10 Things every hands on homeschooler needs in their life

If you haven’t figured it out by now, we are big hands on learners here in our homeschooling, that or I’m doing a really bad job of writing here.

As I write my posts I notice there are some items I link to over and over again on Amazon.  In my ongoing effort to organize this blog and make it a better tool for you, here’s my TOP 10 GADGETS EVERY HOMESCHOOLER NEEDS

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10. binding machine*- it looks like mine is discontinued, but I love mine.  It is amazing.  All of our notebooks are made with it.  I use it for Sunday School, gathering up our notebooking pages for The Mystery of History 3*, or any subject really.  How is this related to hands on learning?  Well, my homemade notebook pages are a combination of notebooking and lapbooking, so there’s things to fold, maps to take out, and it gets them involved.

9. Chenille Jumbo Stems, 1000 Assorted Box*- You’d be amazed what you can use these for.  They get used in our homeschool science (make a sea cucumber), in our homeschool history (Xerxes crossing the Hellespont), Sunday School crafts (Christmas Story bracelet)

8. Craft sticks (or if you’re stubborn like me, popsicle sticks)- These are great for craft projects, history projects, and more Sunday School crafts.  We haven’t used them so much for our homeschool science lessons.

7. plaster of paris– I’ll be honest, I bought mine at Hobby Lobby with a coupon, so I can’t vouch for the quality of this product.  We’ve used this to make molds of footprints in our backyard, make a fresco for our Roman studies, and to make rocks to dig fossils out of.  These projects though aren’t for little kids.  Oh, and never pour plaster of paris down your sink, unless you want a big plumber’s bill (I’ve heard the horror stories)

 

6. Ticonderoga Pencils-These are amazing pencils, AMAZING.  They sharpen well, the lead doesn’t tend to break, and the erasers work well.  It is worth spending a little extra to get these pencils (oh, and this is the link to the exact product I bought a few months ago).

5. acrylic paint set– Acrylic paints are amazing.  They dry quickly, they give you a lot of color for a low price, and they are constantly coming on sale at Hobby Lobby.  As a word of warning, they are permanent, so if you or your kids are likely to spill or such then I’d recommend going with tempera paint (this is the best “cheap” brand I’ve found, otherwise go with Crayola)

4. wall map– Most of my homeschool history posts start with a giant map.  I’ve got a post 3/4 done on how I make my big maps, but if you want a more official, and slightly less messy map, then try this one.  Also, I love that you can use a dry erase board

3. Dry Erase Learning Board– Tired of using paper for a quick check?  Then grab a dry erase board, and if your kids are like mine they get a huge kick out of erasing the board afterwards.  OR spending 5 minutes making a special crazy answer.  I seriously have to add in an extra 10 minutes for drawing time when I use them.

2.  Marker Tower– I’ve had this same marker tower for about 5 years.  At one point I had two of them for when we had a homeschool co-op at our house.  I tried buying the crayon version, and I hate that one with a fiery passion because it doesn’t work very well.   I miss my old crayon case that broke six years ago that I’d had for over 10 years.

1.  LEGOs-  We use LEGOs all the time in our history.  I suggest picking up this set, Fairytale and Historic Minifigures Set, for your history needs.  As well as this LEGO Juniors Pirate Treasure Hunt Set.  I find I need a boat of some sort about 75% of the time when I use LEGOs for our history lessons.

 

Check out some more favorite homeschool gadgets over at iHomeschool Network