Home learning resources

Children don't just learn in the classroom. They love finding new information and learning new skills. wherever they are.

There are lots of free educational resources to help support children's learning outside school. 


BBC Bitesize

Resources, activities, videos, quizzes and lots of practical advice for parents, teachers and young learners.

How to help children learn at home

Keep a routine.

Get up and go to bed at the same time each day.

Have regular meal times.


Turn off electronic devices,including the t.v. at least an hour before bedtime.

You know your child best.

Avoid forcing them into lengthy planned activities if they naturally respond better to a mix of shorter activities.

Keep active - your child should be active for at least 3 hours a day in total.


It's good to get some fresh air every day.

If you do not have a garden find your nearest park or take a walk to the post box or shops.

Activities to increase physical exercise - play hide and seek,do star jumps,make an obstacle course,play music and have a dance off.


Get involved in learning with your child.

Make things together, create projects the whole family can be involved in.

Be supportive and encourage with praise, even for the smallest achievements.


Mental health and wellbeing is important.

Don't be too hard on yourself or your child.

Take time to relax and reflect and seek professional advice if you need to.


NHS Every Mind Matters for more tips on mental health and wellbeing


Advice for working parents 

NSPCC tips and advice for families working and educating from home

Best ways to learn at home

5 ways to learn at home

Parentkind

support and resources for parents and ideas for homeschooling

Brain Breaks

resources to help children concentrate with relaxing or energizing activities 

home learning information and resources
Early years and primary learning

Oak National Academy

Oak National Academy provides free video lessons, slides and worksheets to support teachers and pupils to keep learning.

Learning to talk

Chat,Play, Read. Tips to help with speech development.


Orchard Toys

A range of free, printable worksheets and activities that will keep your little ones busy for hours!

Words for Life

Split up by age group below, you will find ideas and guidance for simple activities that will engage your children at home, while also benefiting their reading, writing and language development.

You'll be able to access free reading and writing resources, audiobooks, videos, competitions and reading challenges


Scholastic UK

have a wealth of practice books, activities and downloadable resources available on the Home Learning Hub, including FREE home learning packs for Early Years, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 children.

Tiny Happy People - BBC

Simple activities and play ideas and find out about their amazing early development.


Look, Say, Sing, Play - Brain-building tips | NSPCC

The NSPCC has teamed up with Vroom™ to give you some fun and easy tips to help you bring even more Look, Say, Sing and Play into your daily routine with your baby.

twinkl

twinkl, the online education resource and learning site 


PhonicsPlay

subscription required to access online phonics resources

Brain POP

Free access for families for activities and tips


Oxford Owl for Home

Lots of free resources for Primary age.

BBC CBeebies

Range of activities for Early Years


DK Find Out

Activities and quizzes.

Sumdog

Provide personalised maths and spelling practice for your kids with Sumdog. Sign up for FREE full access to Sumdog with the closure of schools in the UK.


YouTube Free School 

art, literature and natural science videos for kids

Classroom Secrets       

free home learning packs and other free resources 

 

Secondary School learning

Futurelearn

Free to access 100s of courses, only pay to upgrade if you need a certificate in your name (own account from age 14+ but younger learners can use a parent account).

Seneca

For those revising at GCSE or A level. Tons of free revision content. Paid access to higher-level material.

NCC Home Learning

Over 350 further education courses in a range of subject areas for students who want to study flexibly in a home learning environment.


Openlearn

Free taster courses aimed at those considering Open University but everyone can access it. Adult level, but some such as nature and environment courses could well be of interest to young people.

Big History Project

Aimed at Secondary age. Multidisciplinary activities.


GoConqr

Creating, discovering and sharing a range of learning resources covering countless topics. Created on a crowd-sourced community library by students and teachers.

Quizlet

From flashcards to help you learn French to games that make it easy to understand history, you can use a variety of tools to conquer any challenge.


Memrise

Memrise is a language learning app that is the opposite of textbook learning: it’s enjoyable and effective. 

SnapRevise

For GCSE and A Levels, A monthly fee per subject is charged with package discounts available.


S-Cool

Free revision guides, question banks and resources for GCSE and A Levels.

National Geographic Kids

Activities and quizzes for younger kids.

Geography Games

Geography gaming!

SEND learning

Dyslexia Academy

The Dyslexia Academy supports homeschooling for families.

Speech and Language Portal

Free speech and language advice, resources and activities.


Autism West Midlands

View and download their free visual resources that can be used to help improve communication and understanding.

Inclusive Resources

Sensory Projects free educational resources bank


TechAbility

SEND specific hardware and software aids for home learning

Council for disabled children

Supporting children with learning disability/ASD coping with Covid-19 isolation


Portage

Portage is a home-visiting educational service for pre-school children with SEND and their families.

Specialist Classroom

A range of specialist subjects for students with additional needs

BBC Bitesize SEND

Ideas and resources for parents of children and teenagers with special education needs and disabilities.

Digital Learning

Ted Ed

All sorts of engaging educational videos.

Crash Course 

YouTube videos on many subjects.


The Kids Should See This

Wide range of cool educational videos.

Blockly

Learn computer programming skills - fun and free.


Scratch

Creative computer programming.

