fun homework ideas

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20+ creative alternative homework ideas for teachers

When giving homework, it must always be based on learning goals your students have to reach, just like in your lessons. But it’s sad to see that lots of teachers are using homework as extra lesson time. Of course, as a teacher, you’re on a clock. But that doesn’t mean your students have to suffer from it and keep working on those boring textbooks and worksheets at home.

Consider goals like attitudes, real-life experiences, and practice, physical exercise, social encounters, creative solutions, and philanthropy as crucial as your lesson goals. These are things students don’t just pick up in your classroom. These are things they pick up in life.

In this blog post, I’ll give you some innovative homework ideas that will engage your students more. These alternatives to traditional homework will thereby also teach your students new things that can’t be taught in the classroom. You will find a variety of homework ideas: online and offline.

I will mention homework alternatives for primary school and high school. Some of these ideas can be changed a little bit, so they are the perfect fit for the right audience.

20 Creative homework ideas

You can divide homework tasks into the following themes or categories:

• Crafts & arts
• Outdoor activities & outings
• Games and activities
• Physical activities
• Digital or computer activities
• Philanthropy & social work

💡 Good to know : all the ready-to-use homework activities are created with BookWidgets . You can easily create activities like these yourself or duplicate an activity below for free, edit it if needed, and share it with your students. You can do so in the examples separately, or you can find all the homework examples in the BookWidgets Blog group folder .

Crafts and arts homework

1. prepare a dish from a recipe book.

2. Make a board game

3. Create a birdhouse

4. Transform a fictional book character into a hand puppet

Outdoor homework activities and outings

5. coupon game.

Students can also go grocery shopping with their parents. Here, they have to read the ingredients of the products and help their parents choose the healthiest products for the best prices, figure out the best deal between the sizes of items, …

6. Visit the zoo

7. Visit the local dumping ground or container park

8. Build a tree house

Games and activities as homework

9. bookwidgets games.

10. Minecraft

11. Play Cards

12. Play Zoo Tycoon or Rollercoaster Tycoon

Physical homework activities

13. rope skipping.

Many rope-skipping songs let your students do different tricks while rope-skipping. This is an excellent opportunity for homework as well. Ask your students to transform a rope skipping song into a song with lesson content. Let them count or spell or even sum up the different states or capitals. To engage their lifestyles even harder, you can additionally give them the assignment to create a TikTok in which they are jumping and singing.

Click here to see how you can get Tiktok more involved in the classroom.

14. Walking quest

If there aren’t any walking quests in the neighborhood, you could ask your students to create a walking quest like this for their fellow students. What a fun day it will be!

15. Obstacle Quiz

In order for students to answer the questions, they have to run and pass a challenging parkour. This is a fun homework exercise, and in the end, it’s a great lesson starter or lesson end.

16. Swimming games

After the activity, they can fill out an Exit Slip:

Digital or computer homework activities

17. create a picture album.

This teaches them to handle the online software, add pictures and write without spelling mistakes. And of course, creating memories is so much fun!

18. Video job application

19. Your life in 10 minutes - video

20. Email pen-pals

Is it still too complicated? Read the messages from your students, before they send them, and provide them with some feedback.

Philanthropy and social homework

21. grow a community garden.

22. Help in a retirement home

23. Help at a homeless shelter

24. Collect litter

Here’s another homework tip: Don’t call homework “homework”. Call it a challenge. Homework has become a negative word for students, and I bet they start rolling their eyes as you even mention the word.

Still looking for more inspiration? Check out the blog on short films and lesson activities that spice up your Google Classroom . Tip: even if you don’t use Google Classroom, there is a lot of inspiration back here.

Above you have read single assignments. But, you also have the option to involve your homework in a project. Find out more here .

So, as I mentioned earlier, there are many fun alternatives to traditional homework. Now it’s up to you to apply this in the classroom as well. In this folder , you will find all the examples you have come across.

Which idea do you or perhaps your students like the most? Let us know on Twitter . Of course, there are many more alternatives. If you have other ideas, you are always welcome to share it with other teachers in our Facebook group .

One more thing: don’t forget to say hi👋 on LikedIn .

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13 Fun Homework Ideas: The Best Ways To Make Homework Fun For Kids Quickly & Easily

Sophie Bartlett

Figuring out how to make homework fun can be a tricky task for parents.

Does it feel like you’re constantly nagging your kids to do their homework? If your answer is yes, know that we’ve all been there! It’s natural for parents to want their children to progress and do well in school, but after an entire day of paper, pencils, and books many youngsters will resist getting on with their homework – and that’s putting it mildly!

Fun Math Games and Activities Packs for Kindergarten to 5th Grade

Individual packs for Kindergarten to Grade 5 containing fun math games and activities.

Top Tips To Make Homework Fun:

1. work together, 2. use rewards and incentives, 3. make them a snack, 4. make it visual, 5. try different learning apps, 6. set up a homework play date, 7. go outside, 8. turn it into a game, 9. let them play teacher, 10. use a timer, 11. create a special homework space, 12. remember to be positive, 13. get help if you need it.

Thankfully, there are ways of making homework less boring and that are a little bit more fun for your child. Whether they need to practice spelling, learn their times tables or revise for an important exam, our top fun homework ideas will help you magically take the ‘work’ out of homework.

Adults often work best in the company of others, and the same can be said of kids, so why not sit with your child while they’re studying and get on with some of your own work or life admin?

Whether you’re returning emails or doing your online banking, creating a shared workspace and modeling focused work is a great way to spend quality time together while they complete their homework. Win-win!

Quick win : While your child is tackling their fractions homework, you could sit down with them and take a look through your finances.

Rewards and incentives are great when it comes to getting your children to follow your household rules and routines, and homework is no different. Things like stickers or the promise of time on their iPad or games console for slightly older children can all work wonders in getting them to do their homework without a battle.

Quick win: For every few questions they answer they could get a minute of screen time!

Let’s face it: A hungry child is an unfocused, unmotivated and unhappy child.

Most children come out of school ravenous, so let them nibble on a nutritious after-school snack while they get on with homework; things like popcorn, apple slices, grapes, or crackers and cheese are all great snack options.

