Favorite Homeschool Motivations

Written By: The Good and the Beautiful Published On:

Motivating children can be challenging! In this blog post and video, Jenny Phillips shares some of her favorite homeschool motivations that aren’t screen time. Learn unique, fun ideas and gain homeschool tips to get your kids excited for learning!

Ways to Motivate Children

  • Light a candle to start each lesson
  • Give them a foot bath
  • Paint their nails
  • Do a fun hairdo (if you can!)
  • Gift them educational activity books or kits, such as a butterfly-growing kit, an ant farm, or a geode-cracking kit
  • Throw a poetry party
  • Set up a homeschool tent
  • Promise them a hamster (or other pet)
  • Plan theme days
  • Allow your children educational breaks
  • Take trips to a zoo or aquarium
  • Host a s’mores roast, slip ‘n’ slide party, taffy pull, caramel apple activity, or backyard campout
  • Take your child on a one-on-one date
Person applying red nail polish to another person's nails on a light wooden surface. | The Good and the Beautiful

Alternatives to Screen Time

Hello! As many of you homeschoolers are getting ready to start a new school year or have just recently started, I wanted to share some of my favorite homeschool motivations that are not screen time. The promise of screen time if your child behaves or does their schoolwork can be really effective, and honestly, if the screen time is not violent, inappropriate, or excessive, and it’s something that your child is not already doing regularly throughout the day, then it can be a good motivation if used in moderation, as you see fit. I have and sometimes still do use screen time to motivate my kids. But I have also seen great benefits to using other rewards and also reducing or eliminating screen time from our home at times. I will jump right in with my ideas! 

  • Decorative lantern with candles inside against a blurred green background

  • 1. Lighting a Candle

    At the time of this video, one of my children was struggling with wanting to do language arts. He loved it once we got going, but he just resisted starting. One thing that I did to motivate him was really simple, but really effective, and it got him started without complaining. It was simply to light a candle to start each lesson. I bought a huge candle and a lantern holder with a door that he got to set the candle in. This was so fun for him to just be able to use a match and light it, and it put him in a good mood to start our lesson.

  • 2. Spa Treatment

    Something that I used to motivate my girls to get them in a better mood, or to start doing homeschool when they were younger, or just when they were having a hard time in homeschool, was to give them a foot bath. They really loved it. I would just fill a bowl with warm water and have them soak one foot in it while I rubbed the other one with lavender-scented lotion, and then we switched feet. At times, I would also use painting their nails as a reward.

  • Spa setup with candles, salt, and towel on a wooden surface

Some Rewards Flop . . . And That’s Okay

Once, I offered my girls the reward of looking up a cool braid hairdo online that I would do. It was such a disaster that it was never brought up as a reward again! In fact, my daughter told me that it was actually a punishment. 

3. Activity Books

You can also try having your children earn things. We’ve used sticker activity books, paint-by-number books, or things that are actually good for their minds and keep them busy. 

4. Poetry Party

Here is another idea. The Good and the Beautiful has a Poetry Parties Book for Littles, and it’s actually one of our best-selling books! You can have your child work on earning a poetry party for your family or even with their friends. This not only motivates them and gives them something fun to look forward to, but it also helps your child appreciate and get excited about poetry. 

  • Four children standing on a beach holding The Good and the Beautiful books, with a scenic background of water and greenery.

5. Special Homeschooling Day

Another reward younger children might like earning is being able to set up a big blanket tent in the homeschool room to do homeschooling one day. Also, they could earn a theme day, such as a Hawaiian day, where you get guava juice and a flower lei for the children and have picture books on Hawaii. You could also help your child come up with their own themes and ideas. 

6. Soothing Self-Care 

Another reward that I have used is getting to take a bath with a bath bomb, or I will get a bath ready for my children that has bath salts in it and real flower petals, and they’ve really thought that was fun. 

7. Educational Breaks

You could reward a child each day that they don’t complain about a math lesson with a break for their next school subject, where they can lie down and listen to an audiobook before that next subject, or they can draw in a cozy place. It’s always nice to use educational things as rewards because it helps children learn to get excited about and value more meaningful things.

8. Earned Rewards 

You might even consider using things as rewards that you might have gotten them anyway! I did that with a hamster once. Have your children earn them rather than just get them. For example, many children would be motivated by a butterfly-growing kit, an ant farm, or a geode-cracking kit. They could also earn a trip to the zoo. Children also usually love earning a s’mores roast, a slip ‘n’ slide party, a taffy pull, a caramel-apple-making activity, or a backyard campout. And one-on-one dates with Mom and Dad have always been a favorite reward in our family. 

  • Hand holding a s'more over a campfire
  • Hamster in a cage with a blue exercise wheel

Our Purpose

I hope these ideas were helpful! This blog is all about giving you ideas, instruction, and inspiration for parenting and homeschooling. We are so grateful for the work you are doing to guard and strengthen the hearts and minds of your children. And we are here as a support and a voice of encouragement!

For more ideas and inspiration, check out our other blog posts or The Good and Beautiful Youtube channel.

Favorite Homeschool Motivations: Questions & Answers

Why shouldn’t I use screen time as a motivation?

Screen time can be an effective reward—if used in moderation. But there are great benefits—such as enhanced creativity, gained knowledge, deepened relationships, and better-refreshed minds—to using other rewards. Read Tips for Limiting Screen Time for ideas to your family reduce screen time.

Do motivations other than screen time work?

Yes, absolutely! Children often feel more fulfilled and motivated by other rewards; they would really rather have time with activities and people they love than time on a screen.

Where can I find more reward ideas for my children?

As mentioned above, almost anything can be used as a reward, even things you were already planning on giving your child! For engaging and educational rewards that your child will love, check out the activities and games in The Good and the Beautiful Bookshop.

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