Tynker

coding website for kids

Literacy and Language

Sandwell Libraries

Fantastic free resources at your local library. Borrow a book to read at home, use the computers to do homework and play games, look out for events and author visits. Use BorrowBox to access library eBooks and eAudiobooks, without even leaving the house! 

Join online or visit your nearest library


Duolingo

Learn languages for free. Web or app.

British Council

Resources for English language learning.

MrBruff

GCSE English Language YouTube tutorials.


Words for Life

Access free reading and writing resources, audiobooks, videos, competitions and reading challenges.

Time Together booklet support for multilingual families at home

BookTrust Home Time

Enjoy storytime with free online books and videos and daily story sessions.


How to Train your Dragon - Cressida Cowell

Reading How to Train your Dragon, a chapter a day as well as writing tips and drawings and other stories.

Mr Salles Teaches English

Find out how to dramatically improve your grade at GCSE. 


Roald Dahl

Lots of activities,games and Roald Dahl inspired things to do

Julia Donaldson 

Author of The Gruffalo, Stick Man and many more children's favourites. Free activitiy packs to download as you read the books


Speech and Language

communication and language resources for parents and professionals

Universally Speaking

Resources for ages and stages of communication development

Maths and Science

Times Tables Rock Stars

Get up to 60 days free full access to Times Tables Rock Stars while the schools are closed due to Coronavirus. They offer effective daily practice of times tables for those of primary school age.

Primrose Kitten

GCSE revision and YouTube tutorials from Primrose Kitten.


Corbetts Maths

Primary to GCSE revision worksheets and cards, 5-a-day and videos, including Further Maths. 

Hegarty Maths

Tips to smash GCSE maths and revision videos.


Topmarks

A website full of fantastic maths games for children aged three to 14.

I See Maths

Online maths lessons.


Crest Awards

Science awards you can complete from home.

Free Science Lessons

For GCSE science revision and YouTube tutorials.


Natural History Museum

Resources, stories and news from the Natural History Museum

Stargazing

Top tips on stargazing in towns and cities

Let's get active

Go Play Sandwell

Free play opportunities for children of all ages in Sandwell


18 Ways to enjoy the Outdoors

BBC Tiny Happy People has lots of ideas for outdoor and indoor activities to keep young children active and engaged with the world around them. 

BBC Supermovers

Interactive videos to support with KS1 and KS2 Maths, Literacy and PSHE and PE Learning.  Great for times tables as will as videos that are just for fun.


Go Noodle

Hundreds of ‘brainercise’ dancing, strength and mindfulness videos as well as videos that are just for fun

Premier League Stars

Free, curriculum based activities to educate and entertain children at home. 


NHS & Change for Life – 10 minute Shake Up Games

10-minute bursts of fun and a chance to move around with familiar Disney characters.

LTA Youth – Tennis at Home

The Lawn Tennis Association have provided a large number of activities to help kids develop their tennis skills at home both mentally and physically. 


The Scouts 

Indoor and outdoor activities, adventures, open to all abilities, learn new skills and make new friends

Woodland Trust

Build dens. Spot wildlife. Make natural art. Woodland Trust has plenty of ideas to help families enjoy woods and the great outdoors all year round.


National Trust

50 things to do before you're 11 3/4

Muddy Puddles

Muddy Puddles have created “Home Learning” lesson plans which focus on the activities that your children can enjoy indoors or in the garden. 


Forestry England

Bring the outside in, with Forestry England indoor and outdoor activities and games.

RSPB Fun Activities

Lots of activities to get families to connect with nature

Nature Tots

Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust wildlife activities programme for kids. Check website to find out what is happening at the local nature reserves

Things to do and things to make

Sandwell Museums

What's on in the museums including activities and events for families.

Dudley Canal Trust

Boat trips, holiday events and activities for families.


Tinkercad

All kinds of making.

The Artful Parent

Good, free art activities.


The Imagination Tree

Creative art and craft activities for the very youngest.

Draw with Ed Vere

‘How to draw’ tutorials from picture book author and illustrator, and Born Free Foundation artist in residence, Ed Vere. His first lesson showed how to draw a lion.


Red Ted Art

Easy arts and crafts for little ones.

Hobbycraft Daily Kids’ Craft Club

Daily craft activities for kids, with a different theme every day, such as rainbows, fairies and nature. 


Blue Peter Badges

If you have a stamp and a nearby post box.

Toy Theater

Educational online games.

iDEA Awards

Digital enterprise award scheme you can complete online.


Free Virtual Tours of World Museums, Educational Sites & Galleries For Children

Explore the world at your fingertips…. Here’s a comprehensive list of virtual tours you can take with your children, adventure all over the world from the confines of your own home. 

Gandey Circus Schools Resources 

It features a variety of worksheets designed for early years to key stage 2. The pages have been designed to provide resources and activity ideas that can be used in the classroom to support learning.


South Staffs Water

South Staffs Water have developed some online activity books.

Natural History Museum

Try this at home activities and things to make indoors and outdoors


CPRE Countryside Charity

Discover the countryside. Take part in activities

How to become a Wildlife expert in your own Garden

Are you mad about wildlife? Find out how to spot wildlife in your back garden or local park, how to attract more of it and how to give animals a helping hand.

Page last reviewed: 23/03/2023

Actions

Get in touch with us

Family Information Service

family_information@sandwell.gov.uk
Back to top