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The Ultimate Guide To Fun Friday Activities For Kids

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

The Popularity Of 4 Day Homeschool Weeks

Do you implement or have you ever considered a four day homeschool week? Just like there is a trend towards four day work weeks, many homeschoolers keep Fridays free of structured learning and instead, have “Fun Fridays”.

5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday

Fun Friday Activities For Kids

Who doesn’t love themed days? Certainly not Taco Tuesday!! I’m sharing 5 Tips to Start Fine Arts Friday without overwhelming your homeschool schedule.

Fine Arts Friday is an easy way to incorporate the You ARE An ARTiST Fine Arts Curriculum. I know, you’ve already booked August and you’re doing ALL. THE. THINGS. I was right there with you signing up for every activity, co-ops, and sports. Trying to be a homeschool superhero. You don’t have to exhaust yourself (and your children) with one more monster size obligation.

fine arts Friday for homeschool
Meet #FineArtsFriday Friends!

Fine Arts Fridays: Art and Music Appreciation

For fun Friday activities, Stef says, “Knowing every Friday we were going to spend a bit of time on art helped my youngest, with delayed fine motor skills, mentally prepare while also keeping my oldest, who has a library of sketch books, happy.”

Fine Arts Fridays: Homeschool Lessons with Nana – Fine Arts Fridays and homeschool lessons with Nana are a creative way to add joy to your homeschool! Integrate homeschool art appreciation, music appreciation and hands on art lessons into your learning in a fun way.

The Beauty of Art, Music and Nature in Your Homeschool – My children have become acquainted with winter nature study, Vivaldi, Corelli, and Giotto within a few short months! Our Fine Arts Friday has become a fun and hands-on way of learning about great art and exciting time periods. Afterward, we head outside for our nature study and #outdoorhourchallenge. Fridays have become a rich, full day of beauty and learning like never before! Won’t you join us?

Homeschool Hymn Studies

Homeschool Hymn Study: Weaving Beauty Into Learning – With a homeschool hymn study, you are weaving beauty into learning! Dawn Peluso’s hymn studies are a great way to learn history, music and God’s Word.

A Beautiful Easter Hymn Study for Your Homeschool – Join us for a beautiful Easter hymn study for your homeschool and video art lessons to match! Music and art help us all to connect learning with a special holiday plus build sweet memories together as a family.

A Merry Christmas Hymns Study – Whether you homeschool as normal through December, add in Christmas activities, or trade all your homeschool curriculum for ‘Christmas School,’ a Christmas hymns study can be an enjoyable part of your school day. It is a beautiful opportunity for the family to learn and worship together.

Thanksgiving Hymn Favorites: Learning Activities for Your Homeschool – A season of thankfulness and gratitude would not be complete without sharing thanks to God for all of our blessings. One of our favorite ways to celebrate during this time of Thanksgiving is with hymn studies. Many songs help us to remember our gifts and sing our gratitude to God. Here, I’ve included Thanksgiving hymn favorites for you to enjoy, along with learning activities for your homeschool.

Make Your Homeschool Art Museum Field Trip Extraordinary

Homeschool Field Trips

5 Ways to Make Your Homeschool Art Museum Field Trip Extraordinary – A homeschool art museum field trip has been on our list for years. This year, we have already been to one and have another planned for next semester. Here are 5 things I’ve learned about how to maximize the educational experience and family fun on your field trip to the museum.

The Ultimate Guide to Virtual Art Museum Field Trips – you don’t necessarily need to leave your home to have access to things. There are so many resources you can use to enrich your homeschooling, right online! Virtual Art Museum Field Trips are one of those things!

Why You Should Take an Art Museum Field Trip – It is one thing to study a piece of art or an artist with a book or an online artist study. It is quite another to see a piece of art in person – and to see, up close, the actual brush strokes by the artist. That is one reason why you should take an art museum homeschool field trip. And here are a few more reasons you should go.

