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elementary science

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

August 6, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have some fun ideas for easy Arctic animal crafts. Too, you’ll love my Arctic and Inuit Unit Study. Free Lapbook – Hands-On Ideas and my Arctic Region pages.

If you are studying the Arctic with your little one these peg doll animals are a great craft project to do together.

They can be used in sensory bins, for small-world dramatic play, or as part of a simple diorama and can be kept as simple or as elaborate as you would like.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

You can make an entire family of polar bears. Or craft a village of all different arctic creatures to round out a nice keepsake collection using the variety of sizes and shapes that unfinished peg dolls come in.

A wonderful resource to add to your study is Ocean Anatomy, besides the gorgeous illustrations it offers a treasure trove of information on icebergs, polar bears, narwhals, seals, and more arctic animals.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

Next, look at some facts about animals of the Arctic.

10 Arctic Animal Facts

  1. Snowy owls hunt during the daytime instead of at night like other owls.
  2. Male snowy owls are easy to distinguish from females as they are almost completely white and female snowy owls have black and brown markings.
  3. Polar bears can smell a seal 3 feet below the snow.
  4. An Arctic Fox’s fur is not always white, sometimes during the summer months it can be gray or brown.
  5. Beluga whales start gray or brown when born but eventually turn white as they grow up.
  6. A Narwhal tusk is not a horn, rather it is a large tooth that can grow up to 10 feet long.
  7. Both the male and female walruses have large tusks that are used for things like pulling themselves out of the water onto the ice.
  8. Polar bears are the largest living carnivores on land at about 8 feet long and nearly 800 pounds.
  9. Arctic Hare’s eyes are set on the side of their heads so they can look forward, backward, and sideways without needing to move their head so that they can avoid predators.
  10. Learn why there are not penguins in the Arctic.
How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

As you make your peg dolls together you will find lots of opportunities to talk about topics like camouflage in the white snow, predator vs. prey, and different adaptations like fur-covered feet to help them survive the extreme cold.

Use some of the facts from above as conversation starters as you work on each animal.

More Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

  • How to Paint Peg Dolls to Look Like Farm Animals is perfect if you are learning about the farm theme and would make a great handmade gift.
  • Julie of the Wolves Free Hands-on Arctic Unit Study
  • DIY Peg Doll Woodland Animals, find out how to make adorable woodland creatures like a fox and raccoon as well as their babies.
  • Inuit of the Arctic: How Animals Survive Harsh Winters Fun Blubber Activity
  • Free Arctic Ground Squirrel Lapbook & Unit Study Resources

Also, look at these books about the Arctic.

12 Arctic Books about People & Animals of the Arctic

Studying about the region of the Arctic is a fascinating topic. Grab some of these books about life in the Arctic and animals of the Arctic.

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter's Wonder

How do snow crystals form? What shapes can they take? Are no two snow crystals alike? These questions and more are answered inside this exploration of the science of snow, featuring photos of real snow crystals in all their beautiful diversity. Perfect for reading on winter days, this book by a nature photographer and a snow scientist will inspire wonder and curiosity about the marvels of snow. Snowflake-catching instructions are also included for aspiring young snow scientists!

In Arctic Waters

This arctic adaptation of “This is the House that Jack Built” follows polar bears, walruses, seals, narwhals and beluga whales as they chase each other around “the ice that floats in the Arctic waters.” Not only is the rhythmic, cumulative prose good for early readers; it is a pure delight to read aloud. The “For Creative Minds” section helps children learn how these animals live in the cold, icy arctic region.

Arctic Fox: Fascinating Animal Facts for Kids (This Incredible Planet)

Fascinating Animal Facts Arctic Fox Learn all about the amazing and adaptable Arctic fox. This small yet hardy creature survives in the harshest of environments!

This Incredible Planet series provides young readers with interesting information about the Earth’s most fascinating creatures.

Beautiful color photography makes each animal come to life. Learn about the Arctic fox’s habitat, diet, breeding, lifespan, behavior, threats, and so much more!

Over and Under the Snow

A wonderful winter book for kids from the author and illustrator of the beloved Over and Under series, now in paperback! Part of the acclaimed nature book series that includes Over and Under the Pond, Over and Under the Rainforest, and Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, this volume takes readers on a cross country ski trip through the winter woods to discover the secret world of animals living under the snow.

Animals in Winter (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science)

Read and find out about how animals cope with winter in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book.

This is a clear and appealing book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. Introduce kids to basic science ideas as part of discussions about the seasons and animals.

Have you ever seen a butterfly in the snow? Probably not. Butterflies can't survive cold weather, so when winter comes, many butterflies fly to warmer places. They migrate. Woodchucks don't like cold weather either, but they don't migrate; they hibernate. Woodchucks sleep in their dens all winter long. How do these and other animals handle the cold and snow of winter?

Read and find out in the proven winner Animals in Winter!

This is a Level 1 Let's-Read-and-Find-Out, which means the book explores introductory concepts perfect for children in the primary grades.

