Keep kindergarten exciting and fun by looping through simple hands-on kindergarten activities.
Homeschool Loop Schedule
Creating a homeschool loop schedule and leaning on simple activities to loop through is a great way to keep your kindergartener busy and engaged during the homeschool day.
Try adding some of these fun kindergarten activities to your daily homeschool schedule for kindergarten!
Fun Kindergarten Activities to Loop
Whether you choose you utilize a homeschool loop schedule or you simply need extra activities to add to your little one’s playtime routine, these simple kindergarten activities are the perfect pick for both!
Lacing Activities
Lacing activities not only encourage your kindergartner to sit still for a period of time, but they can also help build motor skills and hand-eye coordination!
While these are great for young homeschoolers who thrive with hands-on learning, they may not be easy for the kindergartner who gets frustrated quickly while doing independent tasks.
With that said, lacing activities are definitely something worth trying for your homeschooled preschooler or kindergartener.
Adding Lacing Kindergarten Activities to Your Homeschool
If encouraging your young learner to use them independently is completely out of the question at first, try adding them into your homeschool schedule slowly.
Simply work beside your kindergartner with these activities in small increments.
- Start out using these simple activities for around 5 minutes, working with your child the entire time.
- Gradually take that 5 minutes and turn it into 7 or 8 over the course of a few weeks, working with your child for the first 5 minutes and encouraging independent play the remaining 2-3 minutes.
- Eventually, grow this time to 10 minutes.
- Then, slowly lessen the number of minutes you work with your child, adding more independent learning minutes each time.
- End result should be 10 wonderful minutes of independent play with lacing activities during your homeschool loop schedule.
Check out my top 3 picks for kindergarten lacing activities
- Wooden lacing beads (perfect for Prek & K)
- Wooden letter beads (perfect for K+)
- Lacing Cards
*Pro Tip: Use your wooden beads for double duty! Traditional beads are a great way to practice pattern making while letter beads double as a fun spelling activity!
Modeling Clay
While it may sound like a no-brainer, modeling clay or Play-Doh can truly make a wonderful addition to your homeschool loop schedule!
This type of activity can encourage creativity and independent play for your kindergartner.
You can simply set up a table with a few different colors of Play-Doh and tools, or you can take it one step further by creating exciting challenges for your young homeschooler!
Get started on your journey of homeschooling kindergarten with this simple Play-Doh Starter Set or this non-toxic playdough recipe!
Creating Kindergarten Play-Doh Challenges
- First, set up a table with multiple colors of Play-Doh, tools, and a dry-erase board or a boogie board.
- Then, write out 4-6 different challenges on the dry-erase board.
If you have older homeschoolers, this is the perfect type of activity for them to lead.
My older boys absolutely love it when I put them in charge of a simple project like this.
Plus, it gives me a little breather. Total win-win, you guys!
Check out some of my four favorite Play-Doh challenges below!
- Rainbow Play – Set out each color of the rainbow & challenge your kindergartner to build a creation with each color! Give instructions to create something that is red, something that is orange, something that is yellow, etc..
- Pattern Building – Give your child 2-4 different colors or Play-Doh & 2-4 different shape cutters. Set up your table by having 3 patterns already started, allowing your kindergartner to finish them on their own. Then, instruct them to create their very own pattern from start to finish!
- Family Portrait – Challenge your child to create a family portrait by making everyone in the Play-Doh of their favorite color! This one is super simple, but I must admit, it’s my daughter’s absolute favorite!
Digital Resources
While I tend to limit my kids’ screen time and steer clear of excess amounts of online learning or technology-based activities, utilizing digital resources truly can be a great option from time to time.
If utilizing learning apps and educational videos is something you allow in your homeschool.
Consider adding online sight word games for kindergarten, the Osmo little genius kit, or BYJU’s grade K learning kit to your lineup of homeschool loop activities!
These fun digital resources are hands-on accessory kits that can be used with your iPad.
The best part? Your kiddos will have fun learning through technology while working with their hands!
Building Blocks
Yes!
Building blocks like LEGO make a great option for kindergarten students.
If you’re homeschooling kindergarten and preschool at the same time, investing in a LEGO Duplo set may be the best option for your homeschool.
However, kindergarten really is the perfect age to start introducing the smaller Legos as well!
My daughter just recently started playing with the small LEGO bricks this past year and she absolutely loves them!
There is just something about transitioning from big bricks to little bricks that makes a kindergartner feel sooooo big.
Tips for Using LEGO with Kindergarteners
- If your child already loves building with LEGO and plays with them often, buy specific sets that are only pulled out during your homeschool loop schedule or quiet time routine to keep things fresh and interesting.
- If you have a child that doesn’t particularly pick LEGO bricks as their go to toy during free time, set aside all LEGO sets for homeschool free play, your loop schedule, or quiet time only. Then, encourage small building challenges like those mentioned above (for the Play-Doh).
- Have an older child who loves building with LEGO? Encourage them to build with your kindergartner for an added level of fun.
Check out my top picks for creative kindergarten LEGO building.
Kinetic Sand
Um, yes, please!
This stuff is so much fun, you guys!
I’m not even joking when I say all, and I mean all of my kids love to play with kinetic sand!
My oldest son is 14 and he still plays with this awesome creation during his free time.
