I am in my 2nd year of homeschooling and It is so much fun but it is also exhausting! I don’t get much of any time to myself but when I do get a few hours to myself, I end up shopping for the kids or doing something that the kids would have loved to do with me. You just can’t win some days! Being with the kids all day has lots of perks and I love watching my kids learn, I love being the one to watch them get excited that they figured something out or being the one they come to when they have questions.
I am in lots of home school Facebook groups and one day, a person asked “What is on your homeschool bucket list” the comments were insane! There were so many great ideas in there and it got me to thinking… I love to make bucket list of ideas but I couldn’t find a home school bucket list so here I am sharing all these great ideas I have found myself and ideas others shared.
Fun and Family
- Stay in your PJs all day
- Finish school by noon and enjoy the rest of the day outside
- Start or join a homeschool co-op
- Create a family time capsule to open years later
- Make a scrapbook of your school year
- Do a “no tech” day and see what you come up with instead
- Host a family soda taste test challenge
- Do a 1,000-piece puzzle together
- Write letters to your future selves
- Have a themed dinner night (like 80’s night or breakfast for dinner)
Making Social Connections
- Make a new friend and exchange addresses to become pen pals
- Host a game night with friends or other homeschool families
- Write thank-you notes for community helpers (nurses, postal workers, firefighters)
- Try “school on the go”—do lessons once a month at a coffee shop, park, or museum
- Volunteer at a local shelter or food pantry
- Do a 30-day kindness challenge as a family
- Plan a homeschool “field trip swap” where families take turns organizing outings
Writing, Reading and Spelling
- Write a letter to a pen pal
- Visit your local library for storytelling or classes
- Make a library scavenger hunt and kids have to search for different genres
- Create a jar full of new words and use them for the week
- Learn calligraphy or fancy handwriting
- Learn to write in cursive
- Read one new book each month and track your favorites
- Start a homeschool book club with friends
- Write and illustrate your own short story (and even self-publish!)
- Create handmade cards for a nursing home and deliver them in person
- Make a library scavenger hunt—find books in different genres or topics
- Do spelling words in chalk outside or with magnetic letters on the fridge
- Have a family spelling bee night with silly prizes
Creative Arts
- Make a stop-motion video with Legos, clay or toys
- Learn knitting, crocheting, or embroidery
- Host a homeschool talent show or “open mic” night
- Write a short play and perform it with costumes
- Try out different dance styles—hip hop, ballet, line dancing, salsa
- Learn an instrument or write your own song
- Do a weekly “Pinterest craft challenge” together
- Learn to draw
Nature and Adventures
- Try the 1,000 Hours Outside Challenge
- Visit every zoo, aquarium, or nature center within a couple of hours of you
- Go hiking on local trails and keep a nature journal
- Visit every state park in your area
- Lay on a blanket and watch the clouds—then sketch what you see
- Raise butterflies or ladybugs at home
- Press flowers and make bookmarks or framed art
- Go on a cave exploration tour
- Create a DIY nature scavenger hunt for a family walk
Life Skills
- Shoot a gun
- Learn Sign Language
- Learn basic woodworking or carpentry
- Practice addressing envelopes and mailing letters
- Learn typing with fun online games
- Cook meals as a family—try bread making or pasta from scratch
- Balance a checkbook or use an online budgeting tool
- Give kids $20 to plan and shop for a meal (and stick to the budget!)
- Learn to sew a simple project like pillowcases or aprons
- Teach laundry, ironing, and folding as a life skill
- Car maintenance basics (check the oil, change a tire)
- Learn basic first aid and the Heimlich maneuver
- Take a self-defense class
- Explore entrepreneurship—host a yard sale or sell crafts online
- Learn Sign Language
- Learn a New Language
Math Fun
- Do math with jelly beans, M&Ms, or Legos
- Create a math scavenger hunt at the grocery store (find unit prices, estimate totals)
- Play strategy games like chess, Risk, or Settlers of Catan
- Double or halve recipes while cooking
- Plan a road trip and calculate mileage, gas costs, and hotel stays
- Track temperatures for a month and graph the results
- Compare cell phone or streaming service plans to practice percentages
- Create a pie chart of how your family spends its time in a day
- Learn about percentage math by shopping
- Compare unit prices at the store
Science Experiments
- Do a new science experiment each week (lava lamps, baking soda rockets, slime)
- Visit local science or children’s museums
- Attend a planetarium show
- Dissect a frog or owl pellet
- Build a baking soda volcano and measure reaction times
- Observe the moon and stars with a telescope
- Try coding simple games or website
History and Geography
- Host themed dinner nights based on countries you’re studying—cook, decorate, and dress up!
- Map out your family tree and learn your ancestry
- Go geocaching for a modern treasure hunt
- Visit a historical site or old one-room schoolhouse
- Dress up as a historical figure and give a presentation
- Learn about different decades through clothing, music, TV shows, and inventions
- Collect world currency and compare it to U.S. dollars
- Learn how to say “hello” in 20 different languages
- Learning about new places and going there
- visit an old cabin and pretend to live there
- Visit an old School House
- Learn about major event from your parents perspective
- Listen to another country’s music
- Learn the alphabet in different languages
STEM Challenges
- Try Sudoku together
- Learn how to code simple games or build a website
- Try the egg drop challenge with different designs
- Build and test bridges out of popsicle sticks
- Do a toy car speed experiment
- Create your own math “escape room” at home
- Learn beginner robotics with simple kits
Physical Education
- Go on a family bike ride or hike new trails
- Visit every playground in your city
- Build a backyard obstacle course
- Go rock climbing (indoor gyms count!)
- Train together for a fun run or 5k
- Try new sports like pickleball, archery, or kayaking
Careers and Entrepreneurship
- Learn photography and create a family photo album
- Bake and sell treats at a stand to practice business skills
- Start a savings account and track your deposits
- Visit a local factory, farm, or business for a behind-the-scenes tour
- Shadow a parent or friend at work to learn what they do
- Interview community helpers about their jobs
Seasonal
- Plant a garden and learn about the growing process
- Put up a bird feeder and track which birds visit
- Visit local farms for apple picking, pumpkin patches, or berry picking
- Bake seasonal treats—pumpkin bread in the fall, strawberry jam in summer
- Learn how people around the world celebrate holidays
- Pack Operation Christmas Child boxes as a family
- Create your own family holiday traditions
I hope this list can help get motivate you to come up with your own ideas on what you want to accomplish over the years as you take on teaching your own kids all about this big beautiful world!
XOXO
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