100 things to do for school that don't involve workbooks

To conclude our second quarter wrap-up, we've arrived at Post 100! So here are 100 things we can do for school that do NOT involve workbooks!

1 put together puzzles
2 word games - Scrabble, Boggle, Bananagrams, the dictionary game
3 plan a road trip, including comparing multiple routes to a destination, finding things to do and verifying admission cost, etc
4 go to the library to hang out for a couple of hours and read whatever you want
5 go to the zoo or aquarium, read more at home after about the animals that interested you
6 discuss fractions while using measuring cups to make cookies
7 go to the local children's and/or science museum
8 play with water
9 work in the garden
10 read about plants to figure out what you want to plant in your garden and how to take care of it (how much light, water, etc is required for each plant)
11 build with blocks
12 paint something
13 read biographies and talk about why the individuals and their accomplishments are important to us today
14 read poems and memorize them
15 write poems
16 draw and color
17 play with clay or play-dough
18 experiment with various art creation techniques
19 make puzzles
20 any kind of craft project
21 games - Monopoly, Yahtzee, Chinese checkers, Connect four, etc
22 computer games - WebRangers, PBS Kids, Magic Treehouse, etc
23 make graphs
24 look at maps or the globe and discuss the continents, oceans, or whatever catches our attention
25 cooking or baking
26 sewing projects
27 learn to sing new songs
28 practice the piano or learn another musical instrument
29 find traditional activities from other countries for various holidays, and incorporate them into our own celebrations
30 find the original meanings to holiday traditions we already do
31 read chapter books out loud together - classic literature is good here!
32 card games - Phase Ten, Uno, Speed, War
33 watch videos about animals on the National Geographic website
34 read the Scripture Reader books together
35 take pictures and edit them on the computer (and maybe even enter them in a kids photography contest!)
36 do the word puzzles and other activities in our kid magazines
37 word puzzles - word searches, crossword puzzles
38 dot to dot pages
39 choose a time period and location, and read all the history books we can find about it
40 email lots of people we know to take a survey about something
41 do the Junior Ranger packets for places that we travel to
42 write and illustrate our own stories and make them into books
43 play with our Silly Sentences game, and draw pictures to go with our sentences
44 make alphabet and number books for younger siblings, so they can learn too!
45 put on a performance for family and friends - dance, sing, recite a poem
46 memorize scriptures
47 go swimming
48 make number lines in chalk on the driveway, and jump to the numbers for addition and subtraction practice
49 read science books on subjects we find interesting today
50 put signs on things around the house with the Spanish words on them (or other foreign language)
51 write letters to family members who live far away
52 measure things with tape measures and/or rulers
53 make the rock cycle with fudge
54 read Flat Stanley books and look up the real places to find out more about them
55 read Magic Tree House books and look up more information about those locations and time periods
56 read Magic School Bus books and find some other books/websites to learn more about those subjects
57 have a reading marathon to go through all of the books by one specific author
58 memorize the Pledge of Allegiance and the Preamble to the Constitution
59 discuss the branches of the federal government and what they're supposed to do in the balance of powers
60 go to your state capitol building for a tour, and meet your local representative and senator
61 write a letter to a government official about a subject you care about
62 learn about your local structure of government (city, county, etc) and what you can do to make a difference on a particular issue
63 pay attention to the current election cycle at all levels and discuss the candidates and issues on the ballot, decide as a family how to vote
64 play soccer
65 play croquet
66 make puppets and present a puppet show
67 look at things outside with a magnifying glass
68 put up a bird feeder outside your window and get a field book to identify the birds you see
69 learn a new vocabulary word every day
70 go to a local museum (all of them! but not all in one day)
71 do something with the four elements earth, air, fire, and water
72 have a toy drive for a charity
73 play with magnets and observe the reverse polarity on some
74 make your family's fire safety plan and have fire drills
75 go to an outdoor concert with a picnic
76 check the performance schedules for the community theater and/or local college and attend a production
77 make a code and write a message with it, give it to someone to break
78 build letters out of random household materials
79 have a scavenger hunt
80 have a field day to see how fast you can run, far you can jump, etc
81 dress up in costumes and put on a play
82 go to historical sites
83 read all the magazines at the library to find something new to research
84 take apart an old electronic device and see if you can put it back together
85 build a piece of furniture for your bedroom
86 make videos of ... anything
87 write in a journal
88 talk to people who have jobs that sound interesting to you to learn about the job and what it requires
89 illustrate a spelling list
90 look in the Cub Scout or Boy Scout advancement or merit badge requirements for project ideas that may interest you (regardless of gender - we have all girls. You don't have to actually join the organization. You're just mining their information for ideas.)
91 check your local community center for age-appropriate classes or activities
92 art centers and craft stores like Hobby Lobby have classes too
93 interview all of your extended family with random questions and make a trivia game out of the answers
94 make paper chains to count down to events or vacations, and put questions on each link to get ready for the excitement
95 contribute to a family blog or write your own
96 as a parent, get a how-to book of something you've always wanted to learn. Start working through it, get excited, and include your kids as much as possible in your own learning process.
97 start a collection of something small you can acquire while traveling, and display it somehow at home
98 put up all the recent artwork and have a "gallery showing"
99 make a yearbook
100 lay outside in a hammock and read a good book

My next step: print out this list and put it on the wall. When we're looking for something interesting to do, choose something from the list.