Van Gogh Experience for Homeschoolers – Our entire family definitely felt immersed in Van Gogh’s beautiful works of art. Especially in the immersion room after walking through the galleries! The Van Gogh Experience would also be a great homeschool field trip or educational opportunity to celebrate your Van Gogh studies. This is a great way to experience the paintings and works of this famous artist. We had a wonderful time!

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Nature Study in Your Homeschool

Discover the beauty of art and nature study in your homeschool and help your children explore the simple joys of the outdoors. There is so much to marvel about in God’s great creation! The Beauty of Art and Nature Study in Your Homeschool.

How to Use the Outdoor Hour Challenges for Homeschool Family Nature Study – When getting started in homeschool nature study, here are some simple ideas to consider for your outdoor time.

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Bears: An Art and Book Study for Your Homeschool – Delight in a bears art and book study for your homeschool! This is a beautiful combination of art, nature study, and living books to grow a gentle learning adventure about the world around us.

Nature Study Crafts for Kids: Easy Activities for Learning and Fun! Nature study crafts for kids are a hands on way to learn. What beautiful and easy activities for learning and FUN! Let us show you how.

Spring Homechool Nature Study with Art – Perfect for commemorating spring, Nana’s spring homeschool nature study with art explores all creatures great and small and all things bright and beautiful! These nature-inspired art lessons are easy and fun for the whole family!

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Gameschooling for Fun Friday Activities

Whether stuck inside or adding fun to your Friday learning, here are some great ideas and some encouragement to get you started! The Game Homeschool is a great overview with a giant list of games for learning!

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Homeschool Art Lessons For Hands On Homeschool Learning

Julie says, “As with every chalk pastel lesson we use in our homeschool, I adore how the boys never tire of this type of learning. Using art to learn is such an interactive teaching strategy.” – Skeletal System Activities: Everything You Need for Learning and Fun!

Nana has art lessons to complement every subject you can think of for your Fun Friday:

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Homeschool Fine Arts: Art and Music Appreciation for Families

You ARE An ARTiST now offers family style and grade level Fine Arts Curriculum. High school students can earn one full Fine Arts Credit. Which is super exciting! This curricula is much different than the traditional Chalk Art Lessons with Nana we have all come to love. While Nana is filming more art tutorials for Clubhouse Members, this curricula is an instant PDF download, so you can go at your own pace! Pick whichever grade you like, and if you’re anything like me with one child dipping toes in three different grades … friend, you’ve got yourself some options. Pick the topic / time period that matches up well with other core curriculum.
Clubhouse Members can purchase Fine Arts at 1/2 price – must be logged in for discount.

Here are more details on a Fine Arts Credit for High School with A Homeschooler’s Quick Guide

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

Each fine arts curriculum offers additional art appreciation books, music, and podcasts that you can use as you have time available. They also encourage you to incorporate hands-on famous artists’ and composer art lessons with Nana. These plans pull together affordably priced materials along with internet links so you can have a reasonably priced art and music appreciation program. There are 32-36 weeks planned at each level, and this allows your family plenty of flexibility to complete the curriculum in one homeschool year.

If you don’t feel that a full year of fine arts appreciation is for you, you can also choose from a collection of unique art and music appreciation unit studies which typically last 6-9 weeks.

Enjoy these fun Friday activities for kids! By making memories having fun, learning can be so very rewarding! We are BIG fans of this type of homeschooling.

More Kids Activities For Education And Fun

What other fun Friday activities would you set aside a Fun Friday for? Of course, any holiday is always a fun time to learn something new:

With You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse membership, you can enjoy access to all 800+ of Nana’s video art lessons that complement the lovely learning in your homeschool. And, with Clubhouse membership you can choose to receive 50% off the Fine Arts titles and 50% off membership to our sister site, Homeschool Nature Study.

