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Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

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You’ll love this Little House on the Prairie Unit Study and fun punched tin lantern. Also, grab more ideas on my best homeschool unit studies page.

If you are anything like me, you grew up watching or reading about Laura Ingalls and her family’s adventures traveling westward from their first home in the little house in the big woods of Wisconsin. 

I spent many hours imagining I was Laura with my trusty guard dog Jack, running along the banks of Plum creek, going into town, and feuding with Nellie Olsen.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

If you too are eager to begin a Little House on the Prairie Unit Study with your kids, I have tons of great ideas to get you started.

Whether you settle in the prairie for a week or submerge yourself in all things Ingalls for a month or more you will find plenty here to keep you busy.

5 Little House on the Prairie Facts You May Not Have Known

  1. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s first book wasn’t published until 1932, 65 years after she was born.
  2. Laura was only 4’ 11” tall when she was fully grown, not particularly short for women of that time period, but it explains why Pa called her his” little half pint of cider half drunk up”.
  3. Laura’s first attempt at book writing about her life experiences was called Pioneer Girl, and it was initially rejected by publishers. Her daughter Rose suggested her mother rewrite it for the children. Clearly, it worked.
  4. Her longtime Missouri home, Rocky Ridge Farm, was turned into a museum.
  5. Laura’s father Charles was part of the Delano family. You might recognize the name – Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Laura was the fifth cousin once removed to FDR and a third cousin once removed to Ulysses S. Grant.

Pioneer Crafts and Activities

Then, add these books for beautiful literature.

Little House on the Prairie Unit Study Resources

Add some of these fun resources to ignite a love for learning about the Little House on the Prairie.

Also, it’s fun learning about Laura’s life through the pages of her books, but here are some facts too.

About Laura Ingalls Wilder

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder (February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957) was an American writer, mostly known for the Little House on the Prairie series of children’s books, published between 1932 and 1943, which were based on her childhood in a settler and pioneer family.

Moreover, she was born in Pepin, Wisconsin in the “little house in the big woods” in 1867.

She lived through huge changes in America. Her family moved several times traveling by covered wagon.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Little House books

The eight original Little House books are:

  1. Little House in the Big Woods (1932)
  2. Farmer Boy (1933) – about Almanzo Wilder growing up in New York
  3. Little House on the Prairie (1935)
  4. On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937)
  5. By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939)
  6. The Long Winter (1940)
  7. Little Town on the Prairie (1941)
  8. These Happy Golden Years (1943)

Moreover, there are many topics and words for your child to learn about pioneer life in America.

I’ve listed some below.

Vocabulary Words

Although it’s important to understand the words used, I wanted my kids to love learning about the expansion in American history; And to see history unfold through the eyes of a child.

However, I’ve listed some below to add another language arts element.

  • wandered
  • massacre
  • scorched
  • huddled
  • brindle
  • papoose
  • trotted
  • beholden
  • staggering
  • rummaged
  • yonder
  • molasses

Next, look at these hands on fun ideas.

15 Little House on the Prairie Unit Study Hands-on Ideas

Play the Oregon Trail Online Game to give your child an idea of the route and the hardships those moving westward faced.

Make a Fun No Sew Pioneer Rag Doll just like little girls like Laura played with during those times.

It makes a lovely handicraft activity as well as a sweet keepsake of your study.

Create Fun Pioneer Peg Dolls to represent each of the characters in the book.

Try your hand at Pioneer Living and Cloth Dyeing using the same things that the pioneers would have to color fabric.

Make Maple Snow Candy and enjoy a taste of those days.

In addition, history overlaps quite a bit and though the original is tied to Daniel Boone you can recreate this Edible Log Cabin as an art project and a yummy snack.

Learn how to make soap.

Create a Native American cradleboard or papoose.

And make buttermilk biscuits.

If you really want to get a taste of pioneer history, Make Butter and Hardtack to sample.

Do a Hands-on Fun Shrunken Head Apple Craft.

Grab these fun 10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages

Enjoy a picnic outdoors with a lunch pail- wrap sandwiches and other items in waxed or brown paper, tie it up with a string, and carry it out in a tin bucket. Spread out a colorful piece of fabric or a quilt to enjoy your supper.

Learn the information on the Free Westward Ho History Cards

Do your lessons on small personal blackboards just like the girls did at home or in their little one-room schoolhouse.

Look at pictures of a pioneer house then and compare them to how we live today.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

In addition, look at some more unit studies and topics which go along with this theme.

More American History Unit Studies

Next, these unit study ideas either happened at the same time Laura lived or before her birth so your child understands this period in American history.