The Inuit Thought of It: Amazing Arctic Innovations (We Thought of It)

Today’s Arctic communities have all the comforts of modern living. Yet the Inuit survived in this harsh landscape for hundreds of years with nothing but the land and their own ingenuity. Join authors Alootook Ipellie and David MacDonald as they explore the amazing innovations of traditional Inuit and how their ideas continue to echo around the world. Some inventions are still familiar to us: the one-person watercraft known as a kayak still retains its Inuit name. Other innovations have been replaced by modern technology: slitted snow goggles protected Inuit eyes long before sunglasses arrived on the scene. Andother ideas were surprisingly inspired: using human-shaped stone stacks (Inunnguat) to trick and trap caribou. Many more Inuit innovations are explored here, including: • Dog sleds • Shelter • Clothing • Kids’ stuff • Food preservation • Medicine. In all, more than 40 Inuit items and ideas are showcased through dramatic photos and captivating language. From how these objects were made, to their impact on contemporary culture, The Inuit Thought of It is a remarkable catalogue of Inuit invention.

Mini Arctic Animals Figurines Set, Polar Animals Toy for Kids Plastic Arctic Reindeer,Walrus,White Whale,Polar Bear,Arctic Fox,Wolf Figures,

Tiny Animals Figures Party: 18 PCS Package include orca, walrus, white owl, reindeer, husky, 2pcs seal, 2pcs beluga whale, 2pcs arctic wolf, 2pcs arctic fox, 2pcs arctic rabbit, 2pcs polar bear figurines and igloo model.

Who are the Eskimos? Arctic People's Traditional Way of Life

Who Are The Eskimos is perfect for early to middle elementary students and makes a great addition to your library.

North: The Amazing Story of Arctic Migration

“A treat for middle-graders of an ecological bent.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books (starred review) At the top of our world is a huge wild place called the Arctic. In the winter, it is a cold and barren land, where few animals can survive. But when spring comes, it attracts animals from every corner of the earth. This lushly illustrated picture book celebrates the resilient wildlife and barren, beautiful landscapes of the Arctic Circle, tracing the awe-inspiring spring migration of millions of creatures to the Arctic and reminding the reader of the hardships and harmony of life in the wild.Back matter includes additional information about the arctic, a glossary, and an index.

Arctic White

When you live in the Arctic in winter, everything is a shade of white. A young girl looks around her home in the Arctic and sees only white, white, white...but one day her grandfather takes her on a journey through the tundra.  And at the end of their cold walk across the ice, they find something special that brings color into their world.

Farthest North: The Incredible Three-Year Voyage to the Frozen Latitudes of the North (Modern Library Exploration)

In 1893, Fridjtof Nansen set sail in the Fram, a ship specially designed and built to be frozen into the polar ice cap, withstand its crushing pressures, and travel with the sea’s drift closer to the North Pole than anyone had ever gone before. Experts said such a ship couldn't be built and that the voyage was tantamount to suicide.  This brilliant first-person account, originally published in 1897, marks the beginning of the modern age of exploration. Nansen vividly describes the dangerous voyage and his 15-month-long dash to the North Pole by sledge. Farthest North is an unforgettable tale and a must-read for any armchair explorer.

This Place Is Cold: An Imagine Living Here book

Can you imaging living in a place where it's so cold your breath turns instantly into tiny ice crystals that glitter in the sun? Where temperatures can drop fifty degrees below zero and even lower and the sun only comes out for a few hours per day? In This Place Is Cold readers will learn how people and animals survive in Alaska's ferocious cold, and how because of global warming this region is now in trouble. Vicki Cobb and Barbara Lavallee travelled the world together to research this groundbreaking geography series, that is now updated and redesigned to appeal to today's readers.

More Arctic Region Unit Study Ideas

  • The Inuit & Arctic Circle Hands-On Activities
  • Inuit Art, Arctic Circle + 10 Notebooking Pages & Free Resources
  • Arctic Region Salt Dough Map + Free Map Flag Printable
How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

Finally, look how to make these adorable easy Arctic animal crafts.

How to Make Peg Doll Animals of the Arctic

You will need:

  • Peg dolls
  • Craft paint
  • Paint pens
  • Small wood beads
  • Air dry clay
  • Hot glue gun/sticks
  • Paint brushes
How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

First, I like to add my details to the peg dolls using beads or air-dry clay.

Small wooden beads make the work go quicker as hot glue dries fast but I like the detail and shape that I can get with air dry clay.

For ears, muzzles, and wings you want to pinch off a small bit of clay and press it into the wood. Heavier pieces like ears or muzzles you want to glue in place.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

I made a polar bear using beads and one with clay for ears so you can see the difference and choose for yourself.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

For the snowy owl, we just smoothed some clay over the sides for wings.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

To make a narwhal roll out a little piece of clay into the horn shape and twist gently, hot glue to the top of the peg doll head.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

 Allow it to dry for 24 hours.

Animals of the Arctic Craft Ideas

Then paint all your peg dolls white, including any clay you added.

Even though some of our animals aren’t white or at least not all white it gives you a good prep base to work from and it will be the majority of your animal’s fur color.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

Now, here is where those paint pens will come in handy.

You can do the details with a tiny brush dipped in paint, but it is so much easier to get crisp lines and details with a fine-tipped paint brush.

Use the paintbrush to draw on some basic details like eyes, noses, and outlines.

Allow to dry, these dry quickly faster than a coat of brushed-on paint.

Now layer on more detailing like whiskers, spots, etc. to make your creatures a little more realistic.

If you want to give them a little bit more life and durability you can either seal them with a clear coat or give them a mod podge seal coat or two.

Add some fake snow or even cotton batting to your animals to spark your child’s imagination.

