Last updated January 2022
Ideas to enthuse and engage young children at home
Useful websites
Here we list some websites which you might find helpful.
General
The Guinness World Records website and accompanying annual volumes are highly engaging resources to stimulate children's awe and wonder at both the natural and human worlds.
Pinterest has many excellent suggestions for craft activities.
Today's Parent includes suggestions for simple indoor games, some of which revolve around using objects such as memory and listening games.
The National Trust includes activities for you to do in your back garden.
Playful Childhoods includes suggestions for simple play activities around the home. See also the suggestions here.
HowtoSmile is an American award-winning website for home educators. There are fees attached to some resources but if you use the topic search you can filter by age and those resources that are free eg 'Guess my Rule' and 'Homegrown Xylophone'.
Museums
The Victoria & Albert Museum hosts a Rapid Collection Team, which was set up to collect everyday objects for future generations to mull over. You can search the online catalogue here which includes this Beatles' yellow submarine.
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The Science Museum in London includes fascinating stories behind objects. You can search its online catalogue of more than 250,000 objects here. If you are not sure what to look for, explore some of the themes such as toys and games which are likely to appeal to your children and be something of a nostalgic trip.
The Museum of Brands reminds us of the powerful influence branding has on our lives. When we talk about objects with children, remember to talk about any packaging or labelling.
The site also includes a brief history of brands in 12 objects. Here are five - can you guess which decade their story began?
The answers can be found by clicking on the museum hyperlink.
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The excellent Horniman Museum and Gardens in London has an online catalogue to search its collection if you can't visit in person. For example, on the theme of footwear (linked to 'Socks and Shoes') you should see the following:
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Alaskan baby boots: they have a red felt strip at the top, followed by a dark beige fur, and a brown sole. There is red piping at the front, between the fur and the soul, and a leather strap attached at the back
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Chinese shoes from the early twentieth century: soles formed by winding the thick cords of twisted fibre into an ellipse and stitching together.
A pair of women's indoor shoes, 1890s.
A pair of silk shoes for a young child of purple silk, decorated in the shape of a fish with a flap of turquoise silk imitating a tail on the ankle.
The Science Centre (Exploratorium) in San Francisco has lots of free online activities, videos and games, aimed mainly at older children but there are ideas which could be adapted for younger ones along themes such as 'Tinker around Your House'.
Closer to home, the National Museum of Wales has an impressive online catalogue of half a million objects and learning activities around objects.
There are museums devoted to all kinds of everyday objects, including pencils and scissors, lamps, bottle caps, lawnmowers, washing machines, and soap. You can see a list here.