If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, Active for Life has a list of healthy after-school snack ideas and recipes to try.

Quick win: One of the best brain foods for kids is a nice and crispy apple! So when your child is craving something sweet just cut up an apple and let them munch away.

Help to eliminate the late night ‘Oh, I forgot to do that’, and create a weekly homework chart so your child can see what they have to do each day and check off each ‘to do’ task as it’s been completed.

Again, Pinterest has some great free printables to help keep kids organized. Get them involved by letting them color it, or decorate it with their favorite stickers, and pin it up somewhere at their height, where they will see it easily every day as a reminder. Some exciting new stationery and colorful pens might help too.

Quick win: An easy way to make homework fun is to grab a piece of paper and get your child to draw out and decorate a ‘homework chart’ consisting of 5 days. Stick it on the fridge and add a sticker to each day after they’ve done their homework, when they’ve collected 5 stickers they get a treat!

If your child prefers to be online, there are some great online apps around that children will have fun using, yet encourage learning too. Here are our favorite free math websites for example. Speak to your child’s teacher too and see which apps the children use in school so you can support what they’re doing at home.

Quick win: One of our favorite websites that makes homework fun is Tang Math !

Holding a homework playdate where your child can invite one of their best school buddies over to do homework together can be a great way for them to learn and make sure the work gets done, especially older children in elementary school.

Plus, it’s likely that their parents will be delighted!

Younger children may need a bit more support and guidance but can still gain a lot from the experience of learning together with a friend – think of this as a mini-educational play date for them.

Quick win: Let your child and their friend play for a while, and then get them to work through their homework with the incentive of a yummy ‘ice cream party’ when they’ve completed all of their homework.

If the weather allows, create a comfortable outside study space and allow your child to do their homework outdoors.

The fresh air can help kids with their concentration if they’ve been stuck in a classroom all day, and studies also show that being outside, closer to nature, can increase productivity. The reward of a quick game of Frisbee or a kick-around of a soccer ball between tasks will help them stay motivated too.

Who said home learning had to be boring? If children enjoy what they’re learning, they’re more likely to remember what they’re being taught, so turn their learning into a fun game. Using sweets like Smarties to help with math and number work can turn the experience from a chore into a treat. If they get the right answer, they get to eat some!

Another trick that you can use when your child is learning spellings is to write them in shaving cream or in magnetic letters. It sounds simple but we can guarantee that it will make homework a lot more fun for your child.

These math games for kids and times tables games are a great place to start.

Quick win: If you’re looking for some fun homework ideas then check out this simple multiplication activity you can do at home, it’ll even get in one of your child’s five a day!

Make another fun homework game by creating your own mini-classroom and letting your child step into the role of teacher.

Have your child explain a concept to you as a teacher, as you, or their sibling, play the role of the student. This game works particularly well with subjects that require theory, like Science for example, as it will improve their understanding of the concept and build logic and reasoning skills.

Quick win: Make homework fun by getting your child to choose their favorite teddies and toys and setting them up in their own mini- classroom. Start off with registration, ‘mom’ ‘present’, ‘mr teddy’ ‘here’ etc. You’ll soon notice that your child is growing in confidence regardless of the topic as children love playing teacher!

Some children may have difficulty working for prolonged periods of time without a break, so using a timer can be great for getting them to complete homework without whining. For example, if your child is given 20 math problems for homework, you can say “Complete the first 10 questions, then we’ll take a 5-minute break, then complete the next 10 questions”.

Many children will need a mental break and will work more effectively when given the opportunity to take one. At the end of the task, they get to pick an activity of their choice. If your child gets easily distracted, a timer game can work well to keep them focused on the task in hand.

Quick win: Put the timer on your phone so that your child can see the countdown while they’re working.

A special study space can make homework more fun and help motivate your child to get it done! Choose a space in your house that’s least likely to distract your child, and create simple, organized, and kid-friendly homework.

You could hang up some of their artwork above the desk, and have all their school essentials nearby so everything is close to hand.

Quick win: Make sure that they aren’t surrounded by things that will distract them. Televisions and iPads are a no go at homework time!

Remember to always be upbeat and positive about school and the importance of their homework. Give your child lots of praise and encouragement about how well they’re doing to help them stay motivated and on track.

Quick win: After every homework session, spend five minutes talking through what your child has accomplished. If you’re running out of activities to do, have a look at our list of home learning packs – all free to download.

Homework can be frustrating if your child doesn’t understand the material or gets bored easily. If your child is struggling, get them some expert help!

Quick win: Third Space Learning has plenty of advice on learning math for kids and parents but if you need more support, our primary school math tutors are easy to organize and very affordable.

Do you have students who need extra support in math? Give your students more opportunities to consolidate learning and practice skills through personalized math tutoring with their own dedicated online math tutor. Each student receives differentiated instruction designed to close their individual learning gaps, and scaffolded learning ensures every student learns at the right pace. Lessons are aligned with your state’s standards and assessments, plus you’ll receive regular reports every step of the way. Personalized one-on-one math tutoring programs are available for: – 2nd grade tutoring – 3rd grade tutoring – 4th grade tutoring – 5th grade tutoring – 6th grade tutoring – 7th grade tutoring – 8th grade tutoring Why not learn more about how it works ?

The content in this article was originally written by primary school teacher Sophie Bartlett and has since been revised and adapted for US schools by elementary math teacher Christi Kulesza.

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Your Career• 3 Min read

6th September 2020

Creative Homework Ideas

How can you create homework assignments that build on the day’s lessons and encourage creative, student-led learning? It’s a challenge for most teachers, especially as motivating pupils to complete homework can add a whole extra layer to your lesson plans. But it’s essential to bridge the gap between teacher and student learning –  the skills gained through independent study reinforces knowledge from your class, as well as a host of other benefits:

• Extended learning time – outside of the constraints of the school day, students are free to learn at their own pace and in their own environment.
• Independent learning – vital skills for exam preparation and higher education
• Teaches students to be resourceful and to overcome challenges independently.
• Gives students the freedom to be creative in their learning, gain valuable problem-solving skills and confidence in their own abilities.

