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homeschoolgeography

Hands-on Geography: Longitude/Latitude Mapmaking Activity

August 17, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a longitude latitude activity today. Also, look at my page Homeschool Geography for more geography tips and activities.

Learning to read longitude and latitude is a major part of reading maps.

With these measurements, geographers can locate any place in the world, simply by finding the correct degree coordinates.

Learning to read longitude and latitude is a major part of reading maps. With these measurements, geographers can locate any place in the world, simply by finding the correct degree coordinates. Click here to learn how!

It’s important to learn what these terms mean and it’s important for kids to understand how to use these coordinates.

But there’s no better way to teach it than by doing a fun, hands-on geography activity!

This fun longitude and latitude mapmaking activity is a great way to help kids get involved in making maps.

Plus, it helps the concepts of longitude and latitude to really “stick”!

Longitude and Latitude Mapmaking Activity

When I was a kid in geography class, I would always get longitude and latitude mixed up. I couldn’t seem to remember which measurement traveled in which direction. Eventually, I came up with this memory aid:

  • Longitude measures the earth the “long” way around (vertically)
  • Latitude measures the earth the wide way around (horizontally)

That might be useful to your students as well.

Longitude and Latitude Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

To do this activity, you’ll need:

  • One piece of blue construction paper
  • One piece of white construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • A green colored pencil
  • A green marker
  • A black ink pen
  • A ruler
  • And pushpins (if desired)

To begin this activity, cut an elongated oval out of blue construction paper.

You want the oval to be large enough to depict the world, but small enough to fit onto the white construction paper.

Making a Longitude and Latitude Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Glue the blue oval onto the center of the white paper. Leave enough space around to write your longitude and latitude measurements later.

Using the green colored pencil, draw an approximate map of the world on the blue oval.

We just looked at a world map and drew it freehand.

That’s why the continents don’t look exactly right.

If you wanted to skip this step, you could print a world map and glue that onto the white paper, but I think drawing it out helps kids feel more connected to what they’re learning.

Longitude and Latitude Map Project @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

You could also use this part as an opportunity to talk about the distortions that come along with map projections.

Anytime a mapmaker designs a map, he or she has to alter the shape of the continents to get them all to fit. Just like we do when we draw the earth.

HANDS ON GEOGRAPHY

Once your drawing is completed, use a green marker to outline the borders and make them stand out a bit.

Creating a Map with Longitude and Latitude @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Now, use a ruler to draw a dashed line vertically down the center of the picture.

Longitude and Latitude Grid Activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Mark this line as the prime meridian – the center of the earth when measuring longitude.

The prime meridian has a coordinate of 0 degrees longitude.

Marking Longitude and Latitude Map Lines @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

From there, measure out equal distances to draw additional vertical dashed lines.

There should be six lines to the right of the prime meridian, showing 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 degrees.

Finding Longitude and Latitude On a Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then label them all.

Adjusting Longitude and Latitude on a Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Do the same on the left side, marking six vertical measurements for 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180 degrees. The key is to use an equal distance for each measurement.

Ours ended up being 3/4 of an inch apart.

As we completed the left side, we realized that our oval wasn’t actually equal, which was going to cause our measurements to be off.

We just cut some extra paper off the left side to even it up. Just like mapmakers may have to revise their designs as they go.

Finding the Equator On a Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Now it’s time to mark the latitude lines! Draw a line roughly across the horizontal center of the oval to mark the equator, which has a coordinate of 0 degrees latitude.

Marking Latitude Lines on a Map @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then add three dashed lines below the equator to show 30, 60, and 90 degrees latitude. Label these lines.

Do the same to add three dashed lines above the equator.

Using Longitude and Latitude to Find a Location @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Okay! Now we can practice locating places on the map!

I started by asking my son to find the location marked by 0 degrees latitude and 30 degrees longitude.

(We drew our longitude lines first, because there were more of them to add to the picture. But in geography, latitude should always be listed first. Just FYI.)

Finding a Location On the Map with Longitude and Latitude @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Once we found it, we marked it with a pushpin.

If you wanted to find several places on the map, hang this picture on a cork board and let the kids try to spot places based on their coordinates!

Hands-on Geography: Longitude and Latitude Mapmaking Activity | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

A note of caution: This map is not going to be accurate, since it’s hand-drawn.

So remind the kids that the coordinates you call out and find on this map will not be the same coordinates they will find on Google Maps or a printed official map.

But this is a cool way to learn what latitude and longitude mean and how to find them!

  • Lewis and Clark Louisiana Purchase Edible Map Activity
  • South America Salt Dough Map Activity
  • Marco Polo Mythological Mapmaking Activity

Written by Selena of Look! We’re Learning!

