Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Activity, Change, Progress

Tina Robertson

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When my older two sons were in middle school we created an American history timeline.

It was a clip art heavy timeline with lots of coloring, cutting, and gluing.

I’ve been looking for something which is not as craft intensive while still being challenging.

Until now, I couldn’t find an American history timeline curriculum which inspired me to want to do another one with my third son.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline. If you’re looking for a curriculum resource to easily teach American history by using a timeline, you’ll love this one. Not only do your kids cover major historical topics but learn about famous people and events. Because it’s reproducible you can use it for all of your kids. Click here to grab this great resource!

 Too, being an eclectic homeschooler, I want products which make it easy for me to teach in my style and in a way my son understands.

When I got The Giant American History Timeline from Sunflower Education, I was stoked to prepare another timeline in my simple diy fashion.

 I was given this product for free. I was compensated for my time and for hosting the giveaway. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

How to Rock History Using An American History Timeline

One of the things I find perfect about this two-volume bundle, besides not having to do time consuming coloring or crafts, is that each unit or timeline can stand alone.

We didn’t begin with The Giant History Timeline Book 1: Pre-Colonization-Reconstruction.

We did spend the majority of time in The Giant History Timeline Book 2: 1870s-Present because Tiny was interested in modern American history.

I loved the fact that we didn’t have to start at the beginning and could skip right to the parts that we found fascinating.

For years we’ve covered significant early American history events through our history lapbooks which I share right here on my site Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

So, feeling like he didn’t really have a clear outline of major modern historical events, Tiny wanted to delve deeper into modern history.

Another downside to doing clip art based timelines or date only timelines which I found out after doing my first one is that no real connection is made between dates and key historical events.

And timelines can quickly becoming boring if they’re not studied along with the events or the people.

Intriguing events and colorful personalities of significant people of the past and present is what brings history alive.

That is another win for The Giant American History Timeline bundle.

Let me backup first and give you an idea of all the goodies in the The Giant American History Timeline  bundle so you can see how it can be used as a stand alone unit study or to enhance your study of geography, famous Americans, or history.

Look at the historical time periods and units in each book.

The Giant American History Timeline Book 1.

Unit 1: Discovery and Exploration Prehistory-1606
Unit 3: The Revolutionary Period 1765-1783
Unit 5: Expanding the Country 1790-1860
Unit 7: Social Issues 1790-1860		Unit 2: Colonial America 1585-1776
Unit 4: Creating the Constitution 1781-1803
Unit 6: An Age of Advancements 1790-1860
Unit 8: The Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877

The Giant American History Timeline Book 2.

Unit 1: Industrial Growth and Technological Advancement 1870-1910
Unit 3: America and the World 1867-1910
Unit 5: The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression 1920-1940
Unit 7: The Cold War 1940-1990		Unit 2: Big Business and Social Reform 1870-1910
Unit 4: World War I 1910-1920
Unit 6: World War II 1930-1950
Unit 8: The Civil Rights Movement Technology and Terrorism 1954-Present

Look at all the teaching perks in each book.

  1. Teaching notes which contain an overview of key events, suggested focus activities like when we listened to the inspiring I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., instructions on how to create the timeline, points to teach critical thinking skills, and instructions on how to do the activity sheets.
  2. Six types of activity sheets which contain maps, primary sources, help for comparing and contrasting time periods, biography sheets, a voice from the past sheets and a fun time machine activity page.
  3. One of the parts I loved the best is the variety. In Book 1 there are 126 activity sheets and in Book 2 there are 125 activity sheets. That easily adds up to a huge amount of resources for kids of any age.

The hardest part for us was keeping to a few topics so that we could study it for any length of time.

We had so many choices of time periods, timelines, and topic ideas and couldn’t wait to start piecing the timeline together.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

Since we moved into our new home, we haven’t really decided on a school area. It wouldn’t really matter anyway because Tiny has almost always taken to the floor to study something like this.

