Advice + Tips

I was recently asked by the team at education.com to see if I’d like to have a try of one of the Autumn worksheets on their website. These are free downloadable printables for you to do at home with your little ones, and are themed around the seasons. Always handy if you need a five minute activity for a quiet rainy afternoon.

But although the worksheet was great, it wasn’t a five minute game as such and so I got creative with it. I got out one of my favourite things, the masking tape (I always have this in the drawer!) and I recreated the maze worksheet on our lounge floor using the tape. I put a lego man at the start and Lego man’s car at the end and told my wee man he needed to get the man back to his car!

It worked a treat, he loved this fun game and then he happily did the worksheet after, and even made his own maze. This is a great way to get children to do their homework, especially to get them re-engaged if they have started to find it a chore. Recreate the task they’ve been given in another way. Here’s my top five tips for homework:

1. Change it up. Turn the task they’ve been given into a treasure hunt around the house, or list it out in masking tape, or write their spellings in dry wipe pen on the windows. Use bottle tops with number written on for maths tasks. See if you can make it more exciting, more physical and mix it up.
2. Make it part of your routine. Do it DAILY. So even if they don’t have homework that day, instead use that time every day to do something together. Read together, play a five minute game or play one of the brilliant online games on education.com found here it sounds like it’s more work but actually it makes it easier and more acceptable and therefore becomes less of a chore for you all.
3. Use technology they enjoy. For older ones, tell them to go and do it in their bedroom and you will Facetime them from downstairs to help or they have to text you the answers. You can text back from the lounge.
4. Turn it into a competition. Say you are going to do it too, and let’s compare notes at the end on what is good about each others. For phonics or spellings get out on old phone book or yellow pages and have a highlighter each and see who can find the word or letters quickest.
5. Use their favourite toy. So if the Homework is to learn phonics sounds, and their favourite toy is trains - put the sounds around the track and tell them they need to collect from all the ‘stations’ - each sound is a station they need to tell you where the train is going next. If they love puzzles, write the sounds out on a bit of paper and cut it up randomly to make a puzzle. Use whatever they love to inspire and motivate them.

Fall is here and what better way to celebrate than this fun autumn maze?! Be sure to check out more early math activities at Education.com!

They give you the answers too. Might seem obvious for this worksheet but for the long multiplication ones – it’s priceless!!!