How to Make Wooden Peg Easy Arctic Animal Crafts

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: animals, arctic, crafts, elementary science, handicraft, hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, life science, science, winter crafts, winter season

20 Fun Home School Education Coloring Books to Pair With Unit Studies

August 3, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have 20 fun home school education coloring books. You’ll also love my bird coloring pages here at Free Bird Journal – Hands-on Nature (Coloring & Identification Pages).

Did you know that August 2nd is National Coloring Book Day? And you can find a plethora of home school education coloring books to add to your studies.

It sounds like the perfect excuse to add to your collection or start a new one.

20 Fun Home School Education Coloring Books to Pair With Unit Studies

With that in mind, I came up with 20 great coloring books that go perfectly along with some of our favorite unit study topics.

While every activity doesn’t have to be a lesson.

 I do like to squeeze in some kind of learning out of everything even if it is just a refresher or reminder to keep some facts fresh in their heads.

These coloring books look fun and interesting in and of themselves and are great as just standalone.

I find coloring wonderful as a stress reliever, when was the last time you joined in on the coloring yourself?

Consider this a challenge for you to start coloring with the kids.

 Now from preschool through high school and for you here is a big list of great choices to match up with whatever topic you need.

6 Benefits of Coloring

Coloring is great for kids, a simple pleasure that has a lot of learning built into it like:

  1. Improving Motor Skills
  2. Stimulating their creativity
  3. Teaching color awareness and recognition.
  4. Improves focus and builds hand-eye coordination.
  5. Reducing stress and anxiety.
  6. Helping to improve handwriting.

Next, look at some of these other home school education coloring books.

More Coloring Books

Also, look at these other home school education coloring books to add to your day.

  • Free Bird Journal – Hands-on Nature (Coloring & Identification Pages)
  • 10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages
  • Free United States Coloring Pages
  • 20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages
  • Geography: Label the World’s Oceans {Ocean Animal Unit Study}
  • Animals and their continents geography activity
20 Fun Home School Education Coloring Books to Pair With Unit Studies

Finally, look at these 20 fun homeschool education coloring books.

20 Homeschool Education Coloring Books

I have 20 great coloring books that go perfectly along with some of our favorite unit study topics.

Animal Habitats Sticker + Coloring Book (500+ Stickers & 12 Scenes)

In this coloring book kids will get to creatively build their own animal habitat scene and see dolphins, whales, tigers, lions and more) in this kids activity book

The National Parks Coloring Book

Featuring 24 of the most popular and scenic parks in the US including Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion, Olympic, Acadia and more. The National Parks Coloring Book is full of unique and educational images to color.These pictures will inspire all ages and skill levels to learn, explore and love the beautiful National Parks of the US!In this informative and educational coloring book, each park is represented with some of its distinguishing animals (big and small) along with plants and flowers and iconic sites.Detailed drawings of animals such as Grizzly Bear, White-Tailed Deer, American Bison, Mountain Lion, Gray Wolf, along with American Bullfrog, and Alpine Chipmunk (to name a few!). Wildflowers or plants commonly seen at the park are included along with a color key for reference.

Coloring Book south america Animals: 20 realistic pictures + 60 unique facts about animals (Animal Planet)

Do you love wild Animals, beautiful South America and Coloring - then this coloring book is for you. This book is for kids and adults.

In this Coloring Book you will find:

  • 20 original realistic full-page images of wild animals of South America on single-sided sheets to prevent bleed-through
  • 60 interesting unusual facts about the animals
  • images contain big and small details so that you can vary the pressure of the hand and alternate simple relaxing filling of wide spaces with intricate focused coloring of little parts of the picture

Space Coloring Book for Kids (Children's Coloring Books)

Explore Outer Space with This Fun Coloring Book for Kids Planets, Astronauts, Spaceships, Aliens, Meteors, and More!

Space coloring book for boys, girls, and kids who love outer space. Featuring full-page drawings of planets, astronauts, spaceships, aliens, meteors, rockets, sun, moon, stars. Provides hours of fun and creativity. Includes bonus pages.

Little House Coloring Book: Coloring Book for Adults and Kids to Share

A beautifully designed coloring book featuring classic artwork by Garth Williams and quotes from all nine original Little House books. Perfect for at-home creative time—return to the world of Little House with your kids...or enjoy on your own!

Join Laura Ingalls, her Ma and Pa, and her sisters, Mary, Carrie, and Grace, on their travels across the frontier as you color in your favorite pioneer characters and scenes and revisit this beloved series.

Sea Turtle Coloring Book: Turtle Gift For Turtle Lovers

This Coloring Book is a lovely tool to express your creativity and embody your colorful ideas.

30 pages to color With custom sized pages (8,5" x 11") and soft cover this book is perfect for keeping it at hand wherever you go. With it's artful cover page this coloring book will always brighten up your life and be an eye-catcher for everyone else.

COLOR YOUR WAY THROUGH THE WORLD: An Educational Coloring Book: Make homeschooling fun with this World Map Coloring Book for Children!

The "World Map Coloring and Activity Book for Children" is an engaging educational resource designed to make homeschooling fun and exciting for kids. This geography book is perfect for young learners who want to explore and discover the different regions of our planet.The book features detailed maps of continents, countries, and states that are easy to follow and understand. Each map includes clear outlines, labels, and fun facts that children can learn while coloring.

