Homeschool Planning Ideas for April
Looking for some fun learning ideas for April? I have a list for you! Here you’ll find a collection of resources to help you plan your homeschool activities and learning in April.
I’ve included links to articles containing unit study ideas, fun holidays, and famous April birthdays. You’ll also discover bucket list ideas, journal prompts, art prompts, and more.
In addition, you’ll see links to helpful articles related to seasonal spring activities.
Bookmark this page for reference and come back each year for new ideas!
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April Unit Study Ideas: Fun Holidays
Each month has designated awareness holidays, and these can be a great way to introduce your kids to a new experience or get them to try something new. They can also be used to spend additional time focused on a particular area of interest.
Here’s my list of unit study ideas to incorporate in your homeschool in April.
What Can I Learn Today: April Homeschool Ideas
This article offers suggestions for learning topics related to that month. Use the specific suggestions given, or research additional people or topics in a particular category.
You can expose your kids to books, music, poetry, people, and careers they might not otherwise encounter, just through choosing a few to read about or watch a quick video on each month.
The learning suggestions are grouped in the following categories:
- Read Aloud Book Suggestions
- Movie/Book Combos
- Poetry
- Classical Music
- Quotes
- Artists (birthdays in April)
- Athletes (birthdays in April)
- Authors (birthdays in April)
- Composers (birthdays in April)
- Engineers (birthdays in April)
- Inventors (birthdays in April)
- Presidents (birthdays in April)
- Scientists (birthdays in April)
- Interesting People (birthdays in April)
- Unusual Occupations
- Animals
- Plants (seasonal related)
- World Landmarks
- Games
- Crafts
- Study Skills
April Fun Learning Ideas
Each category can open up discussion of history, science, art, entrepreneurship, relationships, and the list goes on. The categories I chose to use this year are as follows.
- birthday of the month
- invention of the month
- country of the month
- life skill of the month
- character trait of the month
April Country Study – Italy
These mini-unit studies covering 12 different countries are a great way to expose your kids to the beauty and culture of countries around the world.
Using video, engaging books, games, and maps, kids of all ages can get a taste of the uniqueness of different cultures, along with understanding our fundamental similarities as humans.
Try out a sample of France from my free resource library. You can purchase the full pack of 12 countries from my Etsy shop.
April Bucket Lists
Bucket lists are one of my favorite lists to make. I also love to read what’s on other people’s bucket lists! Here is a list of ideas for your April Bucket List.
April Prompts for Three Things Thursday
If you use a Three Things Thursday prompt in your classroom or homeschool as part of a morning meeting discussion or individual writing activity, here is a list of prompts to consider for April.
April Motivation for Kids
Each month’s quote comes from a famous historical person who was born in that month. I’ve included resources for further learning, and conversation ideas around that person’s life or ideas.
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou – author, poet, and civil rights activist (Born April 4, 1928)
Resources to learn more about Maya Angelou
- Who Was Maya Angelou? by Ellen Labrecque
- Maya Angelou Facts & Worksheets from KidsKonnect
- Maya Angelou: I’m a Rainbow in Somebody’s Cloud (YouTube – Children’s Defense Fund)
Conversation about Maya Angelou
Why do you think Maya Angelou said that people will never forget how you made them feel? Can you think of a time that someone made you feel valued or special in some way? Use this monthly motivation to remind you to think about how your tone or body language affects the way you make someone feel.
April Fun Journal Prompts
Each day prompts for a list of three things. The first prompt of each month is “3 things you’re thankful for.” This is a gratitude exercise to get them in a mindset of remembering to be thankful. Then at the end of each month is a prompt for “3 favorite things about this month.” The purpose of this is to urge them to reflect upon what brings them joy or delight.
April Art Prompts
These simple drawing prompts are a low-key way to encourage students to create a habit of sketching and drawing.
How to Use the Prompts
First, decide on how frequently you want to use them. Daily, weekly, or even monthly if you prefer.
Next, decide on the size you will recommend. My favorite way to do this is in small 1-1/2 inch square boxes, requiring students to keep their drawing simple. You may wish to limit the size to 3 inch squares or a 5.5″x 8.5″ half-letter page size.
Finally, decide on the allowed art supplies. The simplest form is to allow only pencil sketches. My preference is to allow colored pencils so kids who love color can let their creativity shine.
Suggestions for using these simple drawing prompts:
- bell-ringer activity
- daily or weekly sketch practice
- year-long creative project to save as a keepsake
- activity during read-aloud times
- early finish activity
15 Simple Art Prompts for April
- dog
- cake
- chair
- bird
- earth
- panda
- balloons
- lightbulb
- nail polish
- tulip
- cookie jar
- headphones
- paper clip
- jump rope
- teapot
You can also download a full school year’s worth of 180 prompts to make this a daily activity or choose your favorites and make this a weekly activity.
April Activity and Daily Checklist
Grab a Gardening Fun list to inspire you and your kids to grow something this month. You’ll find the download in my resource library.
