100 Ways to Motivate Kids: No and Low Cost

100 Ways to Motivate Kids: No and Low Cost

by Julie Polanco
100 Ways to Motivate Kids: No and Low Cost

100 Ways to Motivate Kids: No and Low Cost

by Julie Polanco

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Overview

This guide offers one hundred free or low-cost educational activities that inspire children age six and up to explore the world God made.

100 Ways to Motivate Kids offers challenging projects and activities for children ages six through eighteen to engage with the world in relevant, creative, faith-based, and educational ways. Dividing this guide by age group and subject area—covering math, nature, world cultures, and more—Julie Polanco includes fresh ideas that help develop twenty-first century skills through fun, developmentally appropriate experiences.

In addition, 100 Ways encourages community involvement, a love for the environment, and an entrepreneurial spirit. There is no need to buy expensive kits or subscriptions because this pocket-sized book covers the same STEAM principles (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) at a fraction of the cost—and includes the humanities.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781642791235
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Publication date: 05/07/2019
Pages: 75
Product dimensions: 5.00(w) x 7.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Julie Polanco is the author of God Schooling: How God Intended Children to Learn (2018). She has been featured in Patheos, Today’s Parent, Parents, and other publications. Julie is active in the women’s ministry and on the worship team at her church in the Chicago area. Julie is a blogger for Homeschooling with Heart, is a regular contributor for Old Schoolhouse Magazine, and is the high school botany instructor for SchoolhouseTeachers.com. She is currently working on her next book and maintains a blog that discusses homeschooling, Christian living, and the writing life.

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Ideas for Children Ages 6 to 7

Most children under the age of 8 don't need motivation to learn. This section includes ideas for children who are 6 and 7 years old. They may not be appropriate for children younger than that because of developmental differences. It is important for little children to play most of the time, so even these suggestions are for enriching play activities. You will notice that there are many ideas for active youngsters. Small children can be harmed by too much sitting, looking at screens, and formal classes. God made a wonderful planet for us to care for and enjoy. Get them outside!

Outdoor Ideas

Unstructured outdoor time is the best antidote to offer to restless, bored, curious children. The best setting is a wild one, but if you don't live near wild places (even a forest preserve will do), a park is still better than looking at a screen. The complexity of nature, the fresh air and life-giving dirt, the lessons God offers — all these are essential for a happy, peaceful child. Here are a few ideas to help their exploration.

1. Play "magnifying glass" outdoors. You don't even need to have a magnifying glass to do this. You can use a frame of any sort, even the one formed by touching the tips of your index fingers and thumbs together. The idea is to ask them to tell you all that they find within that frame. For example, he might go out and choose a spot near some trees or bushes. Then he waits quietly. Are there insects that appear? Leaves? Maybe a squirrel or bird? Encourage him to see if he can find more. Five things? Ten things? Help him develop patience and the powers of observation.

2. Outdoor scavenger hunt. This doesn't need much explanation. Give your child a list of items to find and see how many she can find. If there are several children who are old enough to play, then they can make a game of it.

3. Visit an animal farm, vegetable farm, or orchard. Some of you may do this already, especially pumpkin patches and apple orchards. Why not schedule a tour of a local organic farm or visit a farmer's market and talk to the farmers? What about a local working ranch? Better yet, grow a small garden, even just one tomato plant, yourself.

4. Nature Art. Gather some pinecones, pine needles, cattails, tall grasses, twigs, palm leaves, or whatever you can find in your area. What can you create with these items? Can you imitate how a bird makes her nest? How about a mouse bed? What about imaginary creatures, like fairy homes?

5. Who's out in winter? You may already explore the landscape in winter, but what about looking for footprints and scat? What other signs of life can you find? Not all animals leave in the winter. Many birds and other creatures are still active. Challenge your young child to look for clues of life, sit and watch for the creatures, and discover more about them when you get home. Don't forget the hot chocolate!