He does best by using the floor to put his events in order and the The Giant American History Timeline gives excellent examples of how to connect the information and events to each other.

Benefits of The Giant American History Timeline

It can be done by event, which is the one we loved, main ideas or sequence of events which is what we’re all familiar with.

Also, another facet of creating an easy diy timeline is storage.

You want your child to engage with the facts and the historical period he is learning, but you need a way for him to come back to them and study it.

However, since we don’t have a huge empty wall like a classroom, we are storing our timeline in a lapbook and doing one for each time period or unit we’re studying.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

After researching and organizing the material he wanted to study, we reviewed key facts and then organized the material so that we could review in the future.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

Also, I shared with you how to turn a worksheet into an interactive minibook.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

So, we applied that same folding technique to our mini-giant American history timeline.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

One of the best things about using a lapbook besides great storage is that anytime he can take out the lapbook and memorize the significant events that match the dates.

Then because this is a research intensive project, we added a pocket on the back of the lapbook to add the extra activity sheets that he did.

This lapbook fits in well with the other American history lapbooks that we have done.

Did I mention that all pages are reproducible?

For some of the parts, we shrunk the pages when we printed. The other pages are just regular paper size but folded using my special technique that I mentioned earlier.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline. If you’re looking for a curriculum resource to easily teach American history by using a timeline, you’ll love this one. Not only do your kids cover major historical topics but learn about famous people and events. Because it’s reproducible you can use it for all of your kids. Click here to grab this great resource!

American History Timeline Activity Sheets

The Giant American History Timeline may be a good fit for you and your kids if:

  • You have multiple ages you’re teaching, but want one sanity-saving resource.
  • Your kids don’t mind a few hands-on activities like labeling and coloring maps, but prefer straight research on topics.
  • You want a reproducible resource instead of a workbook.
  • You’re thinking about a lapbook or notebooking style of timeline because of a lack of space.
  • Your kids prefer to learn more independently without having day to day lesson plans.
  • You prefer an overview and guideline for topics and events to create.
  • You want flexibility in how you cover topics by choosing ones that interest your children.
  • You want to use timelines as a stand alone unit study topic covering multiple historical topics.
  • Your kids prefer more worksheet and notebooking style pages.
  • You want something faith-free or more secular so you can add your own worldview.
  • You want teacher helps with answer keys.
  • You want one comprehensive resource for teaching American history.
  • You want your children to learn independently.

Look at these other American history lapbooks you’ll love!

How to Purchase It.

Easy and Fun Nature Study: Beautiful Birds

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Sometimes nature study can be a little overwhelming (at least for me), but what I love about NaturExplorers is that I can use the program right in my backyard with the animals we see locally. It makes observing animals so simple and stress-free!

Beautiful Birds is truly a beautiful nature study unit for spring! Click here to grab this easy and fun nature study about birds!

The same is true of Beautiful Birds. We can use the curriculum without doing a lot of planning or traveling. Once we printed it out, we could just look through to find a simple activity, head outside, and get started!

Take a look to see what’s included in Beautiful Birds!

Easy and Fun Nature Study: Beautiful Birds

Birds are one of the first signs of spring approaching. Since our climate is fairly warm, all of the birds don’t leave our area in winter. But we do see flocks of them migrating to and fro during winter and early spring. So, when we start to see large groups of birds hanging out in the neighborhood, we know that spring is on the way.

And, since I cannot wait for warmer weather, I was thrilled to break out Beautiful Birds to start taking a look at what’s in this beautiful nature study unit!

Nature Explorers Beautiful Birds

Like Coping With the Cold, Beautiful Birds is a Charlotte Mason-inspired nature study curriculum.

All of the lessons, hands-on activity ideas, and notebooking pages are designed to help kids slow down, observe nature, and appreciate creation.

We’ll be sharing some of the hands-on crafts and activities soon, but for now I wanted you to have a look at the lovely notebooking pages included in Beautiful Birds.

Bird Migration Notebooking Pages

There’s a migration mapping activity and a signs of birds scavenger hunt.