Big Book of the Old West to Color (Dover American History Coloring Books)

A big book of coloring fun, packed with cowboys, desperados, prospectors, and pioneers!Saddle up and take a trip back to the days of the Wild West with this giant coloring book. Packed with captivating details of frontier life, it features 118 full-page illustrations of dramatic historical events — building the railroad, crossing the prairie, battling outlaws — plus portraits of explorers, bandits, lawmen, and other real-life characters from an adventurous era.Scenes from pioneer life include a wagon train fending off an Indian attack, workmen erecting the first transcontinental telegraph lines, and prospectors trying their luck amid the Rockies. From Belle Starr and Billy the Kid to Wyatt Earp and Wild Bill Hickok, a colorful gallery of famous faces includes personalities on both sides of the law. Richly detailed, authentic depictions of cowboy life chronicle the exhausting and exhilarating business of bull riding, roping, branding, and trail driving. Each illustration appears with an informative caption.

United States Coloring Book (Dover American History Coloring Books)

Fact-filled coloring book about the Fifty States of America, identifies state capitals, mottos, principal rivers and mountains, flowers, birds, trees, nicknames, and more!Which state — known as the "Golden State" — has trees that grow up to 300 feet high? Which East Coast state contains a re-creation of an authentic nineteenth-century sailing village? And which state leads all others in growing oranges? You'll find the answers to these questions and many others in this exciting coloring book spotlighting geography and more in each of the 50 states.Information accompanying each ready-to-color illustration identifies the state's motto, flower, bird, tree, capital, and principal rivers and mountains. In addition, accurate outline drawings of each state include an inset of the state's location on a full map of the United States. Brimming with information, this entertaining and educational coloring book is an ideal learning aid that youngsters will love using at home or in the classroom.

  • Learn to identify and locate all 50 of the United States.
  • States appear in alphabetical order, one each to a page.
  • Each page includes a picture of the state and a thumbnail image of the United States showing its position.
  • Fun-to-color illustrations help elementary school kids and children ages 3–8 build their motor and recognition skills.

Human Anatomy Coloring Book: an Entertaining and Instructive Guide to the Human Body

The Human Anatomy Coloring Book is an affordable anatomy class. This easy learning study aid contains careful, scientifically accurate line renderings of the body's organs and major systems: skeletal, muscular, circulatory, respiratory, nervous, digestive, urinary, reproductive, endocrine, lymphatic, and skin. Hundreds of specialized organs, bones, muscles, nerve fibers, blood vessels, and other anatomical features can be absorbed and understood by means of an ingenious format: a coloring book that can help mature children and adult colorists learn anatomy. It is an excellent educational tool for EMT, medical and nursing students, homeschoolers, biology teachers for classroom learning, and anyone interested in studies of the human body and its anatomy.

National Geographic Magnificent Ocean: A Coloring Book

Intricate and soothing, this elegant coloring book for adults invites creative people of all ages to dive into the colorful world of oceans, using the power of their own imaginations. With 50 intricate black and white illustrations, printed on perforated pages that will render them collectible, users will color and embellish the scales of an ocean triggerfish, intricate anemone, and the diamond pattern of sea turtles' shells. Armed with artist's tools, they will enhance the beauty of coral reefs and explore the majesty of the ocean's floors. Fans of National Geographic and newcomers to the coloring world alike will welcome this creative and relaxing journey into our natural world.

Butterfly & flowers coloring book for adult large print designs: 50 Unique Designs for Relaxation & Stress Relief (Birds, Butterflies and Flowers ... books for adults and kids

This coloring book is filled with 50 different flowers and butterflies designs to color. Grab your colored pencils, sit back, relax and relieve stress with the wonderful hobby of coloring.What you will find inside the book:

  • 50 unique coloring pages to color
  • Each page is printed on one side to avoid color bleed-through
  • Large print to reduce eye strain
  • Large size (8.5x11 in)
  • A great gift idea for kids on all occasions

Wonderful World of Horses Coloring Book (Dover Animal Coloring Books)

Artist John Green skillfully portrays the legendary grace and beauty of this animal in a collection of 30 illustrations. For more than 20 years, John Green has created popular Dover coloring books. He specializes in realistic drawings of people, animals, and places.Handsome equines — from Clydesdales to show horses — are depicted in the wild and at work.Horses take hold of our imaginations when they gallop across the plains whinnying into the wind. But most of all, horses capture our hearts. And it's said they've done more to change human history than any other domestic animal. Brief captions supplement an impressive panorama of one of the world's best-loved and most highly prized animals.

  • Dramatic portraits of horses galloping, racing across fields
  • Illustration of Dressage, a form of horse riding.
  • Horse jockey and show jumping.
  • Scenes in the Canadian Rockies and Desert.
  • Trotting, galloping, working the land and more.

ABC Coloring Book: Color 100+ Animals, Birds, Vehicles, Fruits, Toys & Alphabets

Join everyone's favorite learning pals Lucas & friends as they teach your children the alphabet, one activity page at a time! Coloring books are a great way for children to learn. Not only will your kids have fun, but they'll engage with new lessons and get an education while playing! What's in this Kids Coloring Book:▪️ 100+ coloring pages for toddlers▪️ Large coloring area and thick lines▪️ Fun and child-friendly pictures to color▪️ Single sided designs with a variety of pictures▪️ Jumbo coloring pages for kids▪️ Earn certificates in the back of the book

Life in Ancient Egypt Coloring Book (Dover Ancient History Coloring Books)

Magnificent pyramids, the silent Sphinx, gigantic temples of stone, a land and people shrouded by the mists of time. Here's a subject that promises to captivate coloring book enthusiasts and anyone intrigued by the life and customs of ancient Egypt. Forty-four authentically detailed drawings by artist John Green recall the glory of a magnificent civilization — from the beginning of the dynasties (ca. 300 B.C.), through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms (ca. 2700–2010 B.C.), to the rule of the Ptolemies and the Roman conquest (30 B.C.) Included are expertly drawn and well-researched full-page illustrations of Cleopatra, Ramses II, the Pharaoh Akhenaten and his beautiful wife, Nefertiti, as well as scenes depicting many aspects of Egyptian life — construction of the six-story step pyramid at Sakkara, fishing and farming along the Nile, the Sphinx and pyramids at Giza, goldsmiths and metalworkers creating elegant works of art, and more.

