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Interactive and Engaging Educational Activities for Language Arts & More!

September 1st, 2021

Toy Theater: Free Interactive Educational Website

(toytheater.com/)

Toy Theater is a free educational website with interactive activities in the areas of math, reading, art, music, puzzles, and games. The activities on Toy Theater are designed to apply new media to core curriculum concepts in a way that children will be entertained, engaged, and will absorb the concepts behind the activities

This site offers a multitude of educational activities in various key curriculum areas. Below is a brief taste of what Toy Theater has to offer:

Art

  • Animation Station is a terrific art tool where you can discover the art of animation.
  • Doodle Pad is a fantastic set of virtual crayons.
  • Matisse’s Pieces introduces you to the world of fine artists and gives you the opportunity to create your own collage.

Math

  • Feed Freddy is a fun way to learn symbols, shapes, and patterns.
  • Bowling encourages you to count the pins in groups of ten.
  • Fruit Fall introduces the skill of reading a bar graph.

Reading

  • Road Signs is a tool where you can create and print out your own signs.
  • Action Alphabet displays animations highlighting the letter being explored.

Music

  • Composer is an interactive music activity where you can create your own melody.
  • Drum Beats are a high energy group that allows you to create your own percussion show.

In addition, Toy Theater has a large collection of interactive puzzles and games that highlight skills such as memory building, symbol recognition, and just plain having fun. The Playset is a special place you can create your own virtual toy set using cars, planes, plants, insects, buildings, ships, and dinosaurs.

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Full Biology Book Online – Check This Out!

August 3rd, 2021

Michael J. Farabee, Ph.D.: Online Biology Book

(www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/biobooktoc.html)

Grades 8-12, with parental supervision

This website provides a free biology textbook with illustrations online.

This is written by a university biology professor, but may be very useful for a motivated middle-schooler and would be an appropriate online text for a high-school-level, full-year biology course. As one of our readers put it, “It’s free, thorough, highly visually appealing, contains numerous references and links, and an online linked glossary of terms. Some chapters include a list of learning objectives and review questions.”

There isn’t much more to add except that when you get to the site, you’ll see the table of contents that covers subjects such as:

  • Atoms and Molecules
  • Chemistry
  • Cells and Cell Division
  • Thermodynamics
  • Photosynthesis
  • Genetics
  • DNA
  • Plants and Their Structure
  • Flowering Plant Reproduction
  • Animal Organ Systems
  • The Circulatory System
  • The Lymphatic System
  • The Digestive System
  • The Nervous System
  • The Endocrine System
  • The Reproductive System
  • The Muscular/Skeletal System
  • The Respiratory System
  • Paleobiology
  • Biological Diversity (Viruses, Bacteria, Protists, Fungi)
  • and much more!

Click on any one to read the chapter and feed your brain.

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Downloadable Games and Curricula for Math & More

February 22nd, 2021

Ellen McHenry’s Basement Workshop – Math

(ellenjmchenry.com/homeschool-freedownloads/math/)

Grades 1-11 approximately and varies by topic and activity; with parental supervision

 

This website provides free downloadable games and curricula for a wide range of subjects to be used offline.

The free math games and activities teach various math strands and concepts in a fun, hands-on way. The game instructions and materials can be printed out and assembled for play offline. The games were designed by a homeschool mom and illustrator named Ellen McHenry. When she couldn’t find resources that were really what she wanted and needed, she got out her old college texts (she majored in drawing and minored in math), did some review, and started inventing her own stuff, much of which she makes available on her site for free.

When you get to the site you’ll see a menu of the math games and activities that include: 

  • Storm the Castle! – Players (ages 5-9 or so) pretend to be medieval soldiers attacking a castle. They must cross a field and a bridge using math skills, find the difference between two numbers, find coordinates on a grid, and solve simple word problems.
  • Loot the Pirate Ship! – Players (ages 7-11 or so) use and practice multiples of numbers, prime numbers, and divisibility rules to capture ships and loot them.
  • Sheep Herding Math Strategy Game – This is a two-player game that is fun for all ages. One person plays the sheep, the other is the border collie in this classic strategy game that is similar to “Hares and Hounds.”
  • Professor Pig’s Magic Math (a mini-curricula) – Professor Pig teaches his students (ages 5-9 or so) to see patterns with numbers that will allow them to easily do addition without any memorization. There is review and practice built into the activities eliminating boring drill worksheets!

These games are not only great for elementary students but are helpful to older students who struggle with math or need remedial work.

But that’s not all! Ms. McHenry has also created free educational games and lessons for students of all ages, in the following subjects: 

  • Plants
  • Animals
  • Human Body
  • Earth Sciences
  • Chemistry
  • Physical Science
  • History/Social Studies
  • Geography/Maps
  • Art
  • Language Arts
  • Drama
  • and more!

