Easy Ways to Get Ready for Back to School

August 14, 2016 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I know different areas of the world are different in terms of when kids go back to school, and if you homeschool you could be on a completely different schedule, but where I live kids have been trickling back to school all month, and my daughter goes back on Thursday.

It seems like this time of year is perfect for getting your learning space organized (even if your space is just a corner of the kitchen table).

Kids Activities Blog has a great roundup of ideas for getting organized for back to school. From places to organize school supplies to ideas for storing all those papers that come home from school, this will get your years off on the right foot.

If you’re going to be helping kids with homework this year or are a homeschooling parent who could use a little extra help, these printable school “cheat sheets” from Princess Pinky Girl are something you’ll want to keep handy. There’s everything here from the parts of speech to algebra equations, multiplication tables, even cooking cheat sheets for homeschool home ec.

Speaking of homeschool, if you’re still trying to get organized for the year check out this free printable planner I shared earlier this summer.

And though it isn’t a free resource anymore, I absolutely love the printable desk mat from You Clever Monkey. My almost-7-year-old has one and it’s really helpful for writing common words, correct letter and number formation, even knowing left from right. There’s a lot of great information packed into one printable page (and it only costs $2, which is totally worth it).

Do you have any organization tips for back to school? We’d love to hear them!

[Photo via Kids Activities Blog.]

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Games to Make with LEGO Bricks

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

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