We’re thrilled about Rhythm Barefoot coming up in September! As we enter the season of planning for next year’s homeschool adventures, we’re here to ensure you’re fully prepared. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive shopping list tailored for Rhythm Barefoot. Each item on this list is 100% optional, allowing you to customize your homeschool experience based on your preferences and needs. These items can be used at home for added fun or as an extension of what your Barefooter(s) will be learning in the upcoming year. Additionally, some of the items are helpful for forest school activities, though they are not essential for completing the planned activities. Take your time to scroll through the various categories and discover our suggested buys. Whether you’re looking for art supplies, science exploration tools, outdoor gear, educational materials, creative play items, or forest school essentials, we’ve got you covered with plenty of options to enrich your homeschooling journey.
For GameSchoolers:
First up for gameschoolers: Wildcraft, cooperative board game is an amazing resource for introducing your Barefooter to what herbs work for what ailments and how to use them. Gather the family and go on an imaginary adventure foraging plants through forests, trails, and waterfalls!
For the younger Barefooters, grab this fun Jumping Spiders game. Experience the thrill of launching spiders into the web, competing against friends and family for the highest score.
Storymatic is a super-flexible writer’s tool kit, all-in-one idea generator, and confidence booster. Use it solo or in a group. You can be serious, and you can be silly. Plug Storymatic into any genre. Perfect for your aspiring story-tellers!
Older elementary, Barefooters will love this Spiderweb logic game. Crawl into the mind of a spider as you spin your web and catch prey in this clever logic game from ThinkFun. Players start by choosing one of the 40 Beginner to Expert level challenge cards and placing it in the game base. Each card is loaded with a variety of bugs to ensnare in your web, but catching them all will require some serious brain power. Players stretch elastic web strands across the play area to cover as many bugs as possible. If your web crosses over a bug, it’s trapped!
Hive, this “un”board game for ages 9+ is the perfect strategy game about bugs. The two player game is designed to increase critical thinking to block your opponent from the hive.
Put your emoticon knowledge to the test with Name the Emoji. Common and famous phrases are shown as Emoticons and you simply have to guess the correct phrases. As we all interpret Emoticons differently this game is not as easy as it sounds and will result in fits of laughter as the ridiculous guesses ensue.
For Fun-Schoolers:
This Bug (or plant!) Amber STEM dig kit is great for kids 6-12 to observe insects or plants by excavating them. Each amber piece contains real plants or insects, making amber an excellent object for displaying the history of science and natural history.
Story Cues, these exciting and funny story retell sentence cards will help build vocabulary and sentences in kids, as well as teach critical thinking skills such as inferencing, problem solving, and social emotional learning skills.
Whether you’re a kid or an adult, the 2×56 ft Ninja Slack Line is the perfect obstacle course for demanding fun and physical challenge. Build your child’s confidence, coordination and strength in this healthy way to keep them entertained, get them really physical, and keep them fit throughout the year.
This year we will be foraging for tea. Get a head start on tea tasting with this Enjoy a well-deserved perfect cup of tea with Twinings Tea Sampler Gift Set Box with Honey Sticks by Tea Bunch. It contains 48 assorted tea bags of Twinings Herbal Tea in a new tea wrapper with 12 different flavors, 4 teabags for each flavor. Its an assorted tea gift set and tea sampler set made with sustainable, 100 Percent natural ingredients and they are all naturally caffeine-free. These Twining tea bags are made from a combination of leaves, flowers, citrus or berry fruits herbs and spices, and roots.
For ForestSchoolers:
Grab the Workpro 9-piece real hand tool set designed for kids. It comes in pink or blue for kids 8+. All tools are real hand tools and the design of the mini set is molded specifically to be comfortable and safe for little hands.
For older Barefooters, the Cartman 148 piece tool set is a perfect beginner tool set for forest school or home.
For our bug studies this year, the Carson bug viewer has been one of our favorites for years. It has 5x magnification and is a great way to catch and release without harming the bugs. Perfect for the entomology study we are doing this year.
For Barefooters wanting to become expert trackers, grab these animal track flash cards/matching games are a great way for kids or adults to learn how to identify different animal tracks.