Too, not only does Laura describe terrifying events about wolves, but there would have been plenty of wildlife to learn about.

More Best Homeschool Unit Studies

Wildlife on the Prairie

Look at this list of wildlife to learn about.

Moreover, look at my Lewis and Clark Unit Study which has more information about the flora and fauna along the route.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Finally, look at this next hands-on idea to add your fun Little House on the Prairie Unit Study.

How to Make a Punched Tin Lantern

Supplies needed:

  • A clean empty vegetable can
  • Hammer
  • Nails of a few different sizes
  • Small hand towel
  • Dry erase marker
  • Wire
  • Needle nose pliers
  • Battery-operated candle or small glass votive
Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Directions:

First, check to be sure that there are no sharp spots on the lantern where the top was removed.

Trim them off by going over the edges with a can opener again or with a metal file.

Also, if there is any remaining adhesive, you can remove it by running a hot blow dryer over the spot and pulling it off while it is still warm.

Fill the tin can with water and freeze until completely solid.

Draw out your design on one side with a fine-tipped marker like a sharpie.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Carefully tape a nail through the lines of your design with the hammer and continue all over the design placing holes around ¼” or less apart.

You can also use a Phillips head screwdriver or an awl if you have one for something with a handle.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Flip and repeat your designs on the other sides the same way wherever you would like it.

Punch a hole through on either side near the top for the handle.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Take a strand of jewelry wire and double it for added thickness.

Run it through one hole and twist the ends around the wire with needle nose pliers tucking in the sharp ends.

Next, run the wire as high as you would like the handle to be upwards and then down to the other side. Push it through and twist the wires again to close.

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Allow the ice to melt but you can speed this process up by running hot water in and over the lantern or placing it outside in the sun.

Dry the lantern and add a candle to the inside. What do you think, ready to start your own unit study?

Little House on The Prairie Unit Study and Fun Punched Tin Lantern

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

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Add these fun earth day cookies to your cookie sheet activities. Also, grab this fun idea using cookies to build the Eiffel Tower.

When you’re out on Earth Day on April 22 picking up trash, planting gardens and conserving water take a fun break.

Make these Earth Day cookies and add this idea to your cookie sheet activities.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Besides, it’s a great time to learn some fascinating facts about earth.

Too, these Earth Day cookies are a great activity for the whole family, and you will get different results from kids of different skill levels.

For example, encourage your older (middle and high school) kids to go for accurate continents.

Let the toddlers go wild with blobs while you teach them that blue is for water and green for land. That’s a fun super easy introduction to geography.

12 Fascinating Facts About Planet Earth

  1. Earth is the 3rd planet closest to the sun at a whopping 92.67 million miles.
  2. The earth rotates at around 1000 miles an hour- wow!
  3. The circumference of Earth is 24,901 miles.
  4. Some scientists believe that the continents were not always separate but existed as one large landmass that broke apart-Pangea.
  5. Earth is the 5th largest planet in the solar system.
  6. Earth is nicknamed the blue planet or ocean planet, because it is covered in so much water.
  7. The inner core of the earth is made of iron.
  8. The earth’s atmosphere is made up of 6 layers. Those layers are called troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, exosphere, and ionosphere.
  9. Did you know that earth is the only planet that is not named after one of the Greek or Roman gods?
  10. Early ancient Greeks, Sumerians, Egyptians, Vikings, and Babylonians believed the earth was flat because of what they could see around them and the belief that the Heavens were above the earth.
  11. The driest place in the world is the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, oddly enough it is right next to the biggest body of water — the Pacific Ocean.
  12. Because the earth is not a perfect sphere its gravitational pull is not the same everywhere. The planet’s surface is bumpy, and water flow, ice drift and the movement of the tectonic plates create different gravity pulls.
Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Then, look at more ideas below for cookie sheet activities and earth science fun.

More Cookie Sheet Activities

Have you ever considered using a cookie sheet for something other than cookies?

Let’s look at some of my favorite cookie sheet activities that can turn a cheap kitchen item (think Dollar Tree) into a useful learning tool.

  • Use a cookie sheet to recreate this Edible Rock Cycle for some tasty earth science.
  • Remember when we did a study on George Washington Carver and made peanut butter cookies as part of our learning? What a great dive into history and science that was.
  •  Use a cookie sheet Cook Ancient Sebetu Rolls and learn about Ancient Mesopotamia.

Next, here are a few that have nothing to do with cooking.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Additionally, look at a few more activities to include if you’re learning about this beautiful planet we live on.

