subject: Keep Your Kids Intrigued: Fun Assignments At Home Or In The Classroom [print this page] Let's face it, student engagement can be a difficult task to do for teachers or parents who home school. Kids are easily bored, and when given the same dull assignments day after day, they lose complete interest. So how can you keep kids intrigued with assignments that actually teach them something? You get creative, and you plan fun lessons students will actually enjoy completing. Creating fun assignments might seem hard to do at first, but all you need is a little inspiration.
Here are a few ideas for home or classroom assignments that are likely to keep your kids intrigued:
Make a Book
This is one of the easiest and most enjoyable assignments for kids, because it allows them full control of their creation. Plus, it taps into their creative and imaginative forces, and the final product makes them feel like a real author. It's easy to do. Just give the kids a writing assignment, explaining that they need to write a children's book that takes a complex idea and makes it easy to understand, such as how gravity works or something similar. Have them find pictures online to illustrate their book, and put it all together using a word processing program. Once the book is complete, print out the pages and laminate and bind them. The last part can be done by bringing the book to a place that offers binding and laminating services. It's relatively inexpensive to do this. This assignment works great for explaining complex science terms and ideas.
Study Another Culture
Study another culture, making sure to choose a specific one. Have students research it further and gather information on favorite foods and dishes. Tell them to choose a meal common to that culture and find a recipe to make it. Have them do it at home, with parental guidance for younger kids, and bring their creations back to school the next day. Students can share with each other what they learned about their chosen cultures and the food they cooked. You could even extend this assignment and get the kids to dress in appropriate cultural attire. This works extremely well if the class is studying a particular culture together, because you can have a Russian day or Moroccan day theme, for example. Plus, it's not hard to adapt this assignment for homeschooling. It works exceptionally well either way.
Create a Profile for a Book or Poem
Have students create a profile page on Facebook for a book or poem they've recently studied. This is quite effective because of the way it requires students to think about what they've read. They have to pretend they are that particular book or poem, seeing it more as a person and less as a thing. As they fill out their profiles, they'll have to consider several important factors. On the "about" page, for example, the date of birth would be when the book or poem was written or published. Have them consider what their book or poem's favorite quotations would be and why. Is their book or poem married? This answer would come from the content of the literature. Have them upload pictures and videos and write posts using their persona. Then extend the assignment by requiring them to "friend" each other and communicate via posts and shared links. It's a terrific assignment to use to truly push kids further and get them thoroughly intrigued. For younger kids, instead of using Facebook, have them make a book using the same requirements. With minimal tweaking to suit your needs, this assignment can be done at home or school, and it can be geared towards younger or older kids.
The "Take-Away"
If you want to keep your kids intrigued, plan or find ready-made assignments that are both entertaining and informative. These assignments are sure to keep kids of all ages amazed and intrigued. The point is to make learning stimulating and fun, and the best way is to use assignments that engage them mentally and physically, activities and lessons that require more of a hands-on approach. Say goodbye to humdrum, frustrating assignments. Instead, make your kids part of the learning experience, and let them discover new and unique ideas and concepts.
