Why Your Homeschool Classroom Needs a Learning Activities Station

This post is Part 4 in the “Homeschool Sanity Savers” series. Don’t miss the other posts: 

• Part 1: Monthly Meal Planning, Monthly Shopping, Freezer Meals and the Crock Pot 
• Part 2: Daily and Weekly Household Routines That Work for Your Family
• Part 3: 50 Ways to Manage Stress and Encourage Peace
• Part 5: How to Keep a Strong Marriage While Homeschooling (15 Bloggers Speak!)

I homeschool four kids.

And I am one person.

In my first few years of homeschooling, this used to drive me crazy. I knew that I couldn't be in more than one place at a time, and yet, often one child would need my help and I couldn’t help them because I was helping another one.

However, I have discovered one awesome trick for dealing with this issue: We have a learning activities station.

(picture it with a heavenly glow, won’t you?)

It’s nothing fancy (and it’s certainly not always neat). But it’s simply a place full of coloring books , reference books, playing cards, self-contained art projects, small games, puzzles, sticker books and the like, all arranged in whatever baskets I have available at the time. I used a shelf like this to gather the baskets together.

These are learning activities that the kids can pick up and put down easily. They’re things that keep their minds busy and their attention still focused on school.

And these little beauties give me a sense of breathing room and space on those days when I feel like I cannot be in enough places at once.

Our Learning Activities Station Rules

If the kids get stuck on an assignment, we first ask them to try really hard (especially if they are one of our older students) to figure it out themselves. This teaches perseverance and patience—two essential character qualities.

If they are still stuck, they know that, of course, I am glad to help them out. But they also know that if I’m helping another student, they can choose learning activities from the Learning Station to keep them busy.

That’s it! They stay focused and quiet while waiting for me, and I am able to keep my attention centered on helping one child at a time.

Which lowers the stress level in the classroom immensely.

Favorite Learning Activities for the Learning Station

Stock your learning station with whatever would interest your kids! Here are some of our family’s favorite learning activities for our learning station.

I’ve included puzzles, card games, coloring books, mini art projects, games and sticker books here (to name a few).

The Usborne Children's Encyclopedia	Create Your Own 3 Bitty Books	1,000 Things That Go
Melissa & Doug USA Map Puzzle	First Encyclopedia of the Human Body	First Encyclopedia of Science
First Encyclopedia of Seas and Oceans	American Girl Crafts	First Dot-to-Dot Things That Go
Flippy Floppy Ocean Animals	100 Things to Do on a Trip	First Hundred Words Coloring Book
Get Ready for School Wipe-Clean	Step by Step Drawing Activity Pack	100 Paper Spaceships to Fold & Fly
Build Your Own Motorcycles Sticker Book	Fingerprint Activities Book	Step By Step Drawing Animals
Little Boys Activity Book	Dover Coloring Books	Drawing Princesses Book
Under the Sea Jigsaw Book	Professor Noggin Educational Card Games	Big Book of Drawing, Doodling and Coloring
Clothes and Fashion to Color	Rainforest to Color	Eyewitness Books
Old Maid Card Game	UNO Card Game	Bananagram Game
Undersea Life to Color	Vintage Fashion Coloring Book	1001 Inventions That Changed the World

That’s it! I love this idea because it’s something that every mom can do, and every kid can benefit!

Kids get to take a short break from their studies (which sometimes even on its own is enough to help a kid understand a difficult assignment!); they get to do something fun (that’s still educational); and we moms feel like we’re not being torn in a thousand directions.

Now that’s a sanity saver idea!

Your Turn:

Do you have a learning activities station in your homeschool area? If so, how does it help ease classroom tension? What are some of your kids’ favorite learning activities?

Share with us in the comments below!

I'm linking up with A Little Bird Told Me.