Discover, learn, and explore the wonders of the natural world with the Carson MicroBrite Plus LED Lit Pocket Microscope! With up to 120x magnification and LED lighting, kids, adults, students and professionals alike can witness the tiniest details come to life in this powerful portable tool.
For Book-Schoolers:
“Mushrooming Without Fear” is the perfect beginner guide for your high schooler to learn about mushroom foraging. Each mushroom is identified with several photographs and identification checklists, and there’s also information on mushroom seasons, handling, storage, and cooking, complete with recipes.
“Southern Appalachian Storytellers” introduces the reader to different storytellers from the region. To be from Appalachia–to be at home there and to love it passionately–informs the narratives of each of the sixteen storytellers featured in this work. Their stories are rich in the lore of the past, deeply influenced by family, especially their grandparents, and the ancient mountains they saw every day of their lives as they were growing up.
“The Book of Brilliant Bugs” is beautifully illustrated bug book is packed with fascinating information about bugs and stories and facts to convey the amazing world of creepy-crawlies. There are detailed illustrations and photographs of insects, spiders, mollusks, and more. It also includes compelling text written by insect expert, author and television presenter Jess French.
“This Is How We Do It“ is a genuine exchange provides a window into traditions that may be different from our own as well as mirrors reflecting our common experiences. Inspired by his own travels, Matt Lamonthe transports readers across the globe and back with this luminous and thoughtful picture book. It’s perfect for elementary kids learning about new cultures and customs.
Explore the world around you with this Student Atlas – an engaging collection of maps designed especially for middle schoolers. The latest edition of Merriam-Webster’s Student Atlas has been updated to reflect recent global events and features abundant full-color physical, political, and thematic maps.
For Preschoolers:
Your preschool Barefooter will be ready to start exploring straight out of the box with the Toy Life Bug Kit. It includes a butterfly net, an observation jar, large insect collection box, tweezers, and magnifying glass. With this perfect Bug kit, your little one will enjoy nature, and know more bug friends.
Your littlest Barefooters can cuddle up to this acorn Squishmallow when we forage for acorns this year.
Get a kickstart on forest school with your young ones with nature puzzle sets. It has color pictures and descriptions. It’s easy for toddlers to learn about mushrooms, trees and flowers. It also helps develop fine motor and problem-solving skills.
Head outside and get the buzz on bugs With the “Bug Hunt” book – Packed with educational prompts and activities, this fourth book in the Backpack Explorer series encourages junior naturalists to spot insects while on a walk in the woods, playing in a park, or searching right outside their front door. Twelve interactive field guides help young seekers identify fliers, crawlers, and pollinators, and do sensory, and scavenger hunts. It’s equipped with a real magnifying glass, stickers, and a log for recording sightings, this book is the perfect companion for any nature adventure.
For Art-Schoolers:
These Animal Tracks Stamps we found are made of natural branches. They have two sides, the front is the pattern of the small animal, and the back is its paw print. There are several sets to choose from!
Make A Bug Hotel! The hotel itself is easy to make—no tools required! Then decorate it with the provided stickers, add some natural elements, and put it outside. Your hotel will be welcoming some creepy crawlies in no time!
This vintage Entomology Poster features a collection of intricately detailed illustrations of various insect species, providing a comprehensive overview of entomology.
A fun addition for art-schoolers, you and your Barefooter will have fun being creative and artistic with this on our list. It’s great for kids 5-20 and includes about 250 pcs natural wood slices, a wood slab, and a plastic carrying case.
Friendship knows no boundaries—it covers the world and comes in all languages, just like storytelling. Learn the craft with Friendship Bracelets 101. It is filled with all the basics you need to get started making friendship bracelets. It has colored photos and step-by-step instructions make it easy for the beginner, and a variety of fun designs and knots will keep you learning and creating.
Fun fact since we will be doing culture studies: The idea of making a bracelet to celebrate and share friendship began in Central and South America. The legend of the wish began with the bracelets: One person makes a bracelet and ties it around the arm of a friend, who makes a wish. When the bracelet falls off by itself, the wish will come true!
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