Skills:

• Letter, number, sight word, or shape recognition
• Pre-writing skills
• Fine motor skills

Salt Tray Writing

A great way to practice writing letters, numbers, or sight words, or learn how to draw simple shapes, is by using a salt tray! You can buy these pre-made, or just fill a small tray or baking sheet with salt.

Targeted Skills: 

• Pre-writing skills
• Writing skills
• Fine Motor skills
• Sensory

Name Tracing

Create a simple name template on the computer and print it out, or write your child's name on a piece of white paper with a highlighter. Slip it into a protective dry-erase sheet, and let your child practice tracing their name often with a dry erase marker! As their skills become more advanced, you can decrease the size of the letters, then eventually just place a plain white sheet of paper in the protective sleeve, and let them do it on their own. You can also do this with writing letters, numbers, sight words, shapes, and simple pre-writing lines. 

Let them practice often on sheets of scrap paper, too!

Targeted Skills:

• Pre-Writing Skills
• Handwriting

Sight Word Parking Lot

Draw a parking lot on a large piece of white paper, then add a sight word to a parking spot. Start with one word, then add a new sight word once your child masters it, until the parking lot is full. Ask your child to find the word by driving a matchbox car along the road, and park it in the spot that contains that word!

Items Needed:

• White Paper
• Road Tape (Optional)
• Matchbox Car

Targeted Skills:

• Sight Word Recognition
• Fine Motor Skills

Sight Word Playdoh

This activity is a bit more advanced. I do have to help Liam shape the letters, then I have him match the playdoh letters to the sight word. If your child is able to do it on their own, have them shape letters using playdoh, and match the letters to a sight word.

Items Needed:

• Sight word flashcards
• Playdoh

Targeted Skills:

• Sight Word Recognition
• Sensory 
• Fine Motor Skills

Cut The Grass

This fun activity targets scissor skills, and my son loves it!

Items Needed:

• Construction Paper
• Safety scissors (I use loop scissors, which are great for kids who have extra needs!)

Take a piece of green construction paper and cut slits in it, so it looks like blades of grass. Hand the scissors over to your child, and ask them to cut the grass!

Targeted Skills:

• Scissor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Playdoh Cutting

Kids love playdoh, and they need to work on scissor skills, so why not combine the two?!?

Items needed:

• Playdoh
• Playdoh scissors or safety scissors

Help your child roll out playdoh into tubes, then use the scissors to cut it into little pieces!

Targeted Skills:

• Fine motor skills
• Scissor skills
• Sensory

Mom Tip: Did you know that playing with playdoh is so beneficial because it helps strengthen the muscles in the hands that are needed for writing?

Cutting Beads

This is a fun activity I came up with one day as I was gathering broken Mardi Gras necklaces to throw away. I am always looking for engaging activities to work on scissor skills, and Liam LOVED this one!

 

Items Needed:

• Mardi Gras Beads
• Scissors

Targeted Skills:

• Scissor Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Mom Tip: Save the individual beads for a craft!

Poke-A-Dot 

If you haven't bought a Poke-A-Dot book, buy one right now! These books are engaging, kids love to play with them on their own, they are great for occupational therapy at home, and they are great for babies to school-aged kids! Basically, it's a book that has little dots throughout it, that kids can pop with their index finger. It's a satisfying, addictive click that all my kids love!

Targeted Skills:

• Early Reading
• Fine Motor Skills
• Sensory Seeking

If the app fits...

Some educational screen time to break up the routine can be a good thing! There are so many quality apps out there. Two that we love and use often are ABC Ninja and Little Writers Tracing. I will save our full learning app list for another day, though!

Targeted Skills:

• Letter recognition (Both)
• Fine Motor Skills (Both)
• Pre-writing Skills (Little Writers Tracing)

Make Time For Some Life Skills

I love to fit in some fun life skills activities into our routine. Learning and play are so important, but so are the skills that are essential for independent life! One of our favorites is dish washing with our little play sink. I like to take it outside to minimize the mess, but I fill it with soap and water, and let Liam clean play kitchen dishes and items one by one with a little scrub brush! If you don't have a play sink, letting them use the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink, or even a little tub of soapy water outdoors or in the bathtub will do the trick!

Targeted Skills:

• Life Skills
• Fine Motor Skills

Alphabet Hunt

Liam learns best through play, so I try to set up as many fun learning activities as I possibly can! Liam and my 1 year old love this simple alphabet hunt activity in their sandbox. I simply pop the pieces out of a puzzle, hide them in the sand box, then let them dig for the letters. When they find the letters, they have to place the letters in the puzzle.

Targeted Skills: 

• Fine Motor Skills
• Letter Recognition
• Visual Processing
• Hand Eye Coordination
• Perception

These are just a few of the many fun learning activities we have done at home! Each activity could be altered for kids in different stages of learning, and can also grow with the child. All of the activities included in my list are very easy to set up, and inexpensive. Learning at home doesn't have to be difficult. The key is to learn through play and hands on activities to keep kids engaged! After all, learning should be fun!

 (Shirt - Mella Co)

What learning activities are you doing at home with your children? 

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