3 Ways to Make Homework More Fun
After a long day at school, kids want to come home and relax, play, or eat. But like most kids, they’ll have homework to complete before they head back to school the next day. Sure, some kids enjoy the extra challenges homework can bring and love using the tools and knowledge they’ve gathered in class to delve right in to their homework assignments. But for most kids, homework’s a chore and they don’t look forward to it at all. What’s a parent to do? For starters, you can make homework more fun and your child won’t find the after-school work to be so tedious and dreadful. Here are some tips to make homework more enjoyable for your child.
Pair Work with a Snack
Rather than offering an after-school snack before or after homework time, provide an easy-to-eat snack to enjoy while doing homework to make the task seem to go by faster. While munching, your child can focus on her work while getting a boost of energy to remain engaged. Some good snack choices are a bowl of grapes, baby carrots with hummus, celery stalks filled with cream cheese or peanut butter, crackers and cheese, or a smoothie. The notion that she’ll get a treat while working will make the homework something to look forward to. Just make sure it’s not something that will drip onto her worksheets!
Do it Outside
When the weather is mild, rather than sitting at a desk in her room or at the kitchen table, allow your child to do her work in the backyard, on the front deck or patio, at the park under a tree, or someplace outside that’s quiet. Of course, your child will need to be supervised, so consider it a chance for you to get some fresh air as well. Once she’s completed her work, she’ll already be outside, so playtime is the next natural item on the agenda. Doing work outside makes things feel more relaxed, less stuffy, and more interesting. If it’s too cold to do work outside, do homework by a window or switch up the homework spot in the house each day for variety.
Reward Good Work
Kids thrive on positive feedback, so when your child does her homework on time or does an exemplary job, a small reward will keep her eager to come back for more accolades each afternoon. The reward doesn’t have to be anything extravagant – a simple sticker or an extra 10 – 15 minutes of TV or playtime will do the trick. When she knows a reward is on the way, she’ll want to get her homework done immediately after school in order to reap the rewards as soon as possible. If she continues with a great homework attitude, at the end of an especially good month, perhaps you can up the ante, so to speak, with a bigger reward such as time off a few chores or a trip to the ice cream shop for a banana split!
Do you have any tips for making homework more fun for kids? We’d love to share your ideas with the AMC community. For more information like this, please visit All My Children’s Blogs.
By: Melissa A. Kay
