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My Unit Studies {Free Printables & Hands-on Ideas}

Kinder Gardening to Celebrate Nature and Science

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Today I’ve rounded up some fun things to get the next generation of green thumbs digging in the dirt. I wished I had started gardening earlier with my kids, but your littles will love these kinder gardening resources to celebrate nature and science.

Kids Garden Unit Study Resources

Look at this adorable Radio Flyer big-kid wheelbarrow. Your kids will love to haul their own plants or just dirt. No intimidation here when they have their own kid-sized wheelbarrow for hauling.

Also, grab these fun crocs which are easy to clean and your littlest gardener is ready for his big kid project – well almost!

One thing that held me back from putting my kids in charge of their own garden was the lack of room in one place we lived while homeschooling.

When we got to move out to the more scenic and country areas where we had wide open spaces, gardening was easier.

It wasn’t so easy to do a fun science garden unit study when we lived in the city or in our smaller home which is why I loved these next fun things.

Kid Science in the Garden

These adorable growing your own herb kits are just the perfect kid-sized project. This raised bed is the perfect working height for little kids.

A huge plus is that you can take all of these things with you or move them around as you need to.

Then sneak in some fun ways to learn about gardening with this this flower families go fish game.

Add in some bug bingo for a creative way to learn about bugs from all over the world and you’ve added in a touch of geography.

You can also add in fun boxed craft ideas like this greenhouse from Groovy Lab in a Box.

Then, of course no unit study about gardening is complete without fun books.

With Seedfolks you can add in cultural awareness into your unit study which is a nice twist while learning about nature and science. Grab the Teacher’s Guide to the book and you’ll have a ready-made unit study.

Including a good amount of nonfiction living book ensures that a kid will find science in the garden fun as you avoid boring textbooks.

Not only will your kids love doing what they naturally like doing at this age which is being outside digging in dirt and playing with water, but it teaches kids valuable life skills.

Independence to care for their basic essentials and a sustaining food source are life skills you want your little kinder gardeners to have.

You’ll love these other unit study ideas and activities to add to your own study.

How to Dissolve a Seashell – Beach Hands-on Fun Activity

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This is a fun how to dissolve a seashell activity. Also, look at my Seashore Beach Watching Unit Study and Seashore Lapbook for more ideas.

With summer quickly approaching I thought a fun beach themed activity would be just the thing to keep kids interested and learning even with the end of the year burnout that we often face.

I put together a fun activity – how to dissolve a seashell.

I remember doing it myself years ago; I like it because it’s low cost, easy to assemble, and the kids can do most of it on their own.

How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity. Whether you're doing an Ocean or Beach theme, your kids will love this EZ activity. Click here!

Seashell Acid Base Experiment

It gives them a visual of what might be going on beneath the ocean’s surface and truly can give them a glimpse of what acid can do in general in a safe manner.

This simple lesson covers chemistry as well as including some conservation awareness.

What is a seashell anyway?

Seashells are mostly made up of a substance called calcium carbonate which is easily dissolved when left in vinegar even for a few days.

A seashell is the exoskeleton of mollusks. This could be an oyster or a sea snail for example.

Vinegar is great for a quick wash and disinfection of the seashells you bring home from the beach, but if you leave them in for too long they begin to eat away at your seashells.

Let’s see what happens.

How to Dissolve a Seashell Activity Ingredients

You will need:

  • white vinegar
  • seashells
  • a glass jar

Ocean Acidification Activity

Directions:

You can either use seashells from your collection that you’ve brought home from your own beach visit or you can purchase a bag.

Save the extra for a fun art project or you can place them in a pretty jar for summer decor.

Place a seashell or two in your container of vinegar.

Be sure to cover them completely and watch as bubbles immediately begin to form, this is carbon dioxide.

1 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity immediate bubbling

It is a product of the reaction between the acetic acid in the vinegar and the calcium carbonate of the seashell creating a gas. Science is cool, right?

Add in a few fun workbooks like this Ocean Habitats activity book by Evan Moor and it’s easy to sneak in learning too.

Check out what’s happening.

In just 12 hours or less you should be able to see the edges of the shell eroding and maybe some holes in the center of the shell in the weaker areas.

2 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity 12 hour results

Encourage the kids to check the progress of the shells and vinegar every few hours.

This photo is after 24 hours of soaking in vinegar, after about 12-15 hours the acid left in the vinegar will no longer be effective at dissolving the shell so you can dump it out and add fresh vinegar. 

3 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity 24 hours

We changed ours out three times during the experiment and it took about three days for the to seashells to dissolve completely.