More Earth Science Ideas and Activities

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Finally, let’s get onto the simple tutorial for our Earth Day cookies.

Earth Day Cookies

 You will need:

  • 1 package sugar cookie dough (or your favorite recipe)
  • Green food coloring
  • Blue food coloring
  • A map or globe for reference

First, mix up your cookie dough according to package directions.

Remove ¼ of the cookie dough and put it aside in a separate bowl.

To the larger amount of cookie dough add blue food coloring and mix until desired shade is reached. Due to the yellow of the egg yolk your blue is going to be more of an aqua/turquoise color than blue.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Add green food coloring to the smaller bowl of dough and mix well.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Roll cookie dough into balls in your hand and then flatten on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Pinch off small amounts of green dough and form rough continent shapes.

As they bake, they are going to spread and become a bit misshaped anyway so focus on the fun and getting the general idea more than perfection.

If your butter is too softened your cookies will spread and give you a large flatter cookie.

 If you prefer a thicker, softer cookie pop the dough into the fridge for 15 minutes to chill it before baking.

Bake to the minimum time on your recipe. Keep in mind something about the coloring seems to make them brown and get crunchy edges faster.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the pan for a few minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy.

Cookie Sheet Activities Make Earth Day Cookies & Fascinating Earth Facts

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

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Your child will have fun learning about Daniel Boone hunting with this quick deer unit study. Look at more ideas on my page Daniel Boone – North American Explorer and for my unit studies on best homeschool unit studies.

If you are trailblazing through the woods exploring about Daniel Boone, you may want to head into learning about Daniel Boone hunting.

Back when people were moving westward and setting out on new trails the wild game was plentiful in the woods.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Daniel Boone would have no doubt encountered deer, squirrel, bear, fox, raccoon, rabbit, beaver, and wild turkey.

I have gathered up plenty of resources for you to focus on a deer unit study.

Boone was a very gifted hunter and deer were a plentiful and common target for the woodsman.

Ideas for a Deer Unit Study

You will find books, games, and hands-on ideas.

I will walk you through a fun art project focusing on the deer’s antlers.

If your family are hunters your child is no doubt already immersed in the world of the hunt.

But if they are just starting out there are a lot of great resources to introduce them to deer, their habitats, their place in the food chain, and more.

10 Fun Facts About Deer

Next, look at these fun facts about deer.

  1. Deer can reach short distance bursts of speed up to 30mph and jump over 10 feet.
  2. One in 30,000 deer are albino, the absence of pigment, which gives them white fur and pink eyes.
  3. There are more than 40 different species of deer in the world.
  4. A moose is actually a member of the New World deer subfamily.
  5. Male deer shed their antlers once a year. Males grow antlers from March – September. The antlers are shed in late winter.
  6. On rare occasions, a female will grow antlers.
  7. A common deer in North America is the white-tailed deer.
  8. A male white-tailed deer is called a buck, a female is called a doe and the young are called fawns.
  9. White-tailed deer are herbivores. They eat twigs, buds, and leaves of a wide variety of plants.
  10. Deer antlers are the fastest growing bone known and can grow as much as a ½ inch a day.

Then, look at some of these fun resources to learn about deer.

Deer Unit Study Resources

Add these books for a fun deer unit study or to learn about animals encountered along the trails of the Westward Expansion.

About White-Tailed Deer

Deer are ruminant mammals which means it has a four‐chambered stomach.

In addition, deer are browsers which means they eat leaves and buds which are not easily digestible.

Their name white tailed deer comes from the fact that when they are in danger their white tail stands upright like a flag.

Too, antlers are grown by only male deer called bucks. However, both male and female reindeer have antlers.

Antlers are made of bone and is covered by a substance called velvet which is full of blood vessels to supply nutrients to the bone.

In addition, no doubt when Daniel Boone was hunting, he was familiar with the diet and habitat of the white tailed deer.

For example, they like open woods, old fields and anywhere along water sources. Deer use the wooded areas for cover and food.

And deer feed on nuts, berries, woody shoots and stems, acorns, honeysuckle, and poison ivy.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

If food is planted like corn, soybeans and decorative shrubs they’ll eat that food too.

Next, deer normally make three different sounds which are maternal, reproductive and alarm.

Moreover, I have some fun deer notebooking pages to add to this unit study.

Deer Notebooking Pages

Further, your child can do his own research about deer and add his own notes or use some facts off my post here.

Grab the notebooking pages below.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Also, add in some fun hands-on activities.