Bug Book for Kids: Coloring Fun and Awesome Facts

Color and learn awesome facts about 25 cool backyard bugs—plus bonus trading cards!Meet 25 weird and wonderful backyard bugs! This learn-through-coloring book provides kids with hours of coloring fun and teaches them exciting facts about these creepy-crawly creatures at the same time.Did you know that centipedes can regrow legs they've lost to predators? That ladybugs can have up to 20 spots, stripes, or no markings at all? Or that houseflies taste with their feet? Here's what these bugs look like, how they protect themselves, how they crawl and jump and fly, and so much more. Children will have fun coloring the bugs, learning about them (including the difference between bugs and insects), and becoming backyard bug experts.

Medicinal Plants Coloring Book (Dover Nature Coloring Book)

For centuries plants have been used to assuage or cure a wide variety of human ills. Even such familiar “weeds” as the dandelion have their palliative uses. This informative coloring book, featuring 44 accurate drawings by botanical illustrator Ilil Arbel, focuses on such medicinal plants from around the world as foxglove, belladonna, mayapple, valerian, dandelion, chamomile, quinine, arnica, burdock, tamarind, lobelia, and many more.Each illustration is accompanied by an informative caption outlining the plant's coloration and physical characteristics, geographic distribution, and medicinal uses. Invaluable as an identification guide and pictorial reference, this volume will appeal to colorists of all ages as well as to artists and crafters in need of royalty-free plant illustrations.

Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book: Coloring Pages of Ancient Mexico Civilizations for Adults and Teens

Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book – Fun And Education For Adults and TeensMake the perfect gift for anyone who loves coloring! Enjoy this Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book for Adults and Teens. Click the cover to reveal what’s inside!About this book:

  • 40 original pages drawings of Symbols, Warriors, Masks and Mandalas.
  • Printed on high quality solid white paper.
  • Easily color with crayons, colored pencils or colored pens,
  • Beautiful designs appropriate for adults and teens,

The Coolest Military Technology: Fun & Facts Coloring Book - Full page original illustrations and over 125 cool facts!

This book, part of the We Can Color—Fun & Facts coloring books series, will provide long hours of fun and learning about the armies of the world, from ancient history to the latest developments, while coloring beautiful illustrations of mind-boggling military vehicles and weapons such as tanks, planes, warships, amphibious vehicles, transport helicopters, aircraft carriers, special forces vehicles, cannons, nuclear missiles, destroyers, robots, bombers, artillery, submarines and many more!

Medieval Coloring Book - 40 Pages from the Middle Ages: Lose Yourself in a Historic Time of Knights, Castles, and Feudal Village Life

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of the Middle Ages with the Medieval Coloring Book. Unleash your creativity as you bring to life enchanting illustrations that transport you to a time of castles, knights, and noble quests. Within these pages, you'll encounter chivalrous knights on horseback, weapons, coat of arms, frightening gargoyles, majestic fortresses, humble cottages, ornate tapestries, and illuminated manuscripts. The Medieval Coloring Book invites you to embark on a vivid journey through time, where history, art, and imagination intertwine. Release your inner artist and create a vibrant tapestry of colors that breathe life into 40 captivating scenes.

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Homeschooling Tagged With: coloringpages, elementary science, hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources, homeschoolscience, science

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

July 19, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Hands-on animal camouflage activities are the best way to teach young learners how and why many animals have that adaptation. Also, you’ll love my post Easy Hands-on Science: Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt.

There are several ways and reasons that animals use camouflage.

One important thing to explain to your child is that camouflage is not only used by prey for protection, but it is also helpful for predators to be able to sneak up on their food.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Animals use their shapes, colors, and patterns, as well as the lighting and landscape around them to conceal themselves in the woods, savannah, arctic, and every other biome.

If you are looking for animal camouflage activities to do with your child, you will find lots of ideas and resources here.

Too, I am showing you a fun and simple animal camouflage art and sharing some books and more ideas.

4 Basic Types of Camouflage

First, let’s talk about the different types of camouflage and learn an example of each.

  • Concealing Coloration- A common camouflage tactic where a species tries to conceal itself by resembling its surroundings in color, form, or movements. Example: Squirrels, deer, and rabbits blend into the dull brown colors of the woods where they live.
  • Disruptive Coloration– Disruptive coloration is when an animal has a patterned coloring like spots or stripes that make it hard to see its outline. Example: Leopards lurk in lower branches and the spots help disguise them in the shadows and spots of light coming through.
  • Disguise -Disguise is when an animal has a coloration and shape that is designed to look like another non-food object in its environment. Example: Walking sticks look like a stick when they are not moving.
  • Mimicry- Mimicry is coloration in a harmless animal that is similar to another animal that is either dangerous, bad tasting, or poisonous. Example: The owl butterfly has large spots that look like an owl’s eye.
8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Next, here are a few words to know.