Homeschool Fine Arts Resources Bundle

Two winners! We are giving away two bundles! Two winners will receive the bundle of resources that go with the grade of Fine Arts they are using. (Fine Arts Title not included). Resources include the suggested art appreciation books, music appreciation books, art application books for the Homeschool Fine Arts grade.

Enter to win via the rafflecopter widget, below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homeschool Fine Arts Sample

Get your FREE sample of homeschool fine arts, below:

Get Your Fine Arts Sample!

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    Growing a love of art at You ARE an ARTiST is a multi-generational passion! Tricia is Nana’s daughter and a mama of five children. Nana shared her first chalk pastel art lessons with her grandchildren around Tricia’s kitchen table. Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia has seen the fruits of home education with three homeschool grads so far! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at Your Best Homeschool and is author of the book, Help! I’m Homeschooling! She and her husband, Steve, are also owners of sister sites Homeschool Nature Study and The Curriculum Choice.

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    Homeschooling Through The Holidays: A Christmas Tree Study For Kids


    Enjoy these beautiful, simple and no stress activities as you are homeschooling through the holidays. Our Christmas Tree Study for kids includes not only nature study but a nature craft, Christmas hymn and composer study and an art lesson with Nana too!

    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    The Reality Of Holiday Homeschooling

    When we are homeschooling through the holidays, we can change things up, take our time, incorporate favorite traditions and make lovely memories together as a family. Many families choose to set aside this time for Christmas School. These weeks can lead up to and create a special focus on the birth of Christ.

    Just how? You can choose read alouds that point to Jesus and do hands on art lessons to draw your way through the Christmas story. Pick a nature study hunt for red and green and study a traditional hymn about the reason for the season. We always like to make Nana’s Christmas cookies! Have a sweet tea time. Watch Christmas movies!

    Another way to homeschool through the holidays is with this special event around a Christmas tree study!

    This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

    A Christmas Tree for the Animals Event: Here’s How to Be Ready

    • When: LIVE premiere Wednesday, November 16th at noon ET
    • Where: Right here on this page!
    • How: Sign up to participate via the form, below
    • Can’t attend live? No worries! Sign up and you will have access to the replay of the event

    Sign Up To Attend Live or for Replay

    Get access to attend live and to enjoy the replay of the event – Plus accompanying resources

      What’s Included in Christmas Tree For the Animals Event?

      When the event is live, you will enjoy (you will also have access to the replay):

      • Decorating an Outdoor Christmas Tree for the Animals with Amy Law of Homeschool Nature Study
      • Christmas Craft for Your Outdoor Tree with Victoria Vels of Homeschool Nature Study
      • Christmas Tree for the Animals Art Lesson with Nana of You ARE an ARTiST

      You will also have access to:

      What Supplies are Needed?

      For your art time with Nana, you will just need a very few suggested supplies, below:

      • a starter set of chalk pastels (Our favorites are here)
      • construction paper (Nana suggests white construction paper for this lesson)
      • baby wipes or damp paper towel for easy clean up

      Details on supplies for the craft portion included with sign up.

      This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

      Christmas Tree Animals Study

      It is so much fun to decorate an outdoor tree just for the animals! For even more animals studies, you can also enjoy an art lesson on forest animals and birds – here at You ARE an ARTiST and a nature study at Homeschool Nature Study.

      Here are some ideas for your Christmas Tree Animals study with an art and nature focus:

      This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

      Christmas Tree Nature Study

      Trees are a delight to study any time of year! Enjoy these additional ideas for a tree nature study or for winter nature study you can easily do indoors or outdoors.

      Paint a winter frosty leaf in chalk pastels with Nana!

      Nana’s Frosty Leaf is part of the Winter art lessons series in the You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse. Suggested supplies: dark blue construction paper, starter set of chalk pastels and slightly damp paper towel or baby wipes for easy clean up.

      Red and Green Outdoor Hour Challenge – this is a fun way to notice red and green in nature. Get started with these ideas.