Art and Imagination Ideas

Most kids this age love art of all sorts — visual, performance, and written. Let's move beyond crayons and tempera paints and try some unique projects that get them thinking in new ways about materials around them.

1. Build big with boxes. Grocery stores, moving companies, restaurants, and department stores all receive boxes of goods every day. Let the manager know that you are collecting them and ask if she would set some aside for you. Bring them home and offer ideas for what they could become. Castle? Playhouse? Ship? Let them dream up something.

2. Expand your art supplies. Try painting with egg paint. You can find instructions online at sites such as Instructables. Basically, it's egg yolk, vinegar, pigment, and water. Try using fruits and dye some old white T-shirts or handkerchiefs. What about old coffee grounds to make those imaginary maps look aged?

3. What would your stuffed animal do? Encourage your child to move beyond the usual play scenarios of tea parties, mommies, attack raids, and bad guys. Throw out some other possible problems such as: What would the dolls do if the stuffed animals wanted to live in their house? Or what if the bad guys took all the animals? Or what if ...? Come up with some other ideas.

4. Make your own simple card or board game. All games have a clear objective to decide the winner. How is your winner decided? By the most cards, most points, or who reaches the end first? You can use index cards if you make a card game or use a file folder for a board game. Easy card games can be matching or memory. Board games can use cards or spinners to move forward, with "trick" or "prize" spaces. There are lots of ideas for these on my Pinterest page at jpolancobooks.

5. They're pants, now they're skirts, now they're capes. Ever hear of play silks? These are large pieces of naturally dyed silks for use in children's dress up games. Instead of purchasing costumes, you can use old sheets cut down to about three to four large squares. There are two downsides to using cotton or flannel sheets, though. One, they can be heavy, and, two, they are harder to tie at the corners than lightweight silks. Using silk doesn't need to be expensive. Remember, the premise of this book is that all ideas are low or no cost. Look online for wholesale silk chiffon squares at places like Dharma Trading Company or Alibaba. One large square usually costs $5 to $10 (not the toy catalog price of $20 to$30). Sometimes you can even receive large sample squares for free. Get them in white, and dye them different colors yourself, using Kool-Aid packets. Or try looking for large women's fashion scarves at thrift stores. Some of them are large enough to blanket a small child, and that is just the size you need. Your children may be puzzled at first by a box of large pieces of fabric, but soon they will be using them for clothing, forts, beds, and whatever else they can dream up.

Storytelling and Language Ideas

A lot of children ages 6 to 7 years old don't read well. Some do but may not enjoy writing. These ideas take that into account and encourage them to narrate their ideas and to explore words in new ways.

1. Finish my story. Start telling an oral made-up story and stop at an exciting point. Ask your child, "What happens next?" Let her tell the next part and ask her to leave off at another exciting point. You pick it up from there and see how imaginative and silly you can be together.

2. Invented words. Do you know how many new words are invented each year? Just think: When I was a kid, the words "e-mail," "social media," and "Internet" didn't exist. Kids love silly words. Together, play with words and come up with some silly new names for common items or activities. The poem "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll is a great example of this. See where this leads you.

3. "Tell me with your mouth." When my son Mouse was little, he didn't want me to read stories. He wanted me to make them up myself and to tell them "with my mouth." Oral storytelling is enjoying a bit of a comeback. Perhaps your child would enjoy listening to you — or someone else he loves — tell him a story. Does Grandma live 100 miles away? Maybe she could record herself telling (or retelling) a story and send it along to your child. Give him a pad of paper and crayons, but don't force him to draw. Just allow him to use the paper as he is inspired while he listens. This not only encourages him to learn to listen carefully, it also helps him picture things in his mind, forges family bonds, and inspires him.