Ocean Unit Study Activity

After 2 ½ days, all we have left is just a few remnants of the seashell. 

It is amazing how quickly this common acid begins to change the seashells, thin shells will go even quicker.

This is a great lesson to talk about the impact that pollutants have on our oceans.

Chemicals which are dumped intentionally or even accidental runoff of chemicals can affect the delicate organisms that live there and eventually larger animals.

Ask your child what they can do to change things in the future or what impact, positive or negative, that they can have on the oceans and other nature.

We also choose a few books to learn about shells more in-depth.

For anywhere from preschool to Upper Elementary the Let’s read and find out science books or one of our favorites for delivering information in a more fun and engaging way than a textbook might.

For example, look at What Lives in a Shell.

Shell guides are a great item to take to the beach with you, you can quickly and easily identify the shells that you find while you’re there and because they’re laminated there reusable we take them to the beach every time we go.

Ocean Seashell Chemistry Activity

You can take this experiment a step further by choosing 2 or 3 other liquids to soak your seashells in.

Try placing tap water in one jar, vinegar in another, soda, lemon juice or even salt water in others. Label each container with the contents so that you know what is in each.

See how long it takes for the seashells to erode, does the water or saltwater do anything to the shell? How quickly did you start seeing changes to your shells? 

Be sure to have your child record their hypotheses, observation, and of course the results in their science journal.

This project would make a great science fair project.

How to Dissolve a Seashell EZ beach themed or ocean themed hands-on fun activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Your child can share it just with the family, as an end-of-the-year project, or if your Co-op has a science fair it would be a wonderfully simple demonstration to share with a group.

You’ll love these other ocean themed activities:

Geronimo Stilton Books

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Are you looking for engaging readers for your middle to upper elementary kids? It’s hard to find books that get reluctant readers interested and finding Geronimo Stilton books was like finding buried treasure in the library (Geronimo would really appreciate that simile).

You’ll love the craft and book ideas here on Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus for the Geronimo Stilton series.

These books are a favorite in our house.

Geronimo Stilton Books

It took me a while to find books that my son looked forward to reading without nagging or prodding from me.

When we stumbled upon them, I was thrilled to have found something that kept his attention and motivated him to read on his own.

It’s a big milestone when your kid finally grabs a book of their choice and plops down to read it. These were those books for us.

He plowed through them. In fact, these were the first books he asked to buy. One year his wish list was full of Geronimo Stilton titles. How sweet, right?

What Reading Level is Geronimo Stilton

Recommended for ages 7-10, grades 2nd-5th, these chapter books are sure to please even the most reluctant reader.

They are the perfect introduction to chapter books and each one is filled with entertaining jokes and engaging illustrations.

About Geronimo Stilton

Geronimo Stilton is an editor in chief of The Rodent’s Gazette, the most “famous” newspaper in New Mouse City. He’s also the author of his own best-selling book series. 

He’s a timid single guy afraid of new adventures yet finds himself reluctantly traveling the globe with his friends and family solving mysteries and completing research for his next big story.

Because Geronimo is always finding himself in the middle of adventure while traveling the globe, the series is perfect for adding to any unit study I have.

4 Reasons to Love Geronimo Stilton Series

  • Visual. Each book is full of colorful and inviting artwork. Great for keeping focus and grabbing the reader’s attention.
  • Fast-paced. Short chapters jam packed with adventure.
  • Amusing. Each page is full of silly jokes and fun facts.
  • Vocabulary builder. New vocabulary is brought to life with word pictures.

Words jump off the page through the witty illustrations. New vocabulary stands out and kids remember it.

And look at my post here 10 Things to Learn From The Fun Geronimo Stilton Chapter Books.

Geronimo Stilton List of Books

As we read each book and do a hands-on activity, I’ll list them below for you.

The Curse of the Cheese Pyramid (Geronimo Stilton Series #2)

The Journey Through Time (Geronimo Stilton Special Edition) (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time)

This first book in the series takes you through prehistory with the dinosaurs, and through Ancient Egypt and the Great Sphinx of Giza, and finally into Camelot.

The Journey Through Time #2: Back in Time (Geronimo Stilton Special Edition) 

Next, we learning about Mayans, Rome and King Louis.

Stilton List of Books

The Race Against Time (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #3)

Learn alongside this adventure seeking mouse Geronimo Stilton as we learn about Ice Age, Ancient Greece and The Renaissance.

Lost in Time (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #4)

This book of the Geronimo Stilton series takes us through Cleopatra’s Time, Genghis Khan and Queen Elizabeth.