Anatomy of a Bird

Kids can use birdwatching as an art project by drawing pictures of the birds they observe. They can also learn more about the anatomy of birds by labeling the parts of a bird.

Tracking Backyard Birds

Did you know that birds have different types of feet? I didn’t! But various species have differing styles of feet, depending on the food they hunt and the environments in which they live. As you work through the unit, kids will learn more about how these types of feet differ.

There’s also a birdwatching printable to help kids keep up with the species they spot.

Spotting Birds In the Backyard

Track where you spot birds with this backyard mapping activity and learn more about common bird behavior as you watch them move around!

Comparing Local Birds

Use this printable Venn diagram to compare bird species and challenge the kids to think of bird-inspired figures of speech for a quick ELA lesson!

Bird Feeder Observation Sheets

Make some DIY bird feeders and then let the kids observe to see what kinds of birds flock to them!

Bird Color Observation Sheets

Did you know that birds also have different types of feathers? As you learn more about them in the unit, kids can sketch the different types! And use the Flying Colors activity to have a color hunt in the sky!

Examining Eggshells

Go looking for pieces of eggshells on the ground and then examine them. Then spend a little time watching birds forage for food to see how they gather it!

Sayings About Birds

Personally, I loved the Bird Sayings activity. I’m a reading and literature fan, so I’m looking forward to making several copies of this activity so we can keep up with all the bird-related idioms we think of.

Bird Scavenger Hunt Activity

The Signs of Birds Nature Hunt will also be one of our favorites. Our goal is to try to spot every item on the list by the end of spring!

Flying Colors Bird Spotting Activity

And for the Flying Colors activity, we’re going to see how many different colored birds we can find this year!

Beautiful Birds is truly a beautiful nature study unit for spring! Click here to grab this easy and fun nature study about birds!

Beautiful Birds is truly a beautiful nature study unit for spring! Get a copy and see how it easy it is to weave nature study into your outdoor science lessons!

Plan even more fun nature study learning with these simple, hands-on ideas!

Hugs and love ya!

5 Ways to Raise a Natural Geography Lover Easily

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Kids have a natural inborn inquisitiveness for how the earth is made and the different cultures they see around them.Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

Somewhere between that and the first day of formal Kindergarten, they can lose their curiosity if we direct them straight to a textbook.

Raise a Natural Geography Lover

One myth I need to slay before I go on is that geography is just about labeling/coloring maps.

Although maps are a huge part of geography, unless your child is fixated on coloring at the moment, merely coloring a map will not infuse a love for learning.

Look at my tips here 11 AWESOME Ways to Learn Geography (Other Than Labeling a Map) and then look at these 5 ways to raise a natural geography-lover.

ONE.
TAKE GEOGRAPHY OUTSIDE

Geography is a subject that is best taught using the outdoors or taking it outside as you can.

There are things that you just can’t explain in a geography textbook.

How a pinecone feels, the texture of a bird’s nest carefully crafted with just a beak, and the smell of the flowers from a Southern Magnolia tree that grew in our backyard couldn’t be appreciated from a book.

Even if you don’t, like me, have a naturally formed mountain in your backyard, being outside with nature helps to pique your child’s eagerness to understand geography features.

A trip to the park to study the trees and why certain ones grow in your area helps a child to understand the geography of where he lives.

When we lived on the Texas Gulf Coast, we saw many tall reeds in our neighborhood.

Understanding how plant life was affected by our nearness to the ocean helped my sons understand the part that geography plays in plant life.

Geography and science are interlinked. Many times it’s impossible to separate the two subjects and you shouldn’t.

Look at these 7 Super Easy and Free Nature Lapbooks Guaranteed to Beat Boredom and to create a natural love for geography.

Let geography flow into science and vice versa.

Fun Geoscavenge Geology Scavenger Hunt!

Here is a fun activity to connect the two concepts. Grab this form for a Geoscavenge – A Rock and Mineral Hunt: Day 6 Hands-on Learning.