Hands-on Deer Activities

  • This Easy Hands-on Science: Animal Camouflage Activity Hunt is a great introduction to understanding animal camouflage for younger children.
  • Grab this White Tailed Deer Print Out for younger kids to see the different parts of a deer as well as a footprint.
  • Make a hand craft deer for the littles.
  • If you have the opportunity to use some you have or borrow some antlers from a hunt or shed, let your child explore them by touching and seeing what they feel like, count the tips, and make other observations.
Fun Learning About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Quick Deer Unit Study
  • Turn a few fun deer toys into a wonderful activity by adding a little sand, moss, rocks, and sticks to a tray or bin to turn it into a deer themed sensory activity. Use a small piece of paper to give the woodland clearing a pond.
Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages
  • Discuss the differences between antlers and horns and if you have some let your kids explore how they are the same and different. Additionally, measure them and learn about math measurements.
  • Get outdoors with a field guide to locate wildlife and learn about when is the best time to view deer.
  • Learn how colonists and early Native American used parts of the deer in everyday life.
  • Further learn and match animal tracks.

Daniel Boone Hunting and Life Resources

Next, look at these other the life of Daniel Boone hunting and about his life resources.

Finally, I am going to walk you through creating your own multimedia deer art project.

We are going to focus on the antlers.

It makes a good springboard to talk about deer antlers, why they have them, and why they fall off.

This will be the easiest way anyone has brought home a 10 point buck.

Deer Art Project

You will need:

  • 11×14 canvas
  • Sticks and twigs of various sizes
  • Hot glue gun/glue sticks
  • Acrylic paint
  • pencil
Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Before you begin, sketch out the top of your deer head onto paper until you are happy with your design.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Retrace the design onto the canvas with a pencil.

Don’t worry about getting it perfect.

We are making our deer just peek over the edge and focusing on those antlers.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Water down blue paint and paint all around the drawing. But do not paint to the edges of your drawing.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Crumple up a rag or paper towel and pat the blue all over to lighten the paint.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Allow the blue paint to dry to the touch, it shouldn’t take long since you removed all the excess paint.

Begin painting to fill in the outline of the deer with brown paint and add details with black and light brown for highlights.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Let the paint dry completely and lay out the sticks until you are satisfied with your antlers.

Learn About Daniel Boone Hunting With a Fun Deer Unit Study & Notebooking Pages

Lastly, hot glue each piece down

How to Get the Free Deer Notebooking Pages

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That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to this freebie.

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Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

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I have some facts about the life cycle of a strawberry and how to make a felt hand sewn strawberry. And you’ll love my Strawberry Unit Study page.

This is a great activity not only to use while learning about the life cycle of a strawberry plant but also to work in a simple handiwork skill.

I have simplified this so even if you are not a sewer yourself it is easy for you and your child to learn together.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

The life cycle of a strawberry plant starts with seeds and germination.

Then the plants are produced and mature.

Next comes flowering, fruiting, and finally dormancy before it starts all over again in the new season.

Even if you can’t grow them on your own there are a lot of great easy to learn about strawberries and their life cycle.

Resources to Learn The Life Cycle of a Strawberry

Use these great Strawberry Notebooking Pages for Language Arts

Enjoy a fun Strawberry Unit Study.

Plant your own strawberries from seed.

There is a great illustration of the life cycle of a strawberry plant in Nature Anatomy among all the other wonderful nature study info it contains.

Taste strawberries and other berries to compare.

Ask your child to describe it with all their senses, what does it smell like, taste like, look like?

Try strawberries in other forms as well like jams or jellies, in salad dressings, etc.

Slice a strawberry in half and encourage your child to examine it, where are the seeds located? How does the center look different?

Extract Strawberry DNA for another fun hands-on science activity.

Watch this video to see a strawberry go from flower to fruit.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Also, look at some strawberry life cycle facts.

6 Facts about The Life Cycle of a Strawberry

  1. You can harvest the seeds from strawberries by pulling them off individually with tweezers and laying them on a paper towel to dry completely. Store in a labeled envelope or baggie.
  2. Planted from seed, strawberries take around 110 days from sprouting until they start to flower.
  3. The ever-bearing types of strawberries will produce two crops, one in early summer and the second in the early fall.
  4. Strawberries have the shortest life cycle of any of the berries, taking just 60-90 days.
  5. The average strawberry has about 200 seeds on it.
  6. Strawberry plants can return year after year for about 5 to 6 years, but the berry harvest begins to decrease after 2 or 3 years.

Too, grab some of these fun resources for your strawberry unit study.

More Strawberry Resources

11 Strawberry Unit Study Resources & Books

Add one or two of these strawberry unit study resources to make your fun spring unit study come to life.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Finally, how to make this hand sewn felt strawberry for a fun hands-on activity.

