The Family Playbook

See the resources section below for potential project ideas, or design your own! The steps below offer you some entry points to make hands-on learning come to life in your home.

1. The best learning is sparked by your child’s own curiosity. Interview your child about their interests. What are they curious about? Is there something they want to learn more about? 
2. Notice: What do they choose to do in their free time? What topics are important to our world today? 
3. Leverage your community. Make a list of what is available in your neighborhood. Make a map together. What are the resources you have nearby that could inspire a project or adventure? Are there family members who have cool hobbies or jobs? What parts of the community are you most familiar with, and what places have you yet to explore? Are there home design stores that have materials to donate, nature preserves with trails to explore or even local businesses that might inspire a project? 
4. Define a question or questions to be answered during the project. This will help drive learning and keep the project on track. 
5. Plan. Think about the following components to help you plan your project:
   • Seek- Look around the house, neighborhood or backyard for resources and inspiration. 
   • Play- Make the project fun! Don’t be overly academic at all times: get messy, try something new or be silly with your child. 
   • Adventure- look for a new experience or something out of your usual routine. This can be anything from a new hiking path, a cool new video, a scavenger hunt or wandering around a new part of town. 
   • Explore- What other resources can you bring to the project that will help with understanding and finding patterns. This could be talking to someone who is an expert, watching a documentary, reading a book or being an observer of a natural phenomenon. 
   • Create- Use your learning to create a tangible product. Build a birdhouse, make a kaleidoscope or slime, or bring something into existence that didn’t exist before. 
6. Capture and reflect: Gather pictures of the adventure. Record big learning moments. Reflect on what you learned. How was the process? Are there new questions that you have based on what you learned? What can you do differently next time? Reflect on the process of the learning, the engagement, and the depth of understanding. 
7. Celebrate and share the outcomes with others on social media or in emails to grandparents and teachers.

Remember: You don’t have to be an expert to create an interesting project. You and your child can learn together!