TWO.
DO GEOGRAPHY ACTIVITIES, NOT JUST READ ABOUT IT

Nothing kills curiosity more than just reading about something and not being able to experience it.

It reminds me of what my husband told me that his family would do sometimes. They would drive to a vacation spot that they waited half the year to see.

After arriving, they would only look at the mountains or whatever it is from their car, turn around, and start driving home.

I can’t even imagine the disappointment of not being able to get out and explore!

Geography should be both an academic study and a hands-on investigation.

Too, hands-on geography shouldn’t be abandoned when your child gets to the older grades.

Hands-on geography is not just for the younger grades, but we tend to skip hands-on learning in the older grades just when our children are demonstrating self-teaching and independence.

Contrary to popular myths, hands-on learning in middle and high school can be rigorous because a young teen is now learning for intrinsic value.

What does this means? It means that learning about geography becomes a natural part of his everyday life. It goes from labeling maps to making learning concrete.

Hands-on learning is paramount at each level of a child’s development and geography is no exception.

Look at Homemade Compass. Simple Geography Projects Equals Huge Wow Factors for an easy activity for older kids.

Homemade Compass - Simple Geography Project With a Wow Factor

THREE.
INCLUDE OTHERS WHEN DOING GEOGRAPHY

Although I wasn’t always eager to meet with other families to study geography because I assumed it would be stressful, my boys beamed when we did.

Not only did they love meeting with other kids, but they loved learning from another teacher. I learned several things about the way my sons learned while they interacted with another homeschool teacher mom.

Homeschool moms who teach well are gifts. Homeschool moms don’t have to teach some really deep topic, but they have a way of bringing learning alive even using the tiniest fact or activity.

For example, while learning about the people and geography of Japan, one homeschool mom and her son taught my boys how to make an origami frog that hopped.

My sons were thrilled and played with that frog for hours while reading and using the atlas about Japan.

Learning geography with others doesn’t have to be complicated. Just do it with one other family and keep it simple and stress free.

Hands-on geography with other homeschoolers equals fun!

(something about blowing up volcanoes with others just makes learning about geography fun too)

FOUR.
COOK TO LEARN ABOUT GEOGRAPHY

There is nothing more natural than having fun cooking and learning a real-life skill in the process.

Kids love to eat normally and have an adventurous spirit when it comes to trying out new foods or snacks.

In the beginning, I would cook a meal from a country, but learned that my boys had just as much fun even if it was just a snack.

Whether you have time for a full meal on the menu or time enough to prepare just a bite for a snack, your kids will remember this part of geography.

As they associate food and culture from different parts of the world, their appreciation for geography grows.

Looked at a few things we have made when studying about certain areas.

  • Make pan au chocolat when studying about France.
  • Make celtic cakes when studying ancient civilizations.
  • Make baklava when studying about Ancient Greece.
  • Make victory soup when studying about the countries of World War II.
  • Make Cherokee pan bread when studying the states in the Southeastern United States.
  • Make soups from South America.
  • Make chili when doing a state study on Texas.
  • Make negrinho when doing a study about Brazil.

FIVE.
LEARN GEOGRAPHY THROUGH ART

Another way to incorporate natural geography fun is to do art. Too, an unexpected benefit is that art can one of those subjects that is hard to get in.

When you study about a country while do art or a craft, learning sticks.

For example, when we used Geography Through Art for part of our learning it helped my boys remember about not only basic geography of the earth but about countries.
Look at this idea Hands-On Geography Activity: Make a Pangaea Puzzle which is in the book.

Hands-On Geography: Australia Awesome and Deadly Animal Art

And look at Hands-On Geography: Australia Awesome and Deadly Animal Art which is fun.

Hands-on Homeschool Geography

Teaching geography naturally doesn’t mean you have to avoid curriculum. It does mean curriculum should follow our approach not the other way around.

For years, I have used North Star Geography because it fits the way I feel geography should be done in the older grades which is hands-on. 