Camouflage Vocabulary

Here are a few words with definitions that may come up in your learning.

  • Camouflage- A disguise that makes something look like the area around it.
  • Adaptation-The process of change where an organism or species becomes better suited to its environment.
  • Predator- An animal that hunts for other animals.
  • Prey- The animal that other animals hunt for.
8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Next, look at some activities to learn about animal camouflage.

Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources

Now, I have some excellent books, activities, and video suggestions to help round out your camouflage lesson.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources

Add some of these animal camouflage activities and resources to your unit study about animals.

Natural World: A Visual Compendium of Wonders from Nature - Jacket unfolds into a huge wall poster!

NaturalWorld is a great reference to have on hand because it is full of all kinds ofnatural science info and illustrations.

Easy Hands-on Science: Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt

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!

Animal Camouflage (A True Book: Amazing Animals)

Some animals defend against predators by fighting toe to toe. Others rely upon armor and other physical defenses.

However, sometimes the best defense of all is to stay out of sight. Readers (Grades 3-5) will learn all about animal camouflage, from species that simply blend into the background to others that mimic more dangerous animals. They will also discover how these species have developed their camouflage over time and how even powerful predators sometimes rely upon this useful ability.

Photo Credit: www.stirthewonder.com

Animal Camouflage Hands-on Science Activity

If your kiddos are interested in learning about animals, this Animal Camouflage Hands-on Science Activity will sure to delight!

Secrets of Animal Camouflage: A Shine-a-Light Book

Bright, punchy artwork makes every page an adventure in the latest title in the best-selling Shine-A-Light series. A hidden world of snow-covered Arctic foxes, tree-trunk hiding owls, and perfectly camouflaged butterflies will be revealed as you hold the pages to the light.

Photo Credit: www.youtube.com

Learn How Animals Can Blend In With Their Environments

What is camouflage? Why do animals need to use it? Well, in Animal Camouflage, your kids and students will learn the answers to these questions! First off, there are many different kinds of camouflage, and we will discuss four of the main kinds that apply to animals in this video. Did you know that there is actually more than one reason that animals use camouflage?

Photo Credit: kidsactivitiesblog.com

Animal Camouflage Frog Scavenger Hunt

Animal camouflage is nature’s way to protect and hide creatures from predators.  Kids love a good scavenger hunt so I created a camouflage frog hunt to help my daughter understand how an animal’s coloring can help him hide in his surroundings and therefore stay safe.

Photo Credit: www.apologia.com

Animal Camouflage Activity

First, we lined the bottom of the laundry basket with some extra sheets of yellow, green, red, and orange construction paper so that the bottom of the stark white basket became part of the animal camouflage.

Finally, look at this animal camouflage activity.

Animal Camouflage Activities – Animal Camouflage Art

This activity combines using observation on a nature walk with creating simple camouflage art to better understand how animals use it to hide.

You will need:

  • Thick paper
  • Earth-toned craft paints
  • Paintbrush
  • Leaves, rocks, and sticks from outside
  • Plastic animals or hand-drawn animals
8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

First, take a nature walk and collect leaves of different colors, twigs, pinecones, small pebbles, and whatever you find on the forest floor or even in your own backyard.

See if your child can spot any critters among the leaf litter, on the bark of trees, or up in the foliage.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Bring your nature treasures home and give your child paints in similar colors, have the paint leaves, dirt, twigs, or whatever they saw on their walk.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Continue painting until the page is full of different sizes and shades of paint.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Add found leaves and twigs.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Finally, encourage them to hide plastic animals, printouts, or hand-drawn animals as well as they can, matching them to the colors and patterns as closely as possible.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

You can also paint a picture of a tree trunk and foliage and hide animals there also.

Compare it to arctic animals on a white background.

8 Animal Camouflage Activities and Resources & Fun Camouflage Art

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: animals, art, camouflage, elementary science, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolscience, life science, science

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

July 7, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have an easy wetlands paper plate habitat diorama. You’ll also love my post Above & Below: Pond Unit Study, Hands-on Ideas, & Lapbook

Creating a paper plate habitat diorama is a great way to incorporate a project that is super inexpensive and less work.

One thing I love about a diorama is that it can be done by everyone from preschool through high school and showcases each child’s imagination.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Not every project has to be a huge display.

Creating something small like creating a paper plate habitat diorama allows for a quicker project.

Some topics you don’t need a super deep dive into, and it is also very inexpensive.

We always have a pack of paper plates on hand for craft projects, quick lunches, or to use as a disposable paint palette.

Since we were gathering items from outside and drawing our own animals, we were able to complete this project for free.

5 Facts About Wetlands

The wetlands are defined as areas where water covers the soil or is near the surface of the soil all year.

This includes swamps, marshes, estuaries, mangroves, mudflats, ponds, deltas, coral reefs, billabongs, lagoons, shallow seas, bogs, lakes, and floodplains.

Look at these 5 facts about wetlands.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama
  1. About 30% of the Earth’s wetlands are in North America and are found on every continent except Antarctica.
  2. One of the largest wetlands in the world is the Pantanal which covers over 93,000 miles over Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay in South America.
  3. The Florida Everglades are sitting on a bed of limestone, which helps produce clean water for the state.
  4. Many of the plants that are found in the wetland either grow under the water or float on top of it.  But some grow out of the ground like trees. The 3 main types of plants found here are emergent, floating, and submerged.
  5. Wetlands can be made of saltwater or freshwater and sometimes they are a combination of both.

