Must have hands on learning supplies

If you’ve read my blog for long you know I’m a big fan of hands-on learning.  If there’s a way to make something hands-on learning, I’m going to try my best to do it.  Sometimes this works out, sometimes it doesn’t.  I wanted to walk you through my favorite hands-on learning supplies that we use over and over again in our homeschool life.

Hands-on Learning supplies we couldn’t live without

These are ones we use almost every week, and they are rarely put away

1. Legos

As you can see from the video, we use Legos A LOT.  Partially because my boys have received them for many different Christmas and birthday presents, and I had a lot growing up.  Also because Legos are versatile.  They can be used in many different ways for hands-on learning.

 

2.  Army soldiers

Second to Legos, these are our most used items.  The kids, especially my boys love to use these to act out battles from history, like the Battle of Bull Run.  It helps them better understand why battles were won, and why wars sometimes must be fought.  A great hands-on learning supply.

3.  Blocks and building materials

My kids remember lessons best when they can act it out.  Yesterday we build the city of Jericho so they could act out the Israelites walking around it and the city being knocked down.  They told me the whole story without me adding a thing.  It was great to watch.  The picture above is acting out the 12 spies story.

 

My good to have hands-on learning supplies

These are the supplies I bring out on a frequent basis, but it’s not all the time.

Art Supplies

I’m just gonna lump all of this together, but sometimes you just need to draw/paint or just create the idea behind the lesson.  This is a great way to do a book report for young kids who may not be writing yet, or don’t like it.  Or, like in this post deal with heavy subjects like the Holocaust.

 

nearby park

Sometimes you need to move to get the lesson through your head, case in point: Minoan bull jumping.  That’s not a lesson I want to teach at my house.  A good awareness of local parks and what equipment they have can help you with your lessons.  Imagine a lesson on prepositions taught at the park: On the slide, under the slide, between the slide and the bench.  Do you think they will remember that lesson?

Not every Mom agrees with me, so check out the other must have homeschooling items from these Moms.

What would you add for your hands-on learning supplies?