Crafts and other recreational activities are pursued by many around the world for various reasons. For some it is a very healthy habit of doing some productive work whereas for others it is the way to spend some time which otherwise would have been spent idling around. Yet for some other people it is a means to fight their loneliness and bust their stress. If you are one of those who have recently begun their search for an ideal craft then you are in for the time of your life as you have a vast variety of work to choose from. If you are interested in crafts that can be pursued at home using homely items then read on.

This is how you can make a scrap book

A scrap book can be made with the discarded and left over items found in the house and that too quite a beautiful one. One can gather the empty boxes of cereals, leftovers of wall papers, and add to it decorative ribbons and some of the stationery items. All these can help you make a lovely scrap book.

This is how you make some homemade soap

To make a colorful soap one needs some lard, coconut oil and castor oil and that too in the respective proportion of 13:6:1. This is because it helps to make a base which is white in color and also with lather and decent conditioner. Retaining this base we can make a two colored soap. All one needs to do is to pour half of the base in the mould and add color and leave it to cool. After awhile one can take the leftover base and add a different color to it and then leave it over the first mould to cool down for about 24 hrs. Later one can unmold the mixture and cut it into the desired shape and size. Thus you have your home made soap.

This is how you can remodel a bath basket

Often people get bored of using similar things again and again and this holds true even for the bath basket. Therefore, one can change it by one which is homemade and bound to impress the folks at home. You simply need a basket and regular items like cucumber, olive, lemon, oat meal, fragrance oils, milk powder, avocado, tea bags and honey. All you need to do is pack it all in the basket in a beautiful manner.

This is how you make a matching ear rings and necklace

The simplest method of making a necklace is by using beads. The attire that you will be wearing has an impact on the color and size of the beads. Apart from single colored one can also opt for two colored or multi colored beads and create a necklace by weaving it into a thread. One should take to hook the loose ends carefully after completing. As for the earrings, one can find many crusts in the market for quite less money and they can be made into the desired matching pair.

Supercharge your homeschool math curriculum with fun and games that can also be serious math lessons and practice. Transform one or two classic games and you’ll very quickly find that you and your children have become experts at adapting and playing more and more games. And seeing math skills and scores climb is of course a wonderful added benefit to your homeschool math curriculum. Here are a few ideas to start with. Have fun playing and creating new games!

Homeschool Math Relay Races:
First Grade: Number Recognition / Second Grade and Up: Times Tables Practice
Here are a couple versions of the classic relay race. These should be played on a large, open, preferably grassy field. You’ll need to designate a starting line, a finish line, and will need to make up number cards for the racers to collect. Divide the players into an equal number of teams, with two or more runners per team, separating the team line-ups by at least 15 feet.
1) Wheelbarrow Race
This is a partner race. The “wheelbarrow” partner gets down on hands and knees at the starting line. The “driver” picks up the legs of the wheelbarrow and at a signal they both move together toward the finish line with the wheelbarrow moving his or her hands as fast as possible. Here are the math variations: for first grade, scatter 3×5 number cards from 1-20 (or however far you’ve gotten with counting) in the paths of each of the teams. For second grade and up, scatter 3×5 cards with the numbers of a times table in the paths of each of the teams. Have the wheelbarrow wear a wide red sash in which s/he will stash as many numbers as s/he can pick up along the way. The partners then place the number cards face up and in order on the ground at the finish line, and the last pair must finish arranging them in the correct order. First team to finish and correctly order the cards wins. Or the teams can go for another round, by going to the end of the line and switching driver and wheelbarrow roles for their second turns.
2) Number Race
Divide the players into equal teams and place piles of number cards at the start line (see above for grade-appropriate numbers). Have each player pick up three (or more) number cards, race to the finish line, and place them on the ground face up, in order, and race back to the end of the line. Play continues with each player picking up cards, racing to the finish line and placing them on the ground in the correct order. First team to finish and correctly order all the cards wins.

Homeschool Math Spiderweb Weave:
First Grade: Number Recognition / Second Grade and Up: Times Tables Practice
Play this indoors, in a room with lots of places to weave the web. Cut as many pieces of yarn or string as there are players, 20 to 30 feet long. Different colors will make a colorful web, but using only one color makes it a much more challenging game.
1) As preparation beforehand, have the children write large numbers on 3×5 blank index cards, vertically, one number per card. For first graders, use the numbers 1-12 (or higher). For second grade on, use times tables numbers, one on each card, for a total of 12 cards. You can move on to the higher tables as they are learned. Use a paper punch to make holes in the center top of each card. Have the children help thread one set of cards onto each string, in order, spacing them 2-3 feet apart. Then secure the cards by tying them in place with small pieces of yarn or string.
2) Attach a nametag for each child to one end of each of the strings, and a small treat to the other end. Later that day, or on another day as a surprise, weave the web without the children present, by looping it loosely around the room, around table legs, through chair backs, and around the other strings, until the entire room is a colorful snarl.
3) After all of the children have arrived, have them search for their nametags. When everyone has located his or her name, they may begin untangling the web.
4) The winner is the first one to untangle his or her string and display and recite their sequence of numbers or times table in the correct order. And with the treats at the end of each string, everyone’s a homeschool math winner!