What to put in a work box?

I was explaining the work box system to a friend the other day and she asked what kinds of things I put in the kids' boxes. It occurred to me that a post listing some of those items might be in order. Check here for my initial post explaining and extolling the virtues of this wonderful homeschool organizing system.

I put as much of Z-Man's "regular" work in the work boxes as possible - math and language arts worksheets, books to read alone or for read-aloud time, copywork, etc. - only one activity per box and I try to alternate fun things with challenging work. He has to do them in order and, since we use clear shoe boxes, the fun stuff is visible and serves as motivation.

In Z-Man's boxes:

Games:

Telling time bingo

Domino math

Scrambled States of America

Pack of cards for addition war

Here are some fun games with money

File folder games - free ones here

Here are some free, printable game boards for Bible review

Misc.:

coloring pages of things we're working on

a mind bender or word puzzle

materials for science experiments

ingredients and recipe to bake something!

magnifier and things to examine

Bible with a verse noted to look up and write for copywork

note to review memory verses with Mom

look up something in the dictionary

nature scavenger hunt

all sorts of craft projects

animal cards to classify (mammal, reptile, amphibian, etc.)

month cards to put in order

put the animal cards in alphabetical order

materials and address to send a thank-you card

audio book

trampoline time!

an educational video

lapbook components

permission to do something fun on the computer:

• free sample Mark Kistler art lessons - love these!
• a watercolor tutorial with Mom (8 lessons in all - scroll down on sidebar)
• listen to a classics for kids program - love these too!
• watch a (previously bookmarked by Mom) Youtube clip relating to what we're learning
• and, yes, the occasional computer game

Math:

a cup of change to count

tangrams

geo board with shape cards

ruler and things to measure

our Math-it game

skip count tape to listen to

note to watch a schoolhouse rock video on Youtube

a 100 board with a fun little mystery to solve

calendar problems

wrap-ups

a graphing assignment (ex: At the gym today, find out what everyone's favorite cookie is. When we get home, create a bar graph with the data)

That's all I can think of off the top of my head and from going back over my day planner. I think you can see that the possibilities are probably limitless and I love that!

Coming soon - Little Man's boxes!