When I lived overseas, I grabbed the digital version because I wanted to take it with me everywhere and because the boys could keep it on their device. I printed it as we needed it.

But North Star Geography has many hands-on ideas for older kids along with a helpful teacher’s guide. We have made our own atlas using their curriculum. I know you’ll love it.

It’s so easy to fall into the trap of just teaching geography without using hands-on ideas but it also kills a child’s natural love for the world around him.

5 Ways to Raise a Natural Geography Lover Easily

You’ll love these other tips!

Hugs and love ya,

5 Ways to Raise a Natural Geography-Lover. Kids have a natural inborn inquisitiveness for how the earth is made and the different cultures they see around them. Teach geography naturally. Look at these 5 ways to teach geography naturally. Click here to see how!
5 Ways to Raise a Natural Geography-Lover. Kids have a natural inborn inquisitiveness for how the earth is made and the different cultures they see around them. Teach geography naturally. Look at these 5 ways to teach geography naturally. Click here to see how!

19 Delight Directed Interest-Led Homeschool Blogs To Follow

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

While pregnant with my first child, Mr. Senior 2013, I was inspired by an article that encouraged homeschoolers to avoid a bookish routine in favor of real-life learning. However, out of fear, public popularity, and because I thought delight directed interest-led homeschooling meant wild abandon of any worthwhile learning, I followed with strict allegiance a bookish routine.

Then, as my sons grew and our lack of real-life learning lagged, I made a scary leap to interest-led learning.

It was scary because I was comfortable in my Nazi teacher approach.

19 Delight Directed Interest-Led Homeschool Blogs To Follow. Interest-led learning is the fuel the sparks lifelong learning. Getting started can be intimidating.Understanding delight directed is imperative. Click here to follow these 19 delight directed interest-led homeschool blogs!

I never felt like a nature loving or craft loving mother which was my impression of interest-led homeschooling. Lame, I know.As my love for teaching grew and realizing that my sons were in an apprenticeship for life, my day to day teaching lacked real-life application.

Soon after, I switched to a unit study approach which is based on mastery of interest-led topics.

Interest-led learning is the fuel that sparks lifelong learning.

Let me back up first and try to capture a simple meaning of interest-led and delight directed learning.

Interest-led and delight directed for our family means using a child’s natural love of learning to pursue subjects that spark his love of learning. Not the other way around. Academic subjects are centered around a child’s passion and then they take on life.

Although public school touts mastery, the truth of it is just the opposite.

A child never explores any passion in depth but is expected to be a jack of all trades or skills. He ends up master of none.

My switch to an interest-led unit study approach reminds me of the quote from Greg Harris which is indelibly imprinted in my memory.

A delight directed study is like a wonderful fire in the mind of a student. It starts small, but as it grows, it begins to consume vast amounts of information until it bursts into a roaring blaze of insight, understanding and creativity. It takes on a life of its own.

It doesn’t mean that there is no discipline or schedule which I thrive in, but it means guidance by the parent. It’s not indulgent, but reactive.

After I switched to interest-led homeschooling using lapbooks as our projects, it has been one choice I’ve never regretted for a moment.

I do regret lingering around the bookish approach for the first 5 years of my journey. Hopefully, you won’t make my same mistake.

To help you make the leap to interest-led and delight directed homeschooling, I’ve rounded up 19 blogs that I follow and you should too which emphasize this approach.

I’ll let each one introduce herself and tell you a bit about her blog.

Delight Directed Homeschooling

►I’m Rachel, and I blog at You’ve Got This Math.

I believe that math should be fun and hands -on. You’ve Got This Math focuses on ways to build number and fraction sense with free printables.

►I’m Susan Evans, and I blog at Susan Evans I love unit studies, themed cakes and parties, skits, re-enactments, and anything hands-on!

►I celebrate the homeschool lifestyle and frequently talk about learning through travel and adventures at This Crazy Homeschool Life.