      This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

      In Homeschool Nature Study membership, you can also find a study of the Hemlock Tree in the Autumn course and Evergreens in My Yard study and journal page in the Trees course. Each season includes a new tree study.

      FREE Winter Sample of Homeschool Nature Study Membership – with simple ways to study nature this winter, taking a ‘using your senses’ walk, studying animals in winter, taking a first day of winter walk and more!

      Christmas Craft Activities For Kids

      Besides your fun homeschool nature craft that Victoria will lead you in this event, you might also enjoy these hands-on activities for Christmas

      • Nature Crafts course – Victoria leads you in a brand new nature craft each month at Homeschool Nature Study. As you head into winter, you might especially love creating an ice craft!
      • Nana’s course, The Gift of Art, is perfect for allowing your kids to make gifts for others on a dime. Nana shares easy ideas for kids of all ages to make a gift to give that they will be proud of. Letting your children handmake a gift for someone is affordable and allows them to express their creativity. Not only that, your kids can gift items that showcase their artistic progress. 
      • Christmas Tree Art Lessons – Nana has several FUN Christmas tree art lessons and so much more!

      Additional Resources For Christmas In Your Homeschool

      Continue your lovely Christmas school with even more resources to create memories this year.

      • Christmas Book to Movie Homeschool Activities Your Kids Will Love! by Erin – Check out this festive list of Christmas books made into movies – with homeschool activities your kids will love! Now your kids can re-create their favorite book characters and movie scenes with chalk pastels! Like Kevin from Home Alone, the Grinch and more!
      • A Merry Christmas Hymns Study for Your Homeschool – Whether you homeschool as normal through December, add in Christmas activities, or trade all your homeschool curriculum for ‘Christmas School,’ a Christmas hymns study can be an enjoyable part of your school day. It is a beautiful opportunity for the family to learn and worship together.

      You might also like these beautiful topics:

      This Christmas Tree Study for kids includes art lessons, online resources, craft activities and more. Everything you need for the holidays.

      Where to Find Nana, Tricia, Victoria, Amy, Dawn and Stef

      We have loved this Christmas Tree Study for kids! We invite you to connect with us and find even more lovely homeschooling through the holidays ideas.

      Share on Social Media!

      We can’t wait to see your art, craft, or your nature or hymn studies! Be sure to tag us on Instagram @chalkpastelart and @outdoorhourchallenge

      As Courtney shared in her Biblical homeschool post, “we hope that this gives you lots of inspiration for your Christmas school plans this year! Remember, you don’t have to do it all this year. Advent is all about preparing our hearts and dwelling in His perfect peace. Christmas school is an opportunity not only for creativity and education but for making lasting memories together.”

      Growing a love of art at You ARE an ARTiST is a multi-generational passion! Tricia is Nana’s daughter and a mama of five children. Nana shared her first chalk pastel art lessons with her grandchildren around Tricia’s kitchen table. Homeschooling since 2000, Tricia has seen the fruits of home education with three homeschool grads so far! She shares the art and heart of homeschooling at Your Best Homeschool and is author of the book, Help! I’m Homeschooling! She and her husband, Steve, are also owners of sister sites Homeschool Nature Study and The Curriculum Choice.

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      Human Heart Activity For Kids: Hands-On Homeschool Science

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It’s a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      “Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value.”

      Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, p. 224

      The Value Of Hands-On Science In Your Homeschool

      Science is multi-faceted.  It manifests itself in multiple ways and is captivating. Have you ever watched a child carefully observe living science? Every day, the natural world sends delightful invitations, asking one to unwrap all the tiny miracles it offers. At tender ages, before a budding learner carries the ability to read or write, their senses allow them to appreciate the wonders set before them. A child’s curiosity ignites as a spider’s web catches tiny droplets of rain, mirroring an array of fresh morning dew. 

      Hands on science with snails

      Their thoughts awaken as tentacles shyly emerge, uncovering the secrets of what lies inside their delicate shell.  Learning  sparks  as a  butterfly emerges from its chrysalis, spreading its newborn wings for the very first time.