You will be astounded at the innovative ways she has developed, and the ingenious materials she has created to help students of all ages learn. Words simply can’t do it justice. Bookmark this site, you’ll want to return often.

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Tidepool Math

October 5th, 2020

 

It’s Monday, October 5, 2020, and time for Math at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Tidepool Math

(www.boem.gov/environment/tidepool-math)

Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision)

 

This website has FREE math lessons and activities that are themed around ocean tidepools.

When you get to the website you can choose between a Tidepool Math Curriculum for Grades K-8 or High School.

K-8 – This curriculum provides lessons and exercises to help students become familiar with tidepool habitats. Students use math skills such as counting, estimation, and determining the mean, to learn how the intertidal environment constantly changes both physically and biologically.

High School – This curriculum is divided into three parts with lessons and exercises that use science and math to provide the student with increased awareness of the diversity of animals and plants in intertidal habitats. It helps students understand the differences between random, systematic and targeted sampling approaches as well as comparing estimates, counts, and means. Through the activities, students gain understanding of how to use simple statistical concepts and tools to analyze and study environmental data.

Both of the curriculums are offered through downloadable PDFs. The exercises refer to photos of tidepools and marine animals and plants that are provided for free on the website as well. 

You can also download and print out colorful flash cards of marine animals and plants. Each card has a terrific illustration on the front, with scientific information and cool facts on the back – similar to what you’d find in a field guide.

While this curriculum is interesting and engaging all on its own – a trip to the beach or an aquarium with a tidepool exhibit would be a great way to enhance the learning.

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Virtual Tour of the Butchart Gardens

October 2nd, 2020

 

It’s Friday, October 2, 2020, and time for a Virtual Field Trip at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

The Butchart Gardens

(www.butchartgardens.com/a-virtual-visit/)

Age Range: All (All grades; children with parental supervision)

 

Visit the incredible Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada with this website that offers a free virtual tour! To really appreciate the gardens it’s helpful to know some history about them.

In 1888, Robert Butchart manufactured cement near limestone deposits on Vancouver Island where he and his family lived. As his business exhausted the limestone in the quarry near their home, Mrs. Butchart came up with the idea of transforming the abandoned quarry into a spectacular “Sunken Garden.” She had top soil hauled in and began the renovation.

The Butcharts were world travelers and it influenced the design of their gardens. They created a Japanese Garden with Koi pond, transformed a tennis court into an Italian Garden, and planted a spectacular Rose Garden. Mr. Butchart collected birds from all over the world and had elaborate bird houses constructed throughout the gardens. They decorated their garden with artifacts including bronze castings.

The renown of the Butchart Gardens spread. Today, close to a million people visit annually, enjoying the year-round display of floral beauty created from over 900 varieties of plants.

From the menu, choose: 

  • Sunken Garden
  • Rose Garden
  • Japanese Garden
  • Italian Garden
  • Mediterranean Garden
  • and more

So much color and beauty in one place!

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Energy Lessons, Printables, & Activities for K-12

September 8th, 2020

 

It’s Tuesday, September 8, 2020, and time for Science at ClickSchooling!

 

Recommended Website:

Energy Kids

(www.eia.gov/kids/for-teachers/)

Age Range: 5-18 (Grades K-12, with parental supervision)

 

This website, sponsored by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, provides free energy-related lessons, printables, games, and activities designed for classroom use in grades K-12. (They can be tweaked for use in the homeschool environment.)

When you get to the website you’ll see a menu under the banner “For Teachers” that includes: 

  • Lesson Plans for Primary (K-3), Elementary (4-7), Intermediate (6-9), and Secondary (9-12)
  • Teacher Guide with tips on extension activities
  • Career Corner to explore jobs in the Energy field
  • Science Fair Experiments
  • Field Trips with ideas for taking trips to power plants, etc.
  • Related Links to resources and energy websites

Once you’ve explored the “For Teachers” section check out the menu in the left margin of the page that offers: 

  • What is Energy? – Learn energy basics including its forms, how it’s measured, and what it has to do with the periodic table of elements.
  • Energy Sources – Discover renewable and non-renewable energy, electricity, hydrogen, and the latest energy stats.
  • Using & Saving Energy – Learn how energy is used at home, work, in industry, transportation, and more.
  • History of Energy – Check out the time line of energy inventions including Coal, Electricity, Ethanol, Geothermal, Hydropower, Natural Gas, Oil, Wind, and more. You can also read biographies of people who developed scientific breakthroughs with energy including Celsius, Curie, Edison, Einstein, Faraday, Joule, Marconi, Newton, Oppenheimer and more.
  • Games & Activities – Enjoy riddles, puzzles, science experiments, and take a quiz to test your energy IQ.

There’s also a link to Energy Calculators and a Glossary.

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