►Hello! Hola! 你好！My name is Eva. My blog, Eva Varga focus centers around middle school science, specifically hands-on activities, service learning experiences, and project based learning – Minecraft and philatelic exhibits.

Additionally, we strive to expand our understanding of the world through our own cultural heritage and the exploration of diverse cultures (language studies and global travel).

►Hey hey! My name is Amy & I blog at Rock Your Homeschool.

My unique slant is to use Dr. Seuss to teach a love of reading. Also, I use Life of Fred for math learning fun. My five boys & I use brain breaks to keep our homeschool moving.

►Hi! My name is Joan and I write at Unschool Rules.

My unique slant it that we have used movies, video games and life learning as the basis for our entire high-school curriculum for my now 17-year-old daughter, and have a college-accepted transcript to show for it!

►Hey, hey! I’m Tiffany and I blog at Homeschool Hideout.

We are lazy homeschoolers so we like to binge-watch educational shows on Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. We can cover everything from science and history to problem solving, without ever leaving the couch!

►Hi! My name is Colleen. I write all about raising kids to be lifelong learners through interest-led, hands-on homeschooling and parenting with a heavy focus on science, the needs of gifted and twice-exceptional kiddos, and cultivating creativity in all kids.

You’ll find monthly themed book and game lists, Minecraft challenge calendars, and loads of hands-on experiments on Raising Lifelong Learners and conversations with parents on our podcast — launching January 15th.

►Hello! My name is Jenny and I blog at Faith and Good Works. Our homeschool uses free internet resources for unit studies.

►Hi, I’m Ginny, and I offer authentic, hands-on writing experiences to help parents create a culture of writers (and thinkers) at home.
I blog at Not So Formulaic.

►Hello, my name is Sheila, publisher of Brain Power Boys. 

My unique slant is that our site has a lot of hands-on learning projects geared specifically toward boys. We focus on things they like, such as LEGO, Minecraft, Star Wars and topics which include pirates, robots, dinosaurs, knights and more to help them learn reading, science, history, math and other subjects a fun and natural way.

►I’m Ashley, and I love creating thematic unit studies.

We use a variety of resources from fun hands-on activities and great literature to movies and media. My goal is to inspire a love of learning and enrich our studies in every subject from math and science to history and grammar! Please join me in The Homeschool Resource Room! 

►Hi, I’m Erin and I blog over at The Usual Mayhem.

We focus on learning using nature on our cornerstone but occasionally head off into rabbit trails for months at a time (like my son’s year long obsession with King Arthur).

You can find all sort of nature themed posts and other fun on my blog.

►Hi, I’m Sara and I blog at Embracing Destiny. We focus on delight directed, literature-rich (living books) studies in our homeschool.

I’ve created some free Interest Inventory printables to encourage others to follow their child’s interests to foster a lifelong love of learning. We enjoy hands-on creative projects like lapbooking, notebooking, and unit studies. You can find my Ultimate Guide to Delight Directed Homeschooling cornerstone post here.

How to Make Your Homeschool Specialized

►Hi I’m Tricia Hodges at Chalk Pastel. We are a multi-generational homeschooling family.

My mother, Nana, my children and I are passionate about helping all ages lose insecurities and realize that yes, indeed, you ARE an artist. We JUST use chalk pastels and paper. No long, intimidating art supply list. Build confidence, choose favorite subjects and have FUN. We show you how with video art lessons, Facebook Live lessons and so much more to choose from. It’s not just one more thing to do, it’s a great way to make what you are already doing MORE fun while growing a LOVE of art! Art really does complement and help all other subjects.

►This is Ticia here, and over at Adventures in Mommydom I have three unique learners that keep me on my toes.

To stay ahead we cook our way around the world (with mixed results), read book and see how horribly the movie messed up the book, and use LEGOs to recreate history lessons (as well as a few other things). It’s learning adventures at the speed of fun.

►Hi, I’m Cindy West from Our Journey Westward. Teaching creatively is a top priority to meet the needs of my unique children and that’s exactly what I write about on the blog.

