When we first heard that schools were likely to close, the first thing I decided to stock up on to help us prepare for homeschooling was printer paper, and plenty of ink. Forget toilet paper shortages, a printer paper shortage would have been a big problem for us as our printer is such a key tool for homeschooling our four children.
I will share with you a few examples of resources that you can easily print off to help keep the kids entertained and educated until their school lessons are back up and running.
If you are low on ink, you can stock up at Cartridge Save, take a look at the HP Ink Cartridges which last really well, seeing you through all of the school closures.
We have printed plenty of worksheets from here, from reading comprehension for my KS2 children to phonics lessons for my youngest. There are also hands on games that you can print, to keep the learning fun. For example I printed out these cards which show patterns for the children to copy using coloured craft sticks.
I’ve also printed similar cards showing LEGO block patterns, for the children to look at and copy. There are so many LEGO challenges that you can print out for all ages.
For my youngest, we’ve also been printing out an endless supply of colouring pages featuring her favourite characters. This keeps her busy for ages, and the bonus is that colouring and drawing helps to develop fine motor skills, strengthening pencil grip and hand strength.
The colouring page above is from the Bing website, which has lots of printable resources which we shared about in this post.
My older kids have enjoyed printing out pictures of their favourite footballers to cut out and make little figures by paper folding. You can also use any printed pictures to make collage art, or to trace and practise drawing skills.
We’ve also been using some
printed sheets from Learning Resources to help with maths, along side our Math Link cubes. This really helps cement learning, by combining the printed worksheet with the physical object. You can find out more. about these resources in our blog post here
Another popular printable for maths is colour by number, or for slightly older kids – colour by addition like these from the Homeschool Freebies site
We also found it motivating for the kids to type up some of their stories or projects on the computer and then print them out, that way they can keep them to look back on, and it makes them look more professional.
The possibilities are endless, with so many resources out there a new homeschooling project is just a few clicks away especially when you have your printer on hand!
Anna Marikar, mum of four and seasoned blogger, has spent over a decade sharing her parenting journey and passion for kid-friendly crafts and free printables.
Her easy-to-follow craft ideas and practical parenting advice have transformed In The Playroom into a cherished resource for parents.