4. Quote of the day in an unusual way. For a while, I posted a new Bible verse or famous quote on the wall in the bathroom. I posted it in a strategic place so that my kids (or anyone else using the bathroom) couldn't help but read it while they were in there. I made sure that it was worded using vocabulary they could read. This not only helped them learn Bible verses; it also helped them remember things like, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength" (Philippians 4:13) and, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). Build your child up by reminding him of who he is and who is with him. Nothing can be more motivating than that.

5. Photo captions. Does your child love to take photographs with your phone? Why not create a folder just for her and ask her to write captions for the photos she takes? Offer to help with the typing or, if she wants to type, be on standby for spelling questions. This is a great way to use her interest to motivate her, but keeping it casual, not forced.

Ideas for Exploring People and Places

Children this age often have rudimentary, mythical ideas of how people in other countries live and about what they are like. Thinking about abstract concepts, like living on a planet or places drawn on a globe, is difficult for them. However, these same kids are certain about things that are completely imagined, such as Santa Claus (although he is based on an actual historical figure), the tooth fairy, and leprechauns. We can work with that to help them understand the needs of others.

1. Design an imaginary place. Kids seem to know a lot about unicorns, fairies, and other mythical creatures. Ask your child questions about where they live, what they eat, what they do for fun, what their holidays are, etcetera. Then ask them to come up with a totally new creature. Ask them to come up with answers to those same questions for the new creature.

2. Create a map of a place from a favorite story. Let's say your son's favorite story is "Saint George and the Dragon." Ask him to draw the castle, the countryside, where the dragon lives, where George was found by the fairies, etcetera. You could show him examples of real maps, especially the ones used in zoos and museums, since he is familiar with the exhibits and the buildings. This is especially fun if the map is made from edible items.

3. I live in a yurt, and you live in a pueblo. Tell your child that you found out about an unusual type of house called a yurt. What does she think that is? Look it up together and talk about how the people made the house. Would she like to live in a house like that? What might that be like? Does she know of any houses that are similar? (You can do this same exercise with other types of houses, like pueblos, pile dwellings, stilt houses, or an earth berm house.) Your child will be fascinated by how others live and may be inspired to build a pretend one just to experience it for herself.

4. Some people play with their thumbs. What type of instrument do you play with your thumbs? Can you play an instrument with your feet? Look at the kalimba, cajón, and other ethnic instruments. Can you make some at home? Borrow some recorded world music from the library.

5. Mufaro had a beautiful, rough-faced girl named Cinderella. Other cultures around the world have different ways of telling a familiar fairy tale. Have you ever read Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, The Rough-Face Girl, or Adelita? These are all Cinderella tales from around the world. Reading an alternative telling of the same fairy tale can often start conversations about cultures your child hasn't encountered. It can sensitize them to the fact that everyone shares the same struggles with friendship, belonging, and love. You could also read Pretty Salma and Lon Po Po, which are multicultural tellings of the Red Riding Hood story.

Ideas for Exploring Math

Children this age are just starting to move into understanding math concepts from representational pictures. They do not understand abstract math concepts that do not relate to their immediate lives. I've seen this happen a lot. My daughter Butterfly could do worksheet math but did not see the connection to her daily life. Conversely, she could do suggestion number one below in her head, but not on paper. I ended up ditching the worksheets.

1. How many days is it until... Your birthday? Christmas? Our vacation? How many weeks is that? How many cupcakes will we need to make? How many cookies? Use significant events in your child's life to give him an awareness of how math is used.

2. How many are in my hand? I played this game with Tiger and Butterfly when they were little. They loved it! Place a certain number of beans in front of your child. Let's say it's 12. Secretly, you put 5 in your hand (make sure she doesn't know how many are in your hand). Say: "I have some beans in my hand. I'm going to take 7 beans from the pile." (Not from her pile of 12.) "Now, I have the same number of beans that you have. How many did I have to start?" Kids love secrets and solving mysteries. You can play this type of game over and over with different amounts. It helps her learn basic algebra, too.