I referenced Wildlife Anatomy for ecosystems like wetlands.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

It is also a great reference for animals that live within the wetlands like alligators, along with Nature Anatomy which also includes many plants and animals.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

More Paper Plate Habitat Diorama Inspiration

Here are some more wonderful and creative ideas for using paper plates to create mini ecosystems.

  • Preschoolers will love making and playing with the Paper Plate Magnetic Duck Pond
  • How fun is this Paper Plate Aquarium Fish diorama?
  • Create a Mini Beach Scene, add in crabs and other animals you would see along the shoreline.
  • Here is an even smaller idea, How to Make a Paper Plate Mini-Diorama
  • This Fancy Mushroom Diorama could be made using paper platters or plates.

Now you can take this paper plate habitat diorama and use it for anything- desert, ocean, woodland, arctic, etc.. but for this one, I want to focus on giving you information and activities for the wetlands.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Decide for yourselves which wetland you want to create for your project, this will determine the type of flora and fauna you add to it.

Next, add some of these activities for studying about wetlands.

Activities for Learning About the Wetlands

  • Coral Reef Unit Study and Lapbook
  • Above & Below: Pond Unit Study, Hands-on Ideas, & Lapbook
  • Fun Hands-on Coral Reef Activities and Play Dough Invitation to Play
  • The Geronimo Stilton Series: Make a Fun Edible Coral Reef
  • Pond Life for Kindergarten Activity Build a Fun Beaver Dam

Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Typically, in dioramas, we often use small plastic animals.

But because our paper plate habitat diorama is so much smaller we decided to draw our little animals to keep it lightweight and to keep the scale small.

If you would still like to include the plastic animals for your diorama or to use in sensory bins, etc.

This Safari Ltd River set has a lot of animals found in wetlands.

You will need:

  • A paper plate
  • Small pebbles
  • Small sticks
  • moss
  • Plastic animals- optional
  • Cardstock
  • Paints
  • Markers

First, fold the paper plate in half, creasing it sharply.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Open the paper plate and paint half of it green and half blue.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Squeeze a generous amount of blue, green, and tan onto your plate where you would like your water, and brush it out, leaving it thick so it has some dimension.

Water in wetlands is generally kind of murky and muddled so wanted it to look natural.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

While your plate is drying, have your child research and draw several wetlands animals for the habitat onto white cardstock.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Once the plate is dry, paint or use a marker to add trees in the background on the top half of the plate, against the sky.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Then, add moss, sticks, and small pebbles to the base. You can glue them down or leave them loose for additional play.

You can also create trees by hot gluing moss to small sticks, then secure them to the base with a little puddle of glue.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Add plastic animals or the paper ones your child drew to the scene.

How to Make an Easy Wetlands Paper Plate Habitat Diorama

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: diorama, earth science, ecosytem, elementary science, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, life science, science, wetlands

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

June 18, 2023 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I have an easy mosaic art sea turtle activity. Add ideas from my fun From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook page to make it for multiple ages.

Activities for middle schoolers can be a little more challenging to find.

So, we did this mosaic sea turtle activity to let them show off their artistic side while they learn at the same time.

It uses only 3 items and is great for art but also helps continue developing fine motor skills, patience, planning, creativity, and problem-solving.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

 While putting together the mosaic your middle schooler can watch a video on sea turtles, listen to an audiobook, or listen to you read aloud.

While this is a more challenging activity, a patient elementary student could handle this as well.

Studying marine biology covers science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and is a wonderful option for middle or high school.

Even without a curriculum, your child can get a well-rounded education through interesting texts, videos, field trips, and hands-on learning like this sea turtle activity.

5 Fun Sea Turtle Facts

First, look at these sea turtle facts.

  • Jellyfish are the main food for the leatherback sea turtle.
  • The digestive systems of adult hawksbill sea turtles can neutralize the sharp, glass spicules and the toxic chemicals that are found in many of the sponges they eat.
  • Olive ridley turtles practice nesting in large groups, known as “arribada”, in fact, the mass group can include up to 300,00 individual females laying their eggs on the beach.
  • The Kemp’s ridley turtle is the most endangered sea turtle species, and the smallest.
  • Loggerhead turtles take up to 39 years to reach sexual maturity.

We used Ocean Anatomy as our reference for the design and found plenty of great sea turtle information like the life cycle, identifying different species, and what types of things endanger them.

The first thing you need to do before starting is decide on your design.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

 It can be simpler than mine if you like, you can just make one larger sea turtle with a rainbow of beads all the way around it or come up with an even more intricate design.

You can create adult or baby sea turtles for your design, a nest on the beach, swimming in the ocean, or a combination of both.

More Sea Turtle Activity Ideas

  • If you can’t include a field trip to your own local aquarium to see the sea turtles check out Loggerhead MarineLife Centers Live Turtle Cam.
  • Here is a  simple Sea Turtle Art Project by Easy Peasy Art School on youtube.
  • Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity
  • This step-by-step clay turtle is another fun project for older kids.
  • Cutest Ever Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft and Learning Activities for Kids
  • Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity
  • Travel Channel has a list of places where you can observe sea turtle nests in the U.S. if you happen to live near or are traveling near the beach.