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Geography, Hands-On Activities Tagged With: geography, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolgeography, map, middleschool, teens

5 Steps to Choosing Geography Living Books Your Children Will Love

March 23, 2017 | 6 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

To understand how to use a geography living books, you need to step back first and get to the nitty-gritty of what is geography and what is a living book. Both definitions need to intersect.Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

Visualizing what geography is can have some kids (and moms) moaning because they may think it means just drawing or labeling maps (snore).

Contrary to what some people think, geography is not just a study of maps. That field is cartography.

5 Steps to Choosing Geography Living Books Your Children Will Love! Grab this 5 point checklist so that you choose books that are engaging and worthwhile to read. Click here to read it!

Geography is so much more, it’s about relationships.

The relationship can be people to places, animals to land, earth to air and people to plants to name a few.

Merging Geography with Living Books

Look at expanding the definition of geography to include:

  • the science of the earth.
  • learning about oceans and any area occupied by water.
  • exploring plant life.
  • investigating animal life.
  • studying what is on the earth, up above, and under the earth like the natural resources.
  • understanding people and how they use their natural resources while highlighting their culture.

Geography is learning about our home, which means geography is a bridge to all other fields of study.

It connects math to science, science to history, math to history, and people to the place they call home.

Next, identifying the features of a living book are equally important. Capturing the definition was Charlotte Mason, a 19th century British educator.

Many of her principles are valuable and I’ve implemented them in my many years of homeschooling.

And though I do follow more of a unit study method, many Charlotte Mason methods including the use of twaddle-free living books are part of my unit studies.

What is NOT a Living Book

Pulling the definition up close and analyzing (you know I like the details), it helps sometimes to understand what is not a living book.

Look at these things that are not traits of a living book:

  • A textbook.
  • A dry factual book.
  • Any book created for the sole purpose of meeting today’s educational standards.
  • A book that is dumbed-down meaning that it was intentionally simplified to appeal to more people.
  • It means an unabridged version, but not always. It’s  something I look at, however, when judging the value of a book.
  • It doesn’t always mean it’s a classic, but a lot of times it does.
  • And contrary to some popular beliefs, it’s not always a book where a child feels like he can escape to another place. A romance novel can do that, but that doesn’t mean one that exploits sexual fantasy is a good choice for reading.

The Power of Geography Living Books

Look at these things that are tell-tale signs of a living book.

  • Opposite a textbook is a book written by an author that is passionate about the subject. He either is knowledgeable about the subject because it could be his lifework or it’s personal experience.
  • Instead of presenting dry hard facts, a reader is drawn in through a story, which is always the best way of remembering any set of facts.
  • Instead of writing to meet national standards, a writer may unintentionally offend the politically correct view or standard. Not that we are looking for shock value in a book when we allow our kids to read books that do. But we are opening windows in their mind and stimulating their imagination. This can’t be done when all the thinking is done for a child. However, one common weave is the power to influence children in a positive way.
  • Too, it’s not that we don’t want to embrace the modern world, but older books were written at a time when stunning imagery engages the memory and makes the words memorable.

5-Point Checklist: Geography Living Books

Armed with these two sets of ideals, merging them is essential before you can evaluate if a book is a geography living book.

Look at this 5-point checklist, which gives you a beginning point.

ONE. It should be written in a narrative format.

Like history, which should be written in a narrative format about the people and places your child wants to learn about.

Geography should also be written by a good story-teller who unfolds his plot.

TWO. Emphasis is on the author’s knowledge and enthusiasm.

Instead of textbooks written based on a survey of monetary gain and approved by review committees because they meet standards, a geography living book is written based on enthusiasm, passion and  personal experiences.

Look for clues in the summary or passage.

For example, V.M. Hillyer wrote one of our favorite geography living books for young children, A Child’s Geography of the World and he states: “As I had been a traveler for many years, had visited most of the countries of the Globe, and in actual mileage had been five times the distance around the World, I thought I would write a geography myself.”

THREE. It should encourage your child to make good choices in life.

In addition, geography living books should encourage a child to think not only about the subject at hand, but to make good choices in his life.

Choosing excellence and goodness should become a practice. Is that a lot to ask for from a geography living book?

Look at this passage from the same book, “There is a saying that “Good fences make good neighbors,” but that depends on the neighbors.” Statements like this leads your child to make conclusions as to the type of person or neighbor he wants to be.

FOUR. Dry and boring repeated abstractions and stats are absent.

Learning dry and boring statistics and repeating abstractions instead of events are things that are absent in a geography living book.

Look again at another passage from A Child’s Geography of the World, “To me, as a child, geography was a bugbear of repellent names – Climate and Commerce, Manufactures and Industries, and products, products, PRODUCTS. Geography was a “stomach” geography; the “head” and “heart” were left out.”

How did geography become just a study of export, import, coloring flags and memorizing barley, rye and wheat as the crops produced by a country? (snooze)

FIVE. It lays a foundation of interest in the world around us and a thirst for knowledge.