3. My hands are as wide as I am tall! How many mathematical facts does your child know about his own body? Stretch out your arms and say something like: "See. This is how tall I am." He will probably give you a puzzled look. Then you say: "You don't think so? Let's find out!" Get out your measuring tape and let him measure and compare. This is a starting point for other measurements. How long is your head? How many of those are you tall? How does the length of your arm compare to the length of your leg? This is a fun and interesting way to practice measuring, counting, and comparing.

4. The tall glass and the fat glass are the same size. Children this age think that something short doesn't hold as much as something tall, even if the short item is fat. Intentionally pour a measured cup of juice into a tall glass and the same amount into a shorter, fatter glass. Offer the two glasses to your young children. They will likely complain that one has more. This is your chance to prove that it isn't true. Then move on to other types of containers, such as putting the same amount of macaroni and cheese into a large bowl and into a smaller bowl. It will seem to them that the smaller bowl contains more. Again, prove it isn't so. They will likely find this fascinating, even if they are still a bit suspicious.

5. A person is four rectangles, a square, a triangle, and a circle. You child knows his shapes, but can he find them in unusual places? What shapes can he find in a house plant? His shirt? The car? Make a game of it. Who can find six circles as we take a walk to the park? How many hearts can you find in the garden? Help your child relate shapes to more than the obvious table or plate. Artists use this technique to sketch, and you can use it, too, to build greater awareness of the world.

CHAPTER 2

Ideas for Children Ages 8 to 12

Children this age are generally very competent. They are in the developmental stage called "Industry" and want to know how to do almost anything. However, motivation can start to lag right around this time. This can happen because of overscheduling, boring and irrelevant schoolwork, and disregard for the child's passions. The ideas in this section are meant to rekindle the dying embers of your child's passions, build confidence, and challenge her thinking and creativity.

Language Arts

While children this age know how to read, they may struggle with composition skills. They may need some encouragement in their communication skills. These suggestions focus on giving kids reasons to share with others in a meaningful way, not with emoticons, acronyms, and shorthand. We need to take back our most valuable human asset — written language — and it starts with our children. Let's engage our kids in face-to-face time and immerse them in longer reads.

1. Take them to the library (or bookstore) and let them choose whatever books they want. This idea may not seem all that amazing, but consider how often we choose books for them. There are many reasons why we may do this, but think about what we are saying to our children when we don't allow them to choose. We are saying that we don't trust them to make good choices, that only we know what good books are, and that our interests are more important than theirs. Let them choose, even if they choose gross joke books, graphic novels (although you might want to check the images), or fashion magazines. They won't choose those things every time, and their choices can spark some great conversations.

I did this with my daughter Tiger when she was twelve, and she chose books I didn't like. However, the books sparked conversations about worldview, pop culture and trends, multiple perspectives, and more. It also drew us closer together, because I showed her that I respected her as a person.

2. Create a traveling notebook. Purchase a bound notebook and write some notes about your child and your time together. End your note with an open-ended question for your child to answer and to keep the conversation going. For example: "I really enjoyed our time at the movie today. It was fun to stuff our faces with popcorn and laugh together. What was your favorite part of the movie?" After a month or two, maybe longer, you will have a keepsake of your thoughts and written conversations. What a wonderful way to document your child's life.

(Continues…)


Excerpted from "100 Ways to Motivate Kids"
by .
Copyright © 2019 Julie Polanco.
Excerpted by permission of Morgan James Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements,
How to Use This Book,
Ideas for Children Ages 6 to 7,
Outdoor Ideas,
Art and Imagination Ideas,
Storytelling and Language Ideas,
Ideas for Exploring People and Places,
Ideas for Exploring Math,
Ideas for Children Ages 8 to12,
Language Arts,
Math,
Social Sciences,
Nature and Science,
Art and More,
Ideas for Teenagers,
Communication Arts,
Applied Math,
History and Culture,
Nature and Science,
Art and More,
Resources,
About the Author,
Other Books By Julie Polanco,

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