Before 2020, very few people preferred to homeschool their kids. After all, that’s what schools and professional teachers are for, right! They know more and they are specifically trained for this. So most parents left this nitty gritty work of child education to the professionals. And all went well – but then came Corona. Within days, the whole world changed. Children being the most vulnerable people to be effected from a deadly virus, were told to stay home with one order: “Schools are closed till further notice”.
Children reveled – parents groaned. But in the starting days of the pandemic, nobody could’ve imagined in their wildest dreams that schools would have to remain closed for such a long time.
Overnight, parents who were already worried to death about the entire dynamic shifting had to take on another role, a teacher. Every home became a homeschool with parents trying their very best to deal with this onset of an unexpected situation.
This is all very new to the kids also – kids are usually more outgoing and social. They like meeting their friends and do outdoor activities or just play a random game.
Homeshooled due to Covid
With Covid, kids were robbed of their fun outdoor life. They were ordered to stay at home, study at home, and play at home. Considering all this, it’s not hard to see why kids are more irritable these days and hate online learning.
Staring at a screen almost all day and then being asked to be productive and at your best behavior will annoy the best of us. A tired and annoyed kid will never be able to focus on their studies that is why we should look towards the tried and tested methods that homeschooling parents have been adopting since forever.
When it comes to homeschooling, the best practice is to incorporate playful learning in the day-to-day routine of your child. And it’s all the more better, if that playful learning activity is hands-on rather than on a screen.
Children are already asked to sit in front of a screen for several hours per day. Parents should plan activities that don’t include a screen but rather the traditional way of playing.
Children learn far more easily and excitedly when they think they are playing. This article tells about the most beneficial toys for kids who are homeschooled, to make the learning experience as smooth as it can be for both the parents and the kids alike.
LEGO City Mars Research Shuttle Spaceship
Inspired by NASA, this amazing construction toy provides great educational value. Kids love outer space – rockets, rovers, stars and constellations. That is why you see so many kids wanting to become an astronaut.
This Building set comes with the following parts:
- Mini-figure Cockpit
- 2 Mini-figure astronauts
- Tilting solar panels
- Space rover with grappling arm
- Research lab
- Spinning rotor
- Rocket with inner storage for the drone
This building set is a wonderful pretend play activity for young kids who dream of being an astronaut. They can launch their own research mission to Mars, collect samples from the grappling arm of the rover, experiment in the research lab and send their mini astronaut figures to explore the surface of Mars for more discovery.
Appropriate for kids aged 5 years or above, this building set can be used to teach about outer space, space missions, rockets and their mechanism. You can also teach your kids about solar energy, its benefits and utility through the tilting solar panels that come with the rover.
This building set is easy to assemble and will keep your kids engaged for hours. Most importantly, it will encourage their creative skills, teamwork, communication and curiosity.
Be ready to answer a lot of curious scientific questions that are bound to come your way when your kids are busy planning their mission to Mars.
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Orchard Toys Match and Spell Game
Children usually show a lot of resistance when it comes to formal methods of learning. They hate sitting on their work table and write in their notebooks or participate in anything educational that is going on.
But children love playful learning, because they don’t register those activities as pure learning. They play, and have fun but meanwhile they learn so much without even knowing that.
This bestselling board game is a must have for kids who ae beginning to read and formulate words. Suitable for kids above 4 years of age, this Spelling Game familiarizes your child with letters, their sounds, and their shapes.
Once the kids know their way around letters, the next step is to formulate words. The kids have to spell the picture on the board with the help of letters.
Get this from Amazon: Orchard Toys Match and Spell Game
PlayMags 3D Magnet Tiles
Kids love magnets, and if those magnets are in the form of colorful building blocks, they can get hooked for hours building all sorts of creative structures.
These 3D magnet tiles can be used to teach about geometry and even chemistry. What better way to explain element bonding than to use two magnets.
You can teach your kids about the magnetic force, laws of attraction and repulsion all while they’re playing with these amazing magnet tiles.
This set not only develops their creative and cognitive skills, it also boosts their motor skills. Magnetic Tiles provide an open ended play opportunity where your kids make their own rules and create tall buildings or complex cubes. They can do whatever they like without any limit and that is what makes magnetic tiles the ultimate playful learning tool.
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Galt Toys Science Lab
This award-winning science kit is also in line with the national curriculum. You simply cannot go wrong with this one. This kit provides the ultimate playful learning experience teaching about test tubes, kaleidoscope, lava and several other concepts.
The kit also comes with a 32-page notebook with 20 scientific experiments, in which your budding scientist can write down their calculations and findings.
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Insect Lore Butterfly Garden
Butterflies make for unusual pets but it does not mean that it’s any less fun. This butterfly garden offers the best hands-on experience to teach your kids about butterflies, caterpillars and metamorphosis.
Kids can raise their own butterflies with this garden – the mesh setup allows for close observation of the whole process. The kit also comes with feeding pipettes and a colorful instruction guide where you can find everything you need to know about the whole process.
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Toomies TOMY Hide and Squeak Eggs
Best for babies and toddlers, this fun little toy provides much more value than a simple baby toy. This bath toy is perfect for number and color association in little toddlers.
The toy comes with a mama octopus and 8 baby octopuses all sitting on an island. Baby octopuses come in twos and each correspond to a number written on the island.
Next time, take this adorable toy with you when its bath time, and watch your kids learn while they’re splashing away and having fun.
Get this from Amazon: Toomies TOMY Hide and Squeak Eggs
