Fun things to do together (mostly without electronics)

I was looking for things to do with the kids and/or as a family that all of us could do. Here are a few things I found that I thought were cool.

These ideas based on a post from Independent Homeschooling; most of them have been changed from the way they originally appeared to reflect what would work for our family.

Science
1. Choose a subject a week; it could be anything, cars, trains, transportation, air, people, etc. Put up a big strip of paper (butch paper or poster board) and have each family member add something they know about the subject or learned about the subject to the wall each day. At the end of the week review what everyone shared.
2. Get poster board and start a tree wall. Take pictures of all the trees in your yard, make a poster board for each one. Have the children label the trees (if old enough) and where the tree is in the yard (front yard or backyard). Have each family member write a story about the tree to put on the poster board. Together collect leaves, seeds, and possibly a bit of bark from the trees to add to the board. When completed display some where and start next tree.

Math
3. What does your child like, dinosaurs, trains, cars, building, etc? Go outside with a piece of chalk and find out how long a or high they really are/were. Put a starting mark on the sidewalk, then use a measuring tape to mark the average length or height of the the object (cars, trains, buildings, dinosaurs, etc).

Reading and Writing
4. Write a story or poem as a family. Each of you can take a turn adding a sentence. When you’re done, make a copy and send to the grandparents.

Social Studies
5. Go to museums to see what people lived like ‘in the old days’. Ask grandparents to tell the children what life was like for them when they were kids. Try to do things like they did in the old days (make butter, no TV, no lights, etc).
6. Get a map of your town. Show your child where, on the map, your house is. Put a big star there. Then drive to the store. Put a star at the location of the store. Use a yellow highlighter to show what streets you drove on. Have your child other location on the map, and using the highlighter have them decide and mark out the path you’re going to take. Then drive there, using your child's instructions. Have your children tell you about all the things they saw along the way and have them draw their own map including the things they saw. If you don’t have a car, you can adapt this activity to walking.

Foreign Language
7. How many languages can you say please in? Take time to learn some new words with your child. Say please in Norwegian, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. Make a list of all the ‘please' words you learn together. When you’re done saying ‘please' in as many languages as possible, start learning ‘thank you' instead. Continue this process until you know all the basics in these languages.

Music
8. Help your child make a music video. It isn't hard. Pick a theme for the video/song to be about. Anything could be a topic. “Why do you like this topic?” Okay, you have the idea. Now have them sing what they would like about the topic and write it down. Using a digital camera record your child doing there song. Have each person in the family do one all based on the same theme. When your all done watch them all as a family then make sure to put them somewhere the children can watch them when every then want (which will be more often than you think).
9. Do you have a instruments at home? Then play them; if not buy a few or make some at home.

Art
10. Create a nature window. Collect dry leaves, pine needles, tiny twigs, grasses, and other items. Then get some waxed paper and have your child arrange the collected items in any way pleasing to him or her. When done, you will use an iron at low heat to iron another sheet of waxed paper on top. Put the finished creation in your child’s window and let the sun shine through.
11. Using Lego blocks have your child recreate other objects such as cars, building, cartoon characters, etc.
12. Do mosaics with Lego blocks