Throwback Tuesday: Making Winter Homeschooling FUN

 *Originally posted January 22, 2013 when the boys were 6, 7, & 9. 

We had a fun and busy day planned for today.  In winter, more than any other time of the year, I find that I need to make sure our homeschooling day is packed with fun.



We got a few new spelling games for Christmas; Scrabble Flash and Boggle Speed Flash, that I wanted to try out for some fun spelling practice.  The boys had a lot of fun with scrabble flash and had more success spelling 4 letter words rather than the 5 letter words.

After a while they switched to the Boggle and LOVED it!  They can make 3, 4, and 5 letter words and battle each other for the highest score.   I'm sure they would've played for quite a bit longer but we had so much to do and plans to leave the house early for some family fun. 


We then sat down an read a book called Waiting for Ice By Sandra Markle (Alec's new favorite author) and started a new Magic Tree House chapter book called Mummies in the Morning.


 
After reading we did a quick science experiment about blubber.
  • I took two bowls of ice water (had the boys count to make sure there were the same number of ice cubes and measured to make sure both bowls had the same amount of water) then had the boys slather one finger of each hand with Crisco. 
  •  They then stuck one finger from each hand into each bowl to see which finger got colder faster.  
  • The Crisco acts as blubber and within seconds they told me the plain finger was freezing while the finger with the Crisco felt perfectly normal.   



Once we finished those projects we headed to Zoinks Fun Factory (an indoor inflatable playground) for some gym time and to let off some steam.  It was a fun 80 minutes of jumping, sliding, and exercises.   Evan has been asking to go there and I'm so glad he has.







It was the perfect way to spend a winter's afternoon and the boys to get rid of all their excess energy!

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Comments

  1. Kim CarberryJanuary 20, 2026 at 8:57 AM

    What a great day of learning. It sure does look like lots of fun!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JudeeJanuary 20, 2026 at 9:59 AM

    You put a lot of thought into your home schooling and it probably worked out well that the boys were close in age.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 20, 2026 at 12:33 PM

      Aw, thank you, it really did work out well that they were so close in age.

      Delete
  3. Doused in Pink | Chicago Style BlogJanuary 20, 2026 at 10:06 AM

    The science experiment is really cool! What a great idea!

    Jill - Doused in Pink

    ReplyDelete
  4. Heather{Our Life In a Click}January 20, 2026 at 11:53 AM

    You did so many fun things. I still love Boggle!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kari January 20, 2026 at 12:43 PM

    I remember how hard it could be in winter to find fun things to do for homeschool. I could count on you for good ideas. 💜

    ReplyDelete
  6. HollyJanuary 20, 2026 at 2:11 PM

    The bouncy park place was genius :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 20, 2026 at 2:20 PM

      It was the perfect way to get that excess energy out.

      Delete
  7. nicole orriensJanuary 21, 2026 at 3:20 AM

    It sounds lovely Joanne. Your children were so lucky I think!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 21, 2026 at 5:13 AM

      Aw, thank you! I'm pretty sure they feel the same way.

      Delete
  8. MarshaJanuary 21, 2026 at 11:36 PM

    That Crisco experiment was so cool! I'd never heard of anything like that!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Joanne January 22, 2026 at 4:59 AM

      Aw, thank you! It was really neat (I tried it myself too!).

      Delete

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