Simple Hand Sewn Strawberry

You will need:

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Directions:

Cut a half circle from the red felt.

It should be about 5” wide on the flat side is a good size for most kids to work with.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Thread a long piece of yellow embroidery thread on the blunt needle and tie a knot in the end.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Pierce the felt and draw the thread all the way through until it is tight.

Pierce the needle back through the other side very close to the first one. This will create tiny little seeds on your strawberry, repeat all over the piece

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

The back is going to end up looking like this but that’s okay it’s going on the inside and it won’t be seen.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Once you have enough seeds tie a knot in the yellow thread and cut off the excess.

Thread a long string of red embroidery floss onto your blunt needle.

Fold the semi-circle in half and sew along the straight edge with a  very basic stitch. Tie a knot in the end and cut off the excess.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

If you have a lot of string leftover, you can reknot it and use it to close the top.

To do this you want to run the needle in and out along the top with a straight stitch but leave these stitches loose until you have sewn all the way around.

Stuff with cotton filler or even scraps of felt.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Pull the end of the thread tightly like a drawstring to close the top, run a few stitches through to secure.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Cut a 4-point leaf out of the green felt.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

And enjoy all that strawberry deliciousness this spring with this fun craft.

Life Cycle Of a Strawberry Facts and Fun Hand Sewn Felt Strawberry

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

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I have some fun hands-on bee activities like an easy bee habitat. Also, grab more ideas on my Honey Bees Unit Study page.

Spring brings to mind many wonderful things like flowers, butterflies, birds, and of course those wonderful little pollinators bees.

You can’t let spring go by without at least a little unit study on bees.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

 I have some fantastic hands-on bee activities to try like this mason bee habitat you can make with your child to help support them and encourage pollination.

With the bee decline due to insecticides, pesticides, climate change and other harmful changes it is more important than ever that we give these important little pollinators a hand.

One way we can do this is by helping to create habitats for them to make a nest out of.

Mason bees like to lay their eggs in small openings and use mud or other resources to plug up the hole until the new bees  are ready to emerge.

5 Mason Bee Facts

  1. Unlike other types of bees every female mason bee is a solitary queen and lays eggs, raising them without worker bees or drones.
  2. Mason bees lay their eggs in natural or manmade “tunnels” with the females toward the back to protect them from predators and males up front, who emerge first.
  3. The average lifespan for a Mason Bee is just four to six weeks.
  4. There are 140 species of mason bees in North America, and they are found in orchards and gardens.
  5. Mason Bees do not produce honey and they also lack the venom found in the stinger of honeybees.
Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Then, add some hands-on activities.

Hands-On Bee Activities and Books

Work on this Fascinating and Fun Honey Bees Unit Study and Lapbook for Kids.

Demonstrate the life cycle of a bee with this Safari Ltd Life cycle set and then have your child recreate it with LEGO, clay, in Minecraft or by drawing it out.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Make something with beeswax like this Fun Hands-on Apothecary Salve

Further, add Labeling Parts of a Honey Bee LEGO Fun Activity For Kids.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Have a taste test with a few local and/or specialty honey items.

Print and go over these Fun Bee Facts for Kids.

Watch this video on beekeeping and follow up with some fun dramatic play from Dream big Little One.

Also, add some books about bees.

8 Honey Bees Unit Study Resources & Books

Add some of these fun resources to your bees unit study or spring unit study.

How to Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

You will need:

  • Clean metal can
  • Lots of paper straws
  • Scissors
  • Sandpaper
  • Paint
  • Twine
Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Directions:

Wash and dry a can well, we used a green bean can from last night’s dinner.

You can leave your can as is or paint it to look like a bee, a colorful flower, or also add some color with patterned duct tape.  We chose to give ours a bee-like paint job.

Before painting, rough up your can a bit by rubbing all over the outside with sandpaper this will help your paint adhere better.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Paint and allow your can to dry completely.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Grab a straw and measure the height of your can.

Then, cut one straw just under the top edge of the can. Use this as a guide and cut a bunch more straws of the same height.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Use only paper straws as plastic cannot breathe and won’t attract the bees. You can include straws of different diameters to attract a variety of bees and other insects.

Stuff the can full of paper straws so they fit tightly and completely fill the can.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat

Wrap twine around the top and bottom of the can and knot it tightly. Run a long piece of twine through both and leave a loop to create a hanger for your mason bee home.

Hang the bee habitat outside in a tree.

Fun Hands-On Bee Activities for Kids Make a Mason Bee Habitat