Tips For Setting Creative Homework

• Plan independent learning both in and out of the classroom – you can monitor students effectiveness and address issues that may arise in the classroom before they become problematic for pupils at home.
• Don’t leave homework assignment to the end of the lesson, rushing through the task might leave some students confused which inevitably leads to a lower homework completion rate. Write plenty of time for explaining homework assignments into your lesson planning – read our Beginner’s Guide To Lesson Planning here
• Homework should to not too easy nor not too hard, offering pupils a challenge that reinforced the topics learnt during the day
• Give room for creative expression – allowing students to add their own diagrams, decorations or chose their own project topics from a selection. 
• Try using peer or self-assessment to mark homework – a double whammy of reducing your workload and allowing pupils to take control of their own learning.
• Include timings and explicit steps for completing more complicated assignments, especially for pupils that you anticipate might struggle. Comprehension of the task is the biggest hurdle in getting pupils to work on an independent basis.
• Self-driven projects, posters, creative tasks and research are more exciting than standard comprehension tasks and might encourage pupils that find sitting and writing dull or hard to complete the homework set – give students the freedom to learn and be creative in their home study.
• Provide specific instructions and internet safety reminders for research-led assignments. It’s very easy for children to find research overwhelming with a vast amount of information available online. Provide suggested websites and links in your homework to keep things on track!
• Don’t introduce a new topic for homework – keep it to topics that you’ve already covered in class
• Taking note of the subjects that excite and engage your class and set homework accordingly – try keeping dryer topics and  for the classroom so that you can monitor engagement
• Mark work promptly – essential to keep students motivated to complete work in their own time!
• Offering students the opportunity to select the homework that they would like to do from a selection guarantees a higher rate of completion. We’ve seen some teachers create grids or sheets of homework assignments for the pupils to select, or offer baskets of activities for younger children to take home and complete with an adult.

Creative Homework Ideas For All Ages

Coming up with innovative ways for students to reinforce their knowledge at home can be difficult – many of these ideas would be suitable for lots of subjects with a little tweaking!

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30 Spelling Activities for ANY List of Words

• March 6, 2020

We work hard to teach our students the correct way to spell words.  We spend countless hours creating spelling practice activities that are fun and not just writing the word multiple times.  Are you ready to get some of those hours back?!  Take a look at these fabulous EDITABLE Spelling Activities we have created for your students to practice their word lists.

Our Spelling Activities are super simple to use!!!

• Enter your spelling list into the first page of the packet.
• Choose the activities you want to use that week.  (We have 150+ different pages  to choose from!)
• Print those activities.

These spelling activities can be sent home as homework, used in a word work center, or as independent practice. You can find all of our editable spelling activities, (general, seasonal, and holiday-themed) on Education to the Core Premium. Join today as a monthly or annual member for instant access to this resource and thousands more.

* Spelling Activity Line-Up *

1. spelling list.

This is the page where you will type in your spelling words (up to 15 words).  It can be sent home for students to study during the week, as well as for parents to cut apart and use as flashcards.

2. MAGIC WORDS

Write each spelling word in white crayon, then color over with a marker to watch them “magically” appear.

3. ALPHABETICAL ORDER

Write each spelling word in ABC order.

4. RAINBOW SPELLING

5. WRITE A SENTENCE

6. SECRET CODE

7. ROLL A SPELLING WORD

Roll the dice to see which way you are going to practice your spelling words.  Which number did you roll the most?

8. WORD ILLUSTRATIONS

Students choose 4 different spelling words to illustrate. As an extension, can they write a sentence to go with the picture?

9. TRACE WORDS

Practice each word as you trace it with different writing tools.

10. EMOJI SPELLING

11. PATTERN BLOCK SPELLING

12. VOWELS AND CONSONANTS

13. SCRABBLE SPELLING

14. SPIN IT — SPELL IT

15. SPELLING MAZE

16. SPELLING SPIRAL

17. SPELLING WORD SYLLABLES

Students practice separating their spelling words into syllables. Count on fingers, clap your hands, or stomp your feet to see how many syllables are in each word. Then circle the corresponding number.

18. SILLY WRITING

19. PYRAMID SPELLING

20. SPELLING RHYMES

21. SPELLING COLORS

22. WORD SEARCH

For your higher-level kiddos, this word search is great! They write their words either across, down, or as a challenge, diagonal on the grid. Then place random letters among the words. Share with a partner to see if they can find all of your “hidden” words!

23. WORD ART

24. CREATE A STORY

How many spelling words can your students include in a story? Write a short story that makes sense and illustrate it.

25. KEYBOARD WORDS

26. STAMPING SPELLING WORDS

Everybody loves dot markers! Grab a few different colors and stamp your spelling words as you read them.

27. SYNONYMS AND ANTONYMS

For a more challenging activity, connect spelling practice with vocabulary work by finding a synonym and antonym for each spelling word.

28. SIGN LANGUAGE SPELLING

29. How Many Sounds

30. Tic-Tac-Toe Spelling

Perfect for partner spelling activities. Your students can each take a color and play tic-tac-toe with their spelling words.

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10 entertaining homework ideas for online English Language Learners

Did hearing the words, “do your homework,” when you were a child excite you? 

For most of us, the word homework doesn’t conjure up exciting or fun memories. 

Homework was likely one of the last things you wanted to do as a student!

However, what if you could make homework fun for students? What if homework was entertaining? 

In this article, we share some entertaining homework ideas for English language learners to help them improve their English while having fun!

You might be familiar with lots of ESL games and activities for your students , but assigning the right homework can feel overwhelming. 

This is particularly true if you don’t want to burden your students with a tremendous amount of information. 

Have you ever thought about combining games with homework? 

There are many alternative ways to create memorable lessons, such as incorporating karaoke songs to learn English. 

Here are 10 fun and entertaining homework ideas for your ESL students:

• Cafe hopper
• Tiktok star
• Let’s go to the movies
• Hello Mr. Teacher
• Interview a stranger
• Shine like a Karaoke star
• Expert on the loose
• 24 hour challenge
• It’s a wrap!
• Masterchef in the making

1. Cafe hopper

Most people love checking out cafes and this is an easy homework task to assign to your students.  