No Time To Lose (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #5)

In Geronimo Stilton No Time To Lose The Fifth Journey Through Time Geronimo jumps from Napoleon’s Time to the Vikings’ Time and finally to King Solomon’s time in the Whisker Wafter time machine.

Time Warp (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #7)

Also, we travel to Greece, Mythical Atlantis and learn about Stonehenge.

Out of Time (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #8)

In this book, Geronimo visits Alexander the Great, Queen Cleopatra, Mozart, and Sir Francis Drake. 

Field Trip to Niagara Falls (Geronimo Stilton, No. 24)

Down and Out Down Under (Geronimo Stilton, No. 29) 

Mighty Mount Kilimanjaro (Geronimo Stilton, No. 41)

Mouse in Space! (Geronimo Stilton #52) 

More Geronimo Stilton Resources

Geronimo Stilton Books

Also, look at some more resources below:

You’ll love these other reads and tips:

Are you looking for engaging readers for your middle to upper elementary kids? It’s hard to find books that get reluctant readers interested, but these books will do it. CLICK here for 10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books!
10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

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

How to garden plan with kids using LEGO is a way to sneak in some learning. Check out more ideas too at Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary).

If I can take a subject or unit of study and apply it to LEGO creations it is going to be a big hit.

My kids, like so many others, love to create and build with LEGO so it is just a great hands-on natural extension to learning.

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

This time I applied it to a study on Garden Planning.

This application gave us science, math, handwriting, fine motor skills development, critical thinking, and so much more.

We will definitely be using LEGO again as the core of our learning.

You don’t even have to be planning a real garden, this is still the perfect way for them to dig a little deeper into the concept of gardening no matter what size space you live in or grow in.

After determining how many feet your real garden will be and whether you want it square or rectangle you are ready to move on to designing it with LEGO.

We worked on our garden planning with LEGO in two different ways and I am going to share both of them with you so you can choose one or do both!

1 LEGO GARDEN SUPPLIES How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Gardening Activities For Kids

If you haven’t started your LEGO journey yet this, LEGO Classic Medium Creative Brick Box is a great box to begin with!

For this one, it was a fun fully hands-on activity that required no writing from the kids (my sons favorite).

I love how it gets their creativity flowing and provides them with a 4D visual of how our garden might look.

2 lego garden planning 1 LEGO GARDEN SUPPLIES How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

To begin, gather up a flat LEGO base plate in whatever size you like.

I had two kids doing it and needed to display them for a while in our classroom so we used 5 x 5 base plates in the interest of space.

LEGO Garden Activity

Then, grab a bunch of LEGO in all different sizes and colors, we opted for 2 x 2 bricks and smaller, as well as LEGO plants.

If you don’t have many plants LEGO and want to include them you can purchase a poly bag with a variety of plants.

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Single round studs and square 1 peg bricks can be used to create many items for your garden.

You can see on our garden that we mixed in both and it still looks great. 2 x 2 bricks make great pumpkins, eggplants, tomato plants, etc..

Explain to the kids that while planting it is especially important to leave room for your plants to grow.

Use the pegs on top of your base plate to represent square feet, you can use however many you like but just keep it throughout to represent the scale.

We chose to use 3 x 3 to equal one square foot. Now as you “plant” with the LEGO keep that in mind, research how large space each of your intended plants’ needs.

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Once you know your square foot and the needs of each plant you can begin constructing your lego garden.

Work in rows.

Place the plants you create, remember to check for plants that should and shouldn’t be placed next to each other.

4 LEGO GRAPH FINAL How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Now when you are done you have a fun visual for your real garden.

And a pretty display piece for your school room, living room, or wherever you would like to put it!

This version combines the fun of LEGO and some writing and graphing skills in a mixed media approach to creating a garden with LEGO.

I like this one because it gives the kids a chance to develop other skills and also it is so easy to change up and  if you laminate your graph paper once colored it can be used again and again with LEGO to create new spaces.

GRAPH How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Grab some graph paper, smaller lego pieces, and something to color with.

We used 1” graph paper because the large squares are perfect for representing 1 square foot.

LEGO Bricks for Kids Learning

Choose your desired garden size and color in those squares, brown of course is best for creating “soil”. We created a 5×6 plot to make our graph paper vegetable garden plan on.

You can do the whole page if you wish, and use as many squares as you want to represent your one square foot.

The Basement Workshop Store

Decide what crops you will plant and choose small LEGO bricks accordingly.

Demonstrate to your child how to place the rows, explain the placement and how to allow room for growth.   

6 LEGO GRAPH ROWS How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Let them design a garden that they would like to help build and once they are done have them label their crops.

7 LEGO GARDEN FINAL How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Our little red studs are radishes which can be crowded together a little more than something like say… squash plants which need a lot more space around them.