In my Etsy shop, I also have a complete set of monthly themed checklists with an activity for each month. The April activity includes this gardening fun list.
April 30-Day Challenge
30-day challenges are highly popular in the health and fitness arena. You can pick pretty much any exercise and make a 30-day challenge of it. In the healthy eating realm, cutting out junk food, sugar, or soda is common.
Beyond the physical challenges, though, you can find challenges inspiring you to spend time cultivating a hobby, decluttering your home, or learning something new.
Try one of these 30-Day Challenges in April:
Whole30 challenge OR a list-a-day challenge
For a list of 25 challenge ideas, read 30-Day Challenges to Try This Year.
April Character Trait Study
The character trait focus for April is optimism.
Find suggestions for books, movies, video content, activities and more to encourage optimism this month in my Character Counts series.
Character Counts: Encouraging Optimism
April Fruit of the Spirit Study
March’s fruit of the spirit character lesson focus is on gentleness. Encourage your teen to discover what the Bible has to say about gentleness with scripture references and questions for reflection.
April Encouraging Proverb
It’s time to return again to thinking about our words. They have such power in our homes. Read this verse every morning. Tape it up on your bathroom mirror or above your kitchen sink. Pray for God to guard your tongue as you seek to teach, train, and enjoy your children. Those relationships are precious and your harsh words will not soon be forgotten. Gentleness in the face of anger requires a self-control that comes from the Holy Spirit and is pleasing to God.
A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.
Proverbs 15:1
Download a free list of proverbs to cover the whole school year from my resource library.
April Pray Around the World Country List
To pray for every country in one year, you’ll need to pray for 16-17 countries each month. I’ve assigned the countries alphabetically to each month of the year. However, by praying for one country every weekday you can actually cover every country over the course of a school year if your summers are hectic and you prefer to organize it that way.
You can download my free calendar for April to pray for countries of the world, along with a few questions for your kids to learn a little bit more about a country of their choice.
April Focus Word
Perfect to use on a bulletin board or other display board, my set of monthly focus words provides one word to reflect on and prioritize each month of the year. Visit the free resource library to download your free printable pack of 12 words.
April Scripture Card
If one of your goals is to memorize more scripture this year, try using my monthly scripture cards to memorize twelve Bible verses over the course of the year. The scripture word of the month for April is “dependence,” and the verse comes from Romans 9:16.
“So then, it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God who shows mercy.”
You can download a set of twelve scripture cards from my free resource library and begin to memorize Romans 9:16 this month.
Additional April Resources for Homeschool Moms
Encourage Your Kids in April
Praise them to others.
Telling someone else about how great your kid is (within their hearing) can be even more encouraging than telling your child directly. When you honestly share how much you appreciate or admire some quality in your child, they will feel seen and valued in a unique way.
Consider some of these things and see if any of them apply to your child.
- hard work ethic
- honesty
- ability to get along with others
- bravery in trying something new
- perseverance or persistence
- sense of humor
- patience with kids of differing ages and abilities
- appreciation for beauty
- dedication to a team
- confidence in being themselves
- enthusiasm for life
- attention to detail
- seeing the best in others
- courage in the face of obstacles
- ability to problem solve
- creativity
- compassion toward people or animals
There are so many more qualities and characteristics worthy of praise. Encourage your child’s positive character traits by praising them to others.
APRIL ENCOURAGEMENT FOR YOUR KIDS: Praise them to others
If you’d rather choose a different way of encouraging your kids in April, read this article: 10 Practical Ways to Encourage Your Kids This Year
Fun Online Games for April
If your kids love games, there are a lot of opportunities for them to learn while they play! Choose a game of the month for them to try out—or have the whole family play either collaboratively or competitively.
APRIL ONLINE GAME: Worldle
Pick your own game for April from my list of 50 Fun Online Games for Students.
Life Skills Focus for April
Every so often, I encounter something that I thought my kids knew how to do…but they definitely do not. To make sure we’re covering a variety of life skills, I like to focus on one or two things each month.
APRIL LIFE SKILLS FOCUS: Financial literacy
To coincide with tax day, we will focus on financial literacy in April. Depending on the ages of your children, you may want to talk about saving, budgeting, taxes, cost of living, investing, or any number of financial topics.
You can read my extensive list of life skills to teach your kids if you want ideas of more specific tasks to tackle in April: 140 Essential Life Skills to Prepare Your Teen for Adulthood.
Helpful Blog Posts to Read in April
April Homeschool Planning & Routines
The possibilities really are endless. If your kids are interested in nature, plan to incorporate a mini-unit study of one plant or tree each month. Try listening to a specific type of music each month, trying out a new game, recipe or podcast every month of the year.
This collection of ideas is intended to provide inspiration only. Obviously, there are far more activities and learning opportunities than you could fit into one month. Pick and choose a few things that sound fun to you or your kids and see what sparks interest in them.
Visit my homeschool resources page for monthly unit study ideas, projects, and homeschool planning help!
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How to Homeschool in April