Have your students visit a variety of cafes as part of their homework. 

Then, consider what they could do for homework in a cafe of their choice.

Here are some fun ideas for turning cafe-hopping into homework:

• Practice ordering in English off of the menu.
• Take a photo of the cafe’s and share the differences and similarities with you in class.
• Speak to a stranger in each cafe in English and ask them some interesting questions about their life.
• Interview the barista about their favorite kind of coffee or beverage.

This is a stress-free homework idea that your students will love, especially if they are coffee or tea lovers!

2. TikTok star

Tiktok is a fun social media application where you can watch videos and songs from creators. You can also watch creators lip-synching to catchy tunes.

Show some fun examples in your class of some famous TikTok songs being lip-synched to by others and practice doing one together.

• For homework, have them choose their favorite song on TikTok.
• They can lip-synch to the song and download the song to their camera album without having to actually post it to TikTok.
• Have them share their creation with you in the next class!

Depending on the age and location of your student, TikTok might not be an option for them. If you are teaching older students or adults , then it might be easier for them to use social media for this homework assignment rather than young children.

If they are too young to use the app, have them find an online video of their favorite song and ask a parent to record them singing!

3. Let’s go to the movies

Going to the movies doesn’t sound like homework, does it? Well, as you might already be discovering, homework doesn’t have to be conventional!

Find some interesting movies that are playing in your students’ area or ask them to watch a movie of their choice in English. 

Tell them that their homework is going to be based on the movie they watch.

Here are some ideas for making going to the movies part of their homework:

• Have them write a summary of the movie or their favorite part.
• Tell them that they have to give you a movie review in your next class.
• Have them act out their favorite part of the movie with a sibling or family member and record it (in English of course!).
• Ask them to make a poster advertising the movie with captions, titles and text to accompany any drawings.

If you are struggling to find movies they can go and watch in the cinema, you can always use these ESL movies and TV shows as a resource. 

Students can also watch movies from the comforts of their homes. 

4. Hello Mr. Teacher!

Students love playing the role of the teacher! 

This can work for in-person or online ESL classes.  

Tell them that as part of the next classroom activity, the first 5 – 10 minutes will be their time to shine as the teacher!

For homework, ask them to:

• Think of one topic that they know a lot about (This could be a sport, musical instrument, game, topic, etc…).
• Have them prepare 5 important things that someone needs to know about their topic.
• Tell them that in their next class they will be the teacher and share their knowledge! (They can even give you homework!).

Have fun with this homework idea and role-play the student where you ask them questions after they finish. 

Your students will love this one!

5. Interview a stranger

This one might need some parent support and guidance if you are teaching children, but having them interview someone is an entertaining homework idea for English language learners.

• It encourages their own voice as they come up with ideas.
• It helps with writing skills as they write out their questions.
• Interviewing encourages conversation and role playing which is a fun way to learn English.

You could have your younger students interview a family member and ask questions related to that family member’s childhood. 

Here are some sample questions you could help your students form:

• What kind of things did you like to do when you were my age?
• What was your favorite thing about school?
• What types of sports did you play when you were young?
• Tell me about what life was like when you were a child.

Have them choose and write out 5-10 questions and come back to class to report on their findings!

6. Shine like a Karaoke star

Who doesn’t like a bit of karaoke? Imagine….singing your heart out to “I love rock n roll” in the privacy of your own home!

You don’t need to go to a karaoke place to actually sing karaoke songs. There are lots of great karaoke songs available online to learn English with your students.

YouTube is a great place to start, just by searching for your favorite song + “karaoke lyrics” in the search bar.

In class, help your student(s) choose a song and task them with finding the online karaoke lyrics to sing along.

Have them sing this for homework! You could even ask a parent to help them record it if they are comfortable with that.

Here are some fun and popular karaoke songs online to learn English:

• “I Will Survive” with Gloria Gaynor
• “Livin’ on a Prayer” with Bon Jovi
• “Summer Nights” with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John
• “Don’t Stop Believin’” with Journey

7. Expert on the loose

There is an expert in all of us, including your students!

In this fun and entertaining homework idea, have your student share their expertise on something!

To add a different dimension to the homework idea, “Hello Mr. Teacher,” task your students to dress up as the expert and make a short speech on their topic of choice.

Here are some examples:

• Harry Potter
• Michael Jordan (to talk about basketball)
• Favorite sports athlete
• Insect scientist
• Astronaut (if your student knows a lot about space)
• Presidential candidate
• Pilot (for students who know a lot about countries)

Even if they are not an expert on the topic, part of the homework assignment could be to do some research and learn more about their chosen field.

You could even ask them to dress up and come to class in the role, ready to share their knowledge with you! 

8. 24 hour English challenge

This one is self-explanatory and incredibly fun!

Set a challenge for your student to only speak in English for 24 hours. 

This means that you might need to get parents involved with the homework assignment, so that they can help out.

The idea is that they have to speak only in English (as much as is possible given their situation) when interacting with family, friends and at school.

Your students might already be immersed in English environments, but, oftentimes, they are speaking their native language at home with family and friends.

Having your students force themselves to only speak in English is challenging and a great way to encourage English outside the classroom.

9. It’s a wrap!

Lots of students love to rap! Rap music is poetic and encourages a lot of ESL language skills that we want to build in our students.

This is an activity that you can model with your students in class and assign it for homework for them to create their own rap.

Again, they can come back to class and rap their new song to you! It might, however, work better with older students who have a good base level of English, to begin with.

Here are some fun homework assignments incorporating rap:

• Create their own rap if they are the creative type
• Find a well known rap online and practice it to present in class
• Assign your students to find a rap online that they sing and record with their friends

10. Masterchef extraordinaire

For the food lovers, creating a homework assignment that includes cooking can be really fun.

Most kids love the idea of cooking, especially if it centers around cooking their favorite food!