      A brainstorm (as my son calls it) happens when an experiment calls for creating clouds or discovering the wavelengths of light.  

      Implementing hands-on homeschool science cultivates the thirst to learn and encourages critical thinking skills. With careful nurturing, a child is able to carry these special learning experiences with them as they grow. Simply put, science fosters life-long learning and is interdisciplinary in nature.

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      Human Heart Activity For Kids

      Let’s step into four important chambers to uncover one of Nana’s newest interdisciplinary science lessons! This one will surely get your blood pumping.  At the heart of this study is a beautiful presentation of one of the most vital organs of the human body.

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      Nana’s human heart anatomy highlights science, art, writing, diagramming, and an exposure to brand new vocabulary; a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      This wonderful homeschool art lesson in intriguing to young anatomists and is an engaging way to capture the heart of the human body.

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      More Resources For Hands-On Science

      Delightful art brings a beauty to our home, and attached to each masterpiece is a measure of pleasant memories filled with the sweet smells of Nana’s apple pie and busy little hands covered in rich colors. This memorable learning goes beyond just the art lessons.

      Art with Nana shares one of the most important pieces of home education, learning alongside my children.  We have had so much fun and created such colorful memories with many of Chalk Pastel Art’s science resources. They all pair well with any science curricula, unit studies, and books!

      More resources for hands on science

      Do you have an astronomer who is interested in unlocking the mysteries of the universe? Check out Nana’s and Tricia’s astronomy lessons! These paintings take you deep into space focusing on the solar system. Hands-on and multi-sensory, the fascinating art brings a stunning demonstration of the world beyond our galaxies.

      We coupled the art lessons with You ARE an ARTiST’s kid-friendly Companion Workbook. This guide is easy to use, organized, and packed with wonderful information relating to the solar system.  The Five Facts and NASA links were our favorite pieces in the Companion Workbook. If you are interested in building an engaging solar system study, combine the Companion Workbook with a few books from the provided booklist. Then add the art lessons that are out of this world!

      If you have an anatomist on your hands, take a look at these art lessons that go perfectly with a human body unit! Filled with lots of color, vocabulary, and labeling, your anatomist will take a sneak peek into the wonders inside the eye in a Microscopic Science Study and bacterium with Small But Mighty Cell Activities For Your Homeschool.

      Spend a few moments outdoors looking at the spread of colors sprinkled across the woodlands. Enjoy plant life with your future botanist by observing a few flowers. Then, draw your sweet nature time to a close by painting with Nana. This art lesson will bring your naturalist such pleasure by drawing and labeling the parts of a bright daffodil.

      Do you have a student who just can’t wait to  explore marine life? If so, you might want to spend time putting your feet in the sand and listening to the rhythmic waves with Nana! With a Majestic Ocean Study, she will take your marine biologist along sandy beaches to build sand castles and uncover the fascinating life beyond the sea! Bring your sand buckets and all colorful pastels!

      Nana’s human heart activity for kids is a great hands-on homeschool science experience that highlights art, writing, diagramming, plus an exposure to brand new vocabulary. It's a combination of multiple subjects all in one spot!

      All the hands-on homeschool science fun doesn’t end here! It’s just the beginning! Chalk Pastel Art offers many art adventures that combine perfectly with all ages and with any hands on science activity. Check out all the wonderful ways art coupled with science can work in your family with this Science and Art: A STEAM Curriculum Match Up.

      Jamie Gault

      Jamie is the author of A Brown Bear’s Language Arts Study, a literature-inspired homeschool mom of eight, and a former educator. She enjoys a bookshelf bursting with colorful picture books  and children’s stories of all genres. Indulging in a read aloud with all of her children around her is one of Jamie’s favorite moments of her days. Be sure to find Jamie on Instagram and visit her blog, Treasuring the Tiny Moments Homeschool, to be encouraged by all her learning adventures with her wonderful family.