Unfortunately kinetic sand was a huge fad a few years ago, so it’s a little harder to find nowadays.
However, when I do happen to find it, I’m all over it!
I have 3 kids, so naturally, we have 3 tubs of this sand and a plethora of building/molding accessories.
With that said Kinetic sand seriously makes a great addition to any kindergarten homeschool loop schedule, quiet time, or free time!
Check out my top picks for Kentic sand below!
We’ve personally purchased the sandbox and molds.
While my kiddos thoroughly enjoy using them, the amount of sand it comes with is small.
I highly suggest purchasing additional sand and investing in larger plastic bins to make this activity even more fun.
You can find the sand we purchased below.
I got each of my kids their own color of sand to avoid any conflict. We purchased individual bags of green, blue, and shimmer pink!
Sticker Books
What young child doesn’t like stickers??
Seriously though.
If your kindergartner can be trusted with an activity that involves stickers completely on their own, do it!
Sticker books are just so much fun, you guys!
Not only are they a simple option for working on those pesky motor skills but they also encourage creativity!
While my opinion may be a biased one, I truly love leaning on PaperPie for this fun activity.
Check out some of our favorite PaperPie sticker books below!
- Animal Sticker Book
- Build Your Own Dinosaurs
- Build Your Own Robots
- Unicorn Sticker Book
- Sticker Dolly Dressing (winter)
Tangrams
Tangrams make a wonderful addition to any kindergarten curriculum and they are absolutely perfect for kindergarten downtime, loop schedule, or quiet time routine.
Not only do they reinforce color and shape memorization, but they also encourage kinders to slow down and process those shapes and colors before creating.
Such important skills to learn, you guys!
Our absolute favorite tangrams set is this adorable wooden set from Melissa & Doug.
These are amazing, you guys!
This set comes with wooden pattern cards and all the pieces you need to complete your masterpiece tucked inside a small wooden crate.
I will forever be a fan of Tangram kindergarten activities.
Magnet Tiles
Oh, man!
We first got introduced to magnetic tiles when my youngest was attending preschool club at our local zoo and we haven’t looked back since.
Magnetic tiles are essential when homeschooling preschool or kindergarten!
While I know they are slightly more costly than other brands and many budget-conscious parents choose Magnatiles instead, we are seriously obsessed with the Magformers version.
These things are so much fun and we use them as a part of our homeschool loop schedule quite often.
Magnetic tiles encourage imagination and creativity, but they are also incredibly durable and will last for years to come!
Plus, their use won’t start and stop at kindergarten, you guys.
Even my 11 (almost 12) year-old son enjoys playing with our collection of magnetic tiles.
Actually, if I’m being completely honest, he plays with them more than anyone else in the house!
When adding this fun kindergarten activity to your homeschool lineup, you can go basic and lean on simple shapes with this mega bundle or you can lean on the side of STEAM fun with this awesome set!
Erase & Reuse Activities
While I love a good dry-erase board and we still use them in our homeschool often, investing in boogie boards was seriously one of the best purchases I have ever made for our homeschool!
With that said, my original reasoning for purchasing this little gadget was for simple sentence dictation and spelling practice.
While the original purpose for our boogie boards was for no-mess learning on-the-go, they quickly became a huge part of our homeschool!
My daughter uses her boogie board for free drawing or writing all the time.
She can draw, write, or doodle whatever she wants then erase with the click of a button.
So amazing, you guys!!
While investing in a traditional boogie board or mess-free traveling kit is ideal for kindergarten, there are tons of other great reusable kindergarten activities you can lean on.
Check out our favorite dry-erase options below.
Puzzles
Last, but certainly not least, puzzles are a great go-to kindergarten activity!
For my kindergartner, I typically stick to 48-piece puzzles, simply because she can complete those on her own.
However, when there are occasions I set up 200+ piece puzzles for all my kiddos to work on together during our homeschool loop schedule.
Crocodile Creek is my only go-to for homeschool puzzles.
Not only are they fun, but they are super educational and crazy durable for rough handling!
Check out some of our current favorite puzzle picks!
- Dinosaur Museum
- Day at the Farm
- Above and Below
- USA (200 pieces)
- World Animals (200 pieces)
Kindergarten Activities for Quiet Time
Our homeschool quiet time routine and loop schedule are both essential parts of our afternoon.
The main reason I schedule hands-on time activities and quiet times is because as an overwhelmed homeschool mom, I need a few moments to be still every single day.
With that said, some kiddos do require more supervision than others.
So, if you plan to use any of these activities for your homeschool quiet time or unsupervised play, stick to safe activities your individual children can be trusted with.
For example, if you have a kiddo that will feed their kinetic sand to the dog (which is VERY harmful, btw), maybe swap that out for a different option.
I learned what not to leave with my 5-year-old daughter unattended with pretty quickly.
I left her alone with watercolors for maybe 5 minutes and came back to a child with an entire purple arm.
Not even joking you guys!
Needless to say, paints are totally out of the question for our homeschool quiet time.
However, I do pull them our during our loop schedule from time to time while I supervise.
Other Homeschool Kindergarten Activities
Check out all of our homeschool kindergarten resources on the Life + Homeschool blog!
From fun pen pal printables to our awesome kindergarten spelling box!
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