Also, look at some of these books about sea turtles.

10 Sea Turtle Resources

Add some books about sea turtles and hands-on resources to your lesson or unit study to bring it to life.

Sea Turtles

Sea turtles are fascinating. Hatched from eggs smaller than a baseball, some can grow to weigh over a thousand pounds. Once adults, they can live to be around 100 years old. And when it's time to nest, they migrate more than 1,000 miles. With colorful, clear illustrations and straightforward text, Gail Gibbons introduces the eight kinds of sea turtles living in the ocean today. Learn the similarities and differences with labeled diagrams and experience the hatching of the tiny turtle babies with detailed illustrations. This updated edition now includes the most up-to-date information about these beloved reptiles, as reviewed by an expert vetter in the field of herpetology.

I'll Follow the Moon

Celebrating the love between mother and child comes an achingly beautiful story that has captured hearts around the world. Written by a new mom, by accident, when she sang a little song to her fussing newborn, I'll Follow the Moon proudly donates proceeds to charity: every book saves a turtle.

Ocean Anatomy: The Curious Parts & Pieces of the World under the Sea

Follow Rothman’s inquisitive mind and perceptive eye along shorelines, across the open ocean, and below the waves for an artistic exploration of the watery universe. Through her drawings, discover how the world’s oceans formed, why the sea is salty, and the forces behind oceanic phenomena such as rogue waves. Colorful anatomical profiles of sea creatures from crustacean to cetacean, surveys of seafaring vessels and lighthouses, and the impact of plastic and warming water temperatures are just part of this compendium of curiosities that will entertain and educate readers of all ages. 

National Geographic Readers: Sea Turtles

Who could resist celebrating sea turtles? They may seem like lazy ocean reptiles drifting with the oceans’ currents, but they are actually long-distance swimmers that spend their entire lives searching for food and a mate. What’s more, they come with their own built-in GPS, returning to the exact beach where they were born to lay their own eggs. Kids will learn all about these tranquil and mysterious animals through brilliant photography and illustrations, plus the trusted and distinctive content you love from NG Kids!

Tammy Turtle: A Tale of Saving Sea Turtles

A book that tells how turtles survive with the help of protection programs.

Our Sea Turtles: A Practical Guide for the Atlantic and Gulf, from Canada to Mexico

The book's pithy, well-organized sections are lavishly illustrated. It is a guide for anyone who is the least bit curious about these fascinating marine animals. Bite-sized installments harmonize with multiple images on each page to make this book a unique and entertaining resource. The story it tells covers understanding, experiencing, and saving our sea turtles, with descriptions of how these endangered animals contribute to our happiness and why they deserve a helping hand.

Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field)

The mother turtle has a vital job to do: dig a nest in which she will lay eggs that will hatch into part of the next generation of leatherbacks. With only one in a thousand of the eggs for this critically endangered species resulting in an adult sea turtle, the odds are stacked against her and her offspring. 

4 PCS Sea Turtle Life Cycle

Children can see how animals change and grow. Realistic detail showing a different stage in the development of animals.

Uniquely molded textures and richly painted details bring them to life and help inspire creativity for kids.

It is a great way to expand the growth with children through physical science.

Follow the Moon Home

A triumphant story of environmental activism, community, and friendship: Acclaimed activist Philippe Cousteau and renowned author Deborah Hopkinson team up to offer a story of the powerful difference young people can make in the world. Meet Viv, who has a new home and a new school by the sea and follow her as she finds her way in a new place and helps bring together a whole community to save the sea turtles of the South Carolina coast.

The Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle

Describes the life cycle of sea turtles discussing reproduction, birth, and adult life.

Finally, look how to make thise fun mosaic sea turtle activity.

How to Make a Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity

You will need:

  • Pony beads
  • Cheap round cake pan (Dollar Tree)
  • Permanent markers
Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Grab a small round cake pan.

I suggest using a Dollar Tree pan because you will not want to use it for food once the chemicals from the beads have contaminated it.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Place it where you will be working, you want to move it around as little as possible once you start working on it.

If your beads are not sorted, spread them out so they are easier to sort through, we put ours on a larger baking sheet.

The easiest way I found to lay out the design is to start in the middle with your turtle. Start with a diamond shape and a head and flippers.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Tweezers are very helpful to put beads into place, especially when you get into more detailed or crowded areas.

Ocean Mosaic Art

Continue working on your design, you can create a water and sand background.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Add white for waves and you can even make a baby sea turtle popping out of an egg on the beach. 

Fill the entire surface, you want your beads to not be able to move much at all.   

Until you fill it all in you will probably need to reposition your more detailed work a bit.                                                                                                                             

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Once your pan is filled in carefully move it into an oven preheated to 375℉.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Bake for 20-30 minutes until melted.

Here is the design after 10 minutes in the oven…

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

20 minutes…

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

30 minutes…

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely, you will hear a little crackling and popping as it cools and releases from the pan.

Once cool it will flip right out of the pan.

Trust the process, even when you flip it over to the smooth side you are gonna think it doesn’t look like much, but we are going to fix that in this next step.

Flip to the smooth side and use a black Sharpie to trace the outline of your turtles, this gives them a little definition and really makes them pop.

If you want to hang it for display, you can hot glue a loop of ribbon to the back.

Fun and Easy Mosaic Art Sea Turtle Activity For Kids

1 CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: elementary science, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, life science, nature study, science, sciencecurriculum, sea turtle, turtles

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