Creative Ideas For Using Worksheets
Educational, Helpful, and Mundane
As we all know from experience, using worksheets in learning, well...works. What we all also know from experience though, is that worksheets do lack excitement.
While worksheets are purposeful in gauging and practicing understanding of a topic, I found in our homeschool, that each time I placed one on their little desks, they were greeted with a sense of humdrum.
Knowing I wasn't going to eliminate worksheets altogether, I knew I was going to need to get creative if I wanted to use more than a couple each day, and in their advancing education.
Now some may be thinking, well they're called worksheets for a reason, and children should learn to work and not just play, and to some extent I agree, but to a child, play is work- they just are having too much fun to know it. At the homeschool levels we are at, I want learning to be as interesting, engaging, and exciting for them so that they build a passion for learning, not just the ability to master the workload.
So how can we transform these necessary learning aids into more engaging tools for their education?
It Takes Some Work.
Like all great things, it takes some extra work. The more I thought on the word "worksheet", I began to see it differently... work for me, not work for them. This idea, that by utilizing worksheets in a new fashion, it would make less routine paperwork for them.
So, I got to work, creatively fusing these sheets of practice, with fun and engaging ways to put the worksheets to work!
Here's hoping if your young learner is finding worksheets dull, that these ideas will spark their interest.
Check out more strategies for adding the fun to math HERE!
First, Grab the Scissors!
There's more than one way to complete a worksheet. One of the simplest ways to add some interest to an otherwise dull worksheet, is to cut it up! Cut them into to strips and sections, then mount them on colored paper, not only adds visual appeal, but can be used as game cards in any game you can create. I have turned so many worksheets into game cards, that I then use in our learning games. It makes the once-worksheet more engaging and entertaining.
Next, Add Some Teamwork!
Who wants to sit idle at a desk, when they can be completing quality work with another moving around. Although the team in your home may be at different learning levels, they can still be paired together in fun activities to get the work done. For example, create relay worksheets by placing their worksheets inside a paper roll baton. Pair up the kids and place them on different sides of the room, start off one with the baton, then watch them go! Once one person has completed a section or problem on their worksheet, they can place the worksheet back into the baton and run it down their teammate. Once there, the next person can pull out their worksheet and do the same. The relay is complete after each person finishes up the answers on their worksheet. This idea may sound unconventional, but the fun and laughs while learning make for an A+ worksheet.
Then, Search Them Out!
Still another fun way to utilize worksheets, is once they have been cut out, insert the problems or images into created flip and search learning activities. Using aspects from the worksheet, you can have your kids not only practicing the topic from the worksheet, but their seeking skills too. This way of worksheet-ing is far more enjoyable than just seeing the information flat on the desk!
There's More Fun To Try.
Let's Work Together!
Find Complete Lesson Plans With Engaging Activities Here!
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