When considering this as a homework idea, consider these possible assignments:

• Create and write out a recipe for a unique culinary dish.
• Make a video about the cooking experience.
• Record a tutorial of how to cook something.
• Turn it into a competition if you have multiple students.

Plus, this works with physical and online classrooms. 

Of course, if you have a physical classroom with multiple students, this could be a really fun in-class experience with some homework assignments to accompany it.

Who doesn’t love a food-related assignment? 

If you choose Masterchef extraordinaire, allow your students to share the food they make with the class and encourage lots of conversations in English.

Homework doesn’t have to be boring!

As you can see, homework doesn’t have to be boring! 

Most of your ESL students have a lot to do even outside class, and that’s why assigning homework that doesn’t feel like homework is ideal!

This is an opportunity to get creative, creating excitement for your students to learn English.

If you use some of the homework ideas mentioned here, make sure you document the experience and continue to discover new activities that bring laughter and joy to the classroom. 

And when you are applying to online teaching jobs , be sure to share how you plan to creatively incorporate class assignments and homework for your students!

Enjoy the process and make learning an enjoyable experience for everyone. 

Enjoyed this article? Don't forget to share.

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7 Ways To Make Homework Fun For Back To School

Whether you are heading back to school or have been back for a bit, perhaps you are tired of the same old same old homework. Hopefully, you’re coming back with some new energy. Why not infuse that into creative, new activities that you send home with students to consolidate skills? 

Here’s how to make homework fun!

Start with these free fun homework ideas

Free phonics worksheets & activities.

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Fun homework ideas for the whole year

One of the things that keeps homework from getting stale is to have a variety of activities and approaches. This does three things:

• It keeps students from getting bored with a fill-in-the-blank worksheet every single day
• It provides options for students to draw in different skills and learning styles
• It allows you to practice the same skill in multiple ways. 

Here are some creative ideas to put into the mix. 

Homework bingo

At the beginning of the week give students a bingo card with different activities related to your focus on a particular subject. For example, a phonics bingo card might include activities like: make a list of at least 10 words with the long e sound, sort the list of words into groups based on how the long e sound is spelled, write sentences using 5 long e words, draw pictures of 5 of our long e words and label them, look around your house for long e words (books, labels, sign, clothing, etc.). Instruct students they need to do five activities this week. If a word list, a game, or other resource is useful for completing the activity, you can attach it to the bingo card. You can even use the same card for more than a week. Let students know if they can repeat any activities or have to do all new ones in week 2.

Cootie catchers

Do you remember these folded paper playground games? You might have called them fortune tellers or chatterboxes. Kids still love them, and they are a great way to practice phonics or math. Cootie catchers can be a two-person activity (students can practice with a friend or somebody in their home), but they can also be used individually. 

Make a poster

Have students make a poster about a specific topic or something they learned. For example, students could make a poster illustrating with examples the different ways to spell the oo sound. Hang the posters in the classroom. 

Math card games

Card games can be a fun way to practice math. I’ve used math card games to build math fluency, practice adding on, and come up with different ways to get to the same number, among other things. You can find some step-by-step math card games here. If students don’t have playing cards at home, you can print out number cards to work with. 

Phonics card games

When it comes to card games, math might come to mind first because playing cards have numbers, but you can print word cards for any word list you are using for students to use for phonics card games. You can have students sort the word cards based on certain criteria. Or they can play classic games like Go Fish or Concentration. Some games, like Go Fish, only work with another player, but some like concentration or sorting games can work for individuals. 

I use task cards in lots of ways. I put math task cards in my math station, use them as a morning warm-up, have them available for early finishers — and I use them for homework. Send a stack of them home at the beginning of the week and have students complete them all by the end of the week. 

Mix it up worksheets

I mentioned at the beginning that creative activities saved students from the boredom of worksheets, so I wanted to be clear. I’m not anti-worksheet. Worksheets can make home practice easy on teachers, students, and parents. The key, I think, is to have a variety of options when it comes to worksheets, so students are not doing the same thing day after day. Maybe one worksheet has them fill in the blanks, but another has them unscramble words or match words to a picture or cut and sort. There are so many homework ideas in worksheets alone. 

Need creative and easy homework ideas 

If you were trying to figure out how to make homework fun, I hope one of these homework ideas inspired you. And if you were inspired, but you’re not sure you have the time or energy to pull it off, I’ve got some good news. You don’t have to create it to have creative homework activities. 

Here are two DONE FOR YOU ways to freshen up your homework ideas: 

Phonics homework for the ENTIRE year

You get 100 weeks of engaging, skills-based phonics activities, ready to print and go. They cover blending, segmentation, phoneme manipulation, fluency, vocabulary, and punctuation and give students practice in CVC words, more complex words, digraphs, alternate spellings of many sounds, suffixes, and double consonants. In addition to a variety of skills, there’s a variety of activities too! Easy homework? Done: https://topnotchteaching.com/downloads/fun-phonics-homework/

Top Notch Teaching membership

Looking for ways to make homework fun beyond phonics? The Top Notch Teaching Membership has you covered with done-for-you lessons, activities, and projects you can use for literacy, math, science, PE, and more. No more getting lost down a Google rabbit hole. Instead, you have one place to go for done-for-you printables and digital products you know you can trust. Homework ideas, lesson plans, classroom management? Done: https://topnotchteaching.com/members/

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40 Creative Ways To Make Teaching Division Easier (and More Fun!)

It’s time to divide and conquer!

We hear them mentioned together a lot: multiplication AND division. And they do belong together as inverse operations, as members of the same fact families, and how we constantly use one together with the other. But ask any kid which is harder, and the answer is division every time. So once we build a strong foundation with multiplication, we need to give teaching division special attention. More time. Exploration. Building understanding. And yes, having fun while doing it. Here are 40 different games and activities to help you get there.

40 Ways To Teach Division

1. fair shares are grape demo.

The basis of teaching division is splitting things up into parts, like with fractions. For most kids, this phenomenon occurs early on in real life with sharing. Discuss the idea of sharing in a fair way. Bring in a bunch of grapes and ask two students to come up to the front of the class. Count out six grapes and put them on a plate. Ask the class how many grapes each of the two students should get. Ask what would make it fair. How do they know? Try this with various numbers of grapes and different numbers of students.