Leave some blank rows for paths.

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Both of these ideas can be photographed and added to your garden journal or used as part of your end of the year evaluation in your homeschool portfolio.

You’ll also love these other hands-on ideas:

Easy Seeds and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary)

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

Are you as excited for spring as we are? You’ll love this easy seeds and gardening unit study. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies for more unit studies. Also, look at my page How To Homeschool Elementary Students Like A Pro.

So we are always excited to get some seeds sprouted indoors.

To kick off a garden unit study I pulled out an old favorite activity to introduce again.

Easy Seeds and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle - Upper Elementary)

When the kids were preschooler age I loved to let them open and explore inexpensive seed packets (4/$1 at Dollar Tree).

It was such a simple introduction to gardening, parts of a flower, and grasping where flowers, fruits, and veggies begin. A great simple hands-on science activity that engaged them for a long period of time.

Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle - Upper Elementary). You'll love these tips for an easy gardening unit study! Click here to grab them!

I haven’t done it in years and wondered if it was kind of a babyish activity for them.

However with spring right around the corner I wanted to give it a try.

And I am so glad I did,  although my kids are almost 8 and almost 11 this activity was still a hit.

I also added a few additional challenges to make it more age appropriate.

2 seed tray Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Set out an artist pallet with small wells or another divided container for exploration,

I grabbed this divided serving platter from Dollar Tree.

Pour your seeds out among the divided sections and add items for exploration like magnifying glasses, tweezers, a small knife for older children, and the seed packets themselves.

3 supplies for seed investigation Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Let your child(ren) spend a little time exploring and studying the seeds and see what observations they make.

Easy Seeds and Gardening Unit Study Activities For Kids

If you have younger children joining in you can have them sort by size or by color. Let them match the seed packet to the seeds in the tray.

After they got a good look at each seed, seeing how they varied so much in size, shape, and color we cut open a few and looked side.

We talked about how some seeds that are hard to sprout can be helped along in their germinating process.

Just crack the seed coat gently with something like fingernail clippers.

4 cut open seed Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

We also investigated seeds still in the apple, let your kids dig them out with a pair of tweezers to get a real firsthand look at them.

5 Apple seed investigation Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I had the children investigate the seeds and compare as we did when they were younger but this time we dived even deeper into studying them, adding in some journaling, handwriting, spelling, reading, and more as well.

Gather all the books and gardening magazines you have on gardening and place them in a basket or scattered about the house.

More Hands-on Gardening With Kids Activities

Use them in your morning time or as your science book during your garden study, this really helps give a little “meat” to your seed exploring time.

6 Seed packets and books Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Kids Garden

Make a list of spelling/vocabulary words associated with seeds and gardening that is age appropriate for your child.

Younger children can use simple words like- seed, grow, and dirt while upper middle school children might learn heirloom, organic, and germination.

These words can be used for spelling, vocabulary, or as journal starters.

My daughter is learning how to alphabetize so for practice I had her put the seed packets in alphabetical order, a practical hands-on application will sink and stick much better than a worksheet will for most children. Also alphabetizing books and magazines is great practice as well.

We also did the planting a seed and watching it grow we documented its progress.

Have them draw a picture of what they see each day from seed to full-blown plant. Even older children can really get a lot out of watching the process firsthand, seeing the seed pod germinate and spread its tender little leaves out and roots down.

 Radishes, lettuce, broccoli, and sunflowers are quick-sprouting seeds if you are looking for more instant gratification for the kids.

Next, I had the kids log seeds in a garden journal that was just a basic composition book.

They listed our seeds and then added seed to a little dab of school glue next to it to compare and remember what each seed looks like.

This gives the kids an opportunity to practice handwriting and spelling. Go a little deeper and use garden topics to kick off journal entries as well

7 Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids Middle - Upper Elementary @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

More Seeds and Gardening Activities For Kids

Finally, we used our gardening books and magazines that we had on hand to find and learn more about the seed packets we had.

Research is an important skill to learn and children can gather information from the back of the seed packet.

But get even more in-depth information from books, living books that act as textbooks contain a lot of information to beef up a gardening study.

We used these books to plan our garden, deciding what we would plant, plot size and shape, as well as some crafty ideas.

Supply List For Gardening and Seed Activities

  • Seed packets of various varieties and sizes
  • Magnifying Glass
  • Tweezers
  • A divided tray to hold everything
  • Gardening books and/or magazines
  • Composition book
  • Glue
Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle - Upper Elementary). You'll love these tips for an easy gardening unit study! Click here to grab them!

Seeds and Gardening Unit