Active children excel through nature-based science activities . Reluctant writers blossom with picture book lessons. Struggling learners and those with attention issues make giant leaps through brain training games. And those are just a few examples of the creative learning ideas you’ll find at Our Journey Westward!

►Hi! My name is Pat Fenner and I blog at Breakthrough Homeschooling where I encourage and equip homeschooling parents of teens to homeschool through high school.

I believe in using life-learning and interest-led studies as a basis for a high school curriculum, and am convinced that college isn’t the only path to a successful future!

Then of course, I would love for you to follow my blog! Click below!

Take your homeschool from mediocre to true mastery by following an interest-led approach.

19 Delight Directed Interest-Led Homeschool Blogs To Follow. Interest-led learning is the fuel the sparks lifelong learning. Getting started can be intimidating.Understanding delight directed is imperative. Click here to follow these 19 delight directed interest-led homeschool blogs!

You’ll never teach your child everything he needs to know before he graduates, but you’ll teach him how to find out anything he wants to.

I know you’ll love these other super helpful tips!

Hugs and love ya,

Easy Hands-on Science: Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

As we’ve been using the Coping With the Cold unit study from NaturExplorers, we’ve been learning so much about how animals adapt to colder temperatures. And, boy, have we had some cold temperatures around here lately!

While animals may choose to migrate (leave a cold climate for a warmer one) or hibernate (sleep during the cold weather), many of them also take advantage of camouflage to keep themselves safe from predators during winter. After all, many predators need to fatten up for winter too!

So when the NaturExplorers unit suggested an outdoor animal camouflage activity hunt, we were excited to try it in our own backyard!

Of course, the best thing in getting out of doors would be to actually find camouflaged animals. But, if your kids can’t, this is a fun animal hunt to do in your backyard.

We've been learning so much about how animals adapt to colder temperatures. But if you don’t spot any animals, this easy activity works too in your backyard. Click here for a fun nature activity on animal camouflage.

Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt

To do this activity, you’ll need the following:

  • Colored construction paper (We used the closest natural colors we had: green and brown)
  • Child-safe scissors
Animal Camouflage Hunt Supplies

You can use an online template to make your animals, but I just drew a few freehanded.

Drawing Camouflage Animals

We went with a snake, a bird, and a bear – all animals that make use of camouflage. Birds that live in the Arctic, in particular, tend to be white or light grey to blend in with snowy surroundings. Since we don’t get snow during the winter, we used colors that would fit in with our area.

Making Camouflage Animals

Easy Nature Activity

Once I drew the animals, we cut them all out. And then it was time to head outside!

Camouflage Animals Activity

We placed our snake in the grass. Which was a good time to talk about the meaning of the phrase “a snake in the grass” – someone who lies in wait to take advantage of someone else.

Spotting Camouflaged Animals Nature Activity

After a few minutes of searching, our kids spotted the snake. At least he looks like a friendly one!

Animal Camouflage Nature Study Activity

Take a good look at this picture. Our other two camouflaged animals are hiding among the leaves. These took the kids a while to find.

And, if I’m being totally honest, once I hid them, I had a hard time finding them again too!

Looking for Camouflaged Animals Nature Activity

They finally spotted the brown bird.

Spotting Camouflaged Animals Outdoor Activity

And there’s our friendly bear!

Bears typically find caves to hibernate, since they’re large enough for cubs and food supplies. But for this activity, we decided to have bears hide in the backyard!

More Animal Camouflage Activities

This was such a fun activity for the kids! It gave them a chance to get outdoors, learn more about animals, and play a fun game of hide-and-seek! You could easily adapt this with other animals such as rabbits, raccoons, and insects.

We've been learning so much about how animals adapt to colder temperatures. But if you don’t spot any animals, this easy activity works too in your backyard. Click here for a fun nature activity on animal camouflage.

Just be sure to change up the colors to match the colors in your area! So if you do have snow during the winter, use a white color for your animals. See which animals your kids can spot the quickest!

Share these other hands-on science activities with your family!