An alternative is to have students pair up and give them some cubes and two plastic plates. Have them try to split various numbers of cubes between the two of them. Ask students to share back what they found out. Record these results on the board as division sentences.

2. Share the Pennies

Pair up students and give them a set of 20 pennies and a die. They take turns rolling the die and generating a number. They take that number of pennies and try to divide them evenly between the two of them. Sometimes it comes out even and sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes there’s a remainder. This is a good time to talk about that idea and model how it is recorded. Players record all the division problems they encounter on whiteboards or lined paper.

3. The Ants Divide!

It’s always great to have a read-aloud in math class. Read a picture book about teaching division aloud and discuss it together. A good choice is A Remainder of One by Elinor J. Pinczes. In this story, an army of ants divides up into different formations. You can have students model the problems in the story with dried beans instead of ants as you read aloud. Have them create each formation, and then write the division fact that matches it on a whiteboard.

4. Tiling Division Model

Use tiling squares or real tiles to model teaching division. Give each student a set of tiles. Have them build a 4 x 4 rectangle. Ask how these tiles could be shared evenly between two people? Four people? Eight people? Sixteen people? With each question, they should divide up the tiles evenly and share their answers on a whiteboard by writing a division sentence that matches the model.

5. Egg Carton Jellybean Division Sort

Have students bring in egg cartons from home. Provide about 20 jelly beans for each student. Tell short division stories and have students act them out and solve these problems with their cartons and jellybeans. For example, you might say, “There were 4 sisters and 12 books. How could they share them fairly? How many books would each sister get?”

Model using an egg carton by putting the 12 jelly beans evenly into four of the egg cups in the carton. It becomes clear the answer is 3 books. Try a variety of problems and then let students suggest some.

6. Class Teaching Division

Have the class sit as a group or at desks with whiteboards, markers, and erasers. Call up four students and ask them to stand in a line. Explain that you want to divide them up into two teams. Ask, “How many students should go on each team?” As you do this, have students at desks write a division sentence that matches the action at the front of the room. Discuss what number comes first, second, and third in the problem and how they match what they are seeing. Try this with a variety of numbers of students.

7. Yummy Division

Provide some licorice lace, Skittles, and a paper towel for each student. Write a division problem on the board and ask students to model it with the candy on the paper towel. For example, you write 10 ÷ 5 = ? Students would take 10 Skittles, divide them up into 5 groups, and put a licorice lace circle around each group showing that there are 2 Skittles in each group. Have students suggest problems for the class to try. ADVERTISEMENT

8. What’s on the Back?

Give each student a set of index cards. Write some multiplication facts on the board and have students copy them onto their index cards. Now, ask if they could write a division fact that goes with the multiplication fact. For example, you might write 2 x 6 = 12 on the front. On the back of the card, you would write 12 ÷ 6 = 2. Do at least 10 of these together, then ask students to create some of their own cards.

Students can then partner up and quiz each other with their decks, asking, “What’s on the back?” when they flash a card. If they show the division side, the partner must say the accompanying multiplication fact and vice versa.

9. Operation Station Rotation

Create sets of manipulatives around the room that model a multiplication/division situation. For example, you might put out 5 rows of 5 counters in each row at one station and 3 rows of 6 cubes in each row at another. Label each station with a letter. Students go around the room with a clipboard, lined paper, and a pencil. They write down the letter of the station and then write a multiplication fact and division fact that would match that model, then rotate to a new station. Share back the station results at the end.

10. “Eggcellent” Division

In this activity about teaching division, take colored construction paper and trace egg shapes. Cut out each egg and at the top write a division fact like 8 ÷ 2. On the bottom write the quotient, 4. Do this with all the facts you want to practice. Laminate them. Cut each egg in half with a crooked line. Shuffle these pieces up and put them in a bag. Have students take the bag, pour out the pieces, and put the division puzzles together again.

11. Division Fact Discards

Playing cards are always motivating. Give partners a deck of playing cards. Four cards are dealt to each player. The rest of the deck is placed in the middle. Players take turns picking cards from the deck and adding them to their hands. Anytime a player has two cards that can form a division fact, they put those cards out face up and solve the fact aloud.

For example, if I have a 10 and a 2, I can lay them down and announce, “10 ÷ 2 = 5.” Players keep taking turns drawing cards and laying down division facts until the deck is gone. Whoever has the least cards left in their hand wins.

12. Division Fact Race

Kids love to race. Here’s a fun way to use that and get some practice teaching division. Print out a set of division fact cards or make some with index cards. Give each pair of players a set of cards and a small plastic or matchbox car. Line cards up to form two rows face down from end to end. Use at least 10 cards. These are the lanes the cars will race in. Roll a die to see who goes first. Players take turns advancing their cars onto the next card. They flip the card over and try to solve the problem. If correct, they stay in that space. If incorrect, they go back one space and get to try again on the next turn. First to the end wins the race.

13. How Many Facts Can You Make?

Put a target number on the board like 24. Tell students to take out a lined piece of paper and a pencil. Explain that you will give them two minutes to write as many division facts as they can with the number 24 in them. For example, we might have 24 ÷ 1 = 24, 24 ÷ 2 = 12, 24 ÷ 8 = 3, 24 ÷ 3 = 8, and so on. After two minutes, have students share their results. Write these on the board until all the answers are up. Then ask a student to come up and write a new target number. 

14. Division Concentration

Everyone likes the game Concentration. It tests not only your memory but your math skills, at least in this version. Provide each student with a set of division fact cards and a set of blank index cards. Using the index cards, students should create a set of answer cards for each of the fact cards. Players can choose whatever facts they want but must have at least 30 cards. Four players get together and lay out one complete set of cards, both fact cards and answer cards all face down. The four then play Concentration with that deck. When finished, they switch to someone else’s deck.

15. Roll the Facts

Give players a pair of dice, a pencil, and a piece of lined paper. Each player rolls the dice and records the two numbers as two multiplication facts. For example, if I roll a 3 and a 2, I would write 3 x 2 = 6 and 2 x 3 = 6. Underneath these I should write the corresponding division facts: 6 ÷ 3 = 2 and 6 ÷ 2 = 3. If you get numbers you’ve already used, you roll again until you get new ones.

16. Sticky Dot Division Cards

Purchase a few sets of colorful sticky dots. On pieces of card stock or construction paper, arrange sticky dots in arrays that model multiplication/division facts. For example, to show 12 ÷ 3, make 3 rows with 4 dots in each row. Have students make these on pieces of card stock with the dots on one side and the division fact written on the back. Once students have made a set of at least 12 cards, have them meet with a partner to play a game. The first player flashes a card with dots showing for two seconds. The second player must try to quickly guess the division fact and answer. The lead player takes the card out and shows both sides to check the answer. Have students take turns flashing cards and working through the deck.

17. Rocky Division

Bring or have students bring in small, interesting stones or rocks. Each student should have at least three. On the board, draw three large ovals. In the first one, write a set of dividends. In the second a set of divisors. The third is a set of quotients. Students copy these onto a whiteboard and then place their rocks, one on a dividend, one on a divisor, and one on a quotient that belong together. These should be the three parts of a division fact. As they remove the rocks, they circle those numbers and cannot use them again. Repeat and see how many combinations they can find.

18. Pizza Stories

For this teaching division activity, draw a large rectangle on the board and have students do the same on individual whiteboards. This is a Sicilian-style pizza, which is rectangular. Tell a pizza story word problem like, “I have this pizza, which I cut into 8 pieces.” Draw lines to show 8 equal pieces. Students should do the same. Continue, “I have 3 friends coming over. How many pieces can each of us have?” (8 ÷ 4 = 2 pieces each). Students should write a division problem that matches the story and find the answer. Take turns telling Pizza Stories that have everyone dividing.

19. Spot the Error

As students work on long division, it can be difficult to keep columns and numbers straight. To help, give each student graph paper to do the division work on. If you don’t have graph paper, suggest students turn a piece of lined notebook paper sideways and draw lines with a ruler to make a piece of graph paper. To reinforce this idea, write some long division problems on the board and solve them, only make your columns of numbers crooked so answers come out incorrectly. See if students can spot the errors.

20. Fact Family Division

Draw a triangle on the board, and in each corner make a circle. In each circle write a dividend, divisor, and quotient that go together. Have students do the same on a whiteboard. Invite students to write all of the fact members of the family, both multiplication and division, on their boards. Discuss together and then ask students to come up and create some of their own on the board while other students erase their boards and try the new family.

21. Pirate Treasure

Draw a treasure map and write at least 12 division problems on the map with answers. All are correct except for one. This is where the treasure is hidden. Students solve the problems on a separate piece of paper and cross out each correct problem until they find the incorrect one.

22. Run Out of Room

In this activity about teaching division, get students up on their feet acting out these division problems with remainders. Clear an area in the classroom with everyone sitting at their desks. Tape a large rectangle on the floor and make a tape square in each corner. Ask for a volunteer to record the division facts they see acted out on the board. Also, have students at their desks take out whiteboards to write the problems they see.

Call up eight students to stand in the middle of the rectangle. Explain that you are going to divide them up evenly. Send two each to the four corners. The writer should write 8 ÷ 4 = 2. There were eight students, they divided into four corners, and there were two in each corner. Ask for one more student to come up. Now there are nine students. Divide them up again into the four corners except for the one remainder. Explain to students how a division problem with remainders is written as you write this one out on the board. Try a few, some with remainders, some without. Then ask the class for some equations both ways. Act them all out and write them all down.

23. Share and Share Alike

Put a set of cubes out for pairs of students. Each should also have a whiteboard and marker. Have students work together to divide up the cubes as many ways as they can think of and record these with division sentences on the whiteboard. They can start with any number of cubes they like and change that amount as they go. Begin with a total of 30 cubes and add more if needed.

Then at your signal, two groups combine so four students are now doing the same task together. After using the 30 cubes, combine both sets to work with 60 cubes.

24. Damult Dice Division

Dice, or random number generators as they are sometimes called, always make numbers more interesting. It must be the aspect of chance. It definitely works in this game.

Partner students up and give them three dice. They take turns rolling the dice to create division problems. They create these by putting two of the dice together to form a two-digit number, which they then divide by the other number. For example, if you roll 6, 4, and 4, you could make 64 ÷ 4 = 16. The highest quotient in each round wins. Students get 10 bonus points if there is no remainder.

25. Quotient Call-Out

Provide each student with a copy of a 100s chart and a set of crayons or colored pencils. Give directions to have students color and locate quotients for the division fact you call out. When you call out 25 ÷ 5, students should color the number 5 on their charts. This is a great way to emphasize teaching division and multiplication patterns and how they relate to each other by calling out all of the facts with a certain divisor in a row. For example, you might ask for 7 ÷ 7, 14 ÷ 7, 21 ÷ 7, and so on. You could call them in order or mix them up a bit.

26. Who Am I?

For this activity about teaching division, partner students up and put a deck of division fact cards down in between them. Each student takes a turn picking a card. They do not look at the card but rather hold it against their forehead so their partner can see the card. The partner tells the lead player the quotient for that fact. For example, if I pick a card that says “10 ÷ 5,” my partner would say, “You’re 2.” Now I have to guess the dividend and divisor on the card by saying, “I’m 10 ÷ 5.” There are sometimes many more ways than one to make a given quotient, however.

To make this a little easier, it is helpful to give an additional clue, like in this case, “The dividend is less than 12 and it’s even.” With each missed guess, give another clue. This keeps both players thinking and can really be fun while developing strong mental math and listening skills.

27. Find That Division Fact

Here’s a simple game you can play with even just a spare five minutes. Write about 20 quotients on the board. Have two students come up. Explain that you will call out a division fact. Players must point to the quotient that matches your fact as quickly as possible. Whoever points to the fact first wins that round and stays at the board. Keep sending players up until everyone has a turn.

28. Division Flower Garden

Math and art—they go together. Here’s a decorative way to practice a set of division facts. Draw a flower with 12 petals and a circle in the center. Write the divisor for a division fact family you want to practice in the center circle. Draw 12 petals and number them 1 through 12. These are the dividends. On the outside of these petals, draw larger petals and write the quotients of the center and the first petal. Now color. Makes a great math display. Assign different fact families to different students so you can have a complete garden.

29. Spinner, Spinner, Division Winner

Make a simple spinner with a paper clip and a pencil. Start by having students draw a circle. Tracing around a coffee-can lid is an easy way to do it. Divide the circle up into 10 sections using a ruler. Color the sections and write numbers 1 through 10 on them. Place the paper clip and pencil down in the middle of the circle. Flick the paper clip so it spins. Whatever number it points to is your divisor. Spin again twice. Add those spins together to form your dividend. Divide and that is your score for the round. Your partner does the same.

The highest (or lowest) quotient wins that round. To make it more fun and motivating, put out a set of 20 marbles or cubes. As a player wins a round, they get a cube or marble. Whoever has the most after all is taken is the winner.

30. Dastardly Division Thief

Ask students to come to the board and write a division fact with a quotient. Take turns until you have at least 12 facts on the board. Then ask students to hide their eyes while you erase one number from each problem. Make a monster noise and open and close the door and say, “Open your eyes. The Dastardly Division Thief was just here and he stole some of the numbers. Who can help us replace them?” Allow students to come up and replace the missing numbers until all division problems are correct. The anticipation is great every time you do this one!

31. Anchor Aweigh!

It’s always a good idea to do an anchor chart. Brainstorm with the class everything they know about division and write it on a large chart paper or bulletin board paper with colorful markers. Draw a boat around each idea. Prompt any ideas that might be missing. Make sure the division signs are there, names of division elements like divisor, dividend, and quotient, proper form for writing division problems, array examples, and so on. As you continue your study, ask each day, “Are there any new division ideas for our chart?”

32. The Multiplication Division Trail

Give partner groups a set of division cards and a die. Players take 20 division fact cards and lay them end to end face down in a path or trail on the desk. Each player chooses a token like a colored cube and places it at the start of the trail. The first player rolls a die and moves that many spaces on the trail. They flip the card and state a multiplication problem that is related to the division fact. For example, if I flip over 14 ÷ 7, I would say, “2 x 7 = 14.” If they are correct, they stay on that spot. If they miss, they go back the number of spaces they had just rolled. When they leave the space going backward or forward, they turn the card back down again. First to the end of the trail wins.

33. Odd and Even Answers

Give two players a pack of playing cards. Players take turns drawing two cards from the deck. They arrange these cards to create a division problem if they can. Face cards are worth 10 and aces are 1. They answer the problem, and if the answer is odd, they keep the cards. If the answer is even, they can put the cards in the discard pile. Players continue to draw cards, make facts, and discard cards they used to make facts. The player with the least number of cards at the end wins.

34. Knockout!

Split the class into two groups and have them line up in two lines facing the board. Write two division problems, one for the first group and one for the second. The first player from each group answers the question for that group. Correct answers score a point for the team. It is not a race. It’s about accuracy.

If a player gets stuck on a problem, they may “phone a friend,” once. The friend cannot give them the answer but can give them a clue. After the clue, the player gets one more chance to answer. Play continues until all have had a turn. Points are totaled and a winner for that round is declared.

35. Division Stories

Give each student a piece of drawing paper, pencil, crayons, and/or colored pencils. Ask students to draw a picture that shows a division problem happening with the division problem underneath. They should then write a two- or three-sentence word problem that goes with it. Students should write the answer but cut out a square of black construction paper and tape it on the paper covering the answer. Just tape the top edge of the black paper square so it acts as a flap that can be lifted. These make a great interactive bulletin board that kids can try their hand at.

36. Dividing Up the Money

Get a set of play money and a spinner with numbers 1 through 10 on it. Group students into teams of three or four. The group takes turns spinning the spinner. Whatever number comes up, that’s the amount of dollars the player should take from the set of bills. After everyone has three turns, the money is put together and counted. Then the group has to figure out how to divide the money up evenly, writing the division sentence as proof they are correct. Remainders are possible and should be noted.

37. Close Relatives

Teaching fractions and teaching division are closely related. With fractions, you are often dividing whole numbers into smaller pieces. For example, if you take one apple and divide it evenly between four people, each person gets ¼. Give partners a set of fraction cards. As they take a card from the set, they should write it as a division fact. For example, if they pull a ½ card, they should write 1 ÷ 2. This helps build a conceptual understanding of how these ideas are related.

38. Teaching Division Kaboom

Get a set of wooden craft sticks and write division facts on them, except for a few sticks on which you write “Kaboom!” Put the sticks with the facts side down in a can. This is a fun activity for a small group. Students take turns pulling sticks from the can. If they get the fact correct, they keep the stick and grow their collection. If they get it wrong, they put it back in the can. And if they pull a “Kaboom” stick, they put their whole collection back in the can.

39. Calculator Division Checker

Give students simple calculators. It’s good to give your class practice with how calculators work and how they can be useful in checking math work. Call out a division fact like 45 ÷ 5. Students input the numbers with the ÷ button in between, but they don’t press the = button. Wait 30 seconds while students think about the answer. Then ask for possible answers. After everyone has a chance to respond, tell students to press the = button to check their answers. Let students have turns leading this game.

40. Division Bingo

Provide each student with a blank 4 x 4 grid. Direct students to fill in the chart with their choice of division facts. Tell students you will be playing Division Bingo together. You will call out a quotient and they must find a fact on their paper that can be answered by that quotient. If they have it, they color it in with a light-colored color pencil or crayon so we can still see the facts. When they get three in a row in any direction on the board, that’s a Bingo. They announce the three facts and the answers. If correct, it’s an official bingo.

You can expand on this game by using a 100-division fact chart. Keep playing on that sheet and play for as many bingos as you like.

Love these activities for teaching division? You’ll want to check out our roundup of multiplication activities too.

Plus, if you want more advice for teaching division, find out how other teachers tackle it and ask for advice in the we are teachers helpline group on facebook ..

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