Similar to any living book, a geography living book, no matter when it was written is one that is alive and relevant today.

The world changes; facts in an old book, which are not true today doesn’t mean the rest of it is useless.

Instead of viewing that as a roadblock, I view it as an opportunity to probe and investigate. Laying a foundation of interest in the world around us and a thirst for knowledge that a child wants to quench in his lifetime should be the goal of a living book.

Classics have an enduring quality that lasts generations. Think about classics that you read in your childhood or that your parent’s read. I couldn’t wait to share with my children classics like Heidi, Raggedy Ann & Andy and The Story of Ferdinand.

Further, we have an inborn need to communicate and converse with conviction through our words and our vocabulary.

For example, the book, Study Is A Hard Work, which I love, the author remarks, “Mental laziness and limited vocabulary are usually bedfellows in the same brain.”

Rich and colorful vocabulary found in older books adds meaning not only to a study of geography, but makes an impression in a child’s mind.

Encapsulating the definition of a geography living book helps me to not forget what my educational standards are as I continue to homeschool and I hope it helps you too.

More Homeschool Geography Activities

  • 11 AWESOME Ways to Learn Geography (Other Than Labeling a Map)
  • 18+ Fun and Interactive Ways to Learn Geography With Kids
  • 22 Homeschool Geography Go To Resources
  • Fun Outdoor Activities For Middle Schoolers Geocaching and Nature Study

Do you have any favorite geography living books?

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

6 CommentsFiled Under: Choose Curriculum, Free Homeschool Resources, Geography Tagged With: geography, homeschool, homeschool subjects, homeschoolgeography, livingbooks

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

January 31, 2017 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a Switzerland unit study. Also, look at my page Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

Covering the history and geography of European countries has been light this year.

So I leaped at the chance to use CASE OF ADVENTURE travel series unit study, Destination Switzerland, The MEGA Travel Activity Pack and Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland. 

Also, Destination Switzerland unit study has many valuable parts to this unit study which makes it very convenient if you’re pressed for time or if you’re inexperienced in putting one together.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

It is a hands-on geography and history study, has an easy (always my standard) huge lapbook, includes videos and background information for each chapter of the living book, Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (it has a christian worldview) and is laid out.

Do you know how hard it can be to find all those features in one unit study? Our new Switzerland unit study was just too irresistible to pass up.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

I was given this product for free and I was paid for my time. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. All opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. Not every product will get a positive review. Too, because I carefully sort through numerous offers for reviews,  it means I’m giddy about the product when I do accept it. Read my full disclosure here.

Did I mention the book is about a homeschooling family that travels? We can so relate to that having lived overseas.

Even if you or your family have never traveled overseas you’ll love how Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland makes learning about Switzerland come alive.

Solving a mystery about an ancient coin while learning about geographical features and landmarks like the beautiful Matterhorn, cheese making, the culture of the Swiss people and of course cuckoo clocks not to mention yodeling, your kids will love this unit study.

Having used unit studies that required information based just on web links, which may be outdated, it was a breath of fresh air to have background information about the country of Switzerland that we could read about in Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland.

How to Learn About Switzerland In 12 Lessons

If you begin the unit study by printing the teacher’s guide which is suggested to do first, you can track which activities you want your children to do while reading the mystery novel.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

The teacher’s guide, which I had coil bound has three parts.

Preparation, read-aloud and virtual travel and activities and craft are the different sections and from there you can choose which material you want to cover for the day.

Like most unit studies, it is not necessary to cover all of the material or print off all of the activities. A lot of the activities are geared toward younger kids like the fun Discovery Agent Clue cards.

One of the best parts we loved about the unit study was that you can learn about Switzerland in just 12 lessons.

Unit studies can drag on and details can becoming boring if you try to cover a huge amount of information.

Unit studies don’t have to last a month or bore your child if they’re not interested in certain sub-topics within the unit study.

Flexibility is the key to a well-written unit study. So if you want to learn at a slower pace, each lesson can easily be adapted into a two day study. Your unit study about Switzerland can last for a month if that is your pace.

Another way we have covered unit studies is to turn the 12 lessons into a unit study for the quarter. If your kids are especially young, all under 7 years of age, then covering the 12 lessons by doing one lesson per week keeps the unit study from overwhelming your young learners.

Geography Activity Packs

So what I’m saying is that there is enough activities to make Destination Switzerland unit study a quarter unit study or twelve weeks when you include the The MEGA Travel Activity Pack.

The MEGA Travel Activity Pack contains fun things like printable money, journals and airplane packs which really make the virtual traveling part fun.

Hands-on activities, not clicking numerous links are the heart of a well-planned out unit study and Destination Switzerland unit study has activities for both older and younger children to choose from.

Tiny really loved making Zopf, a Swiss style bread while we read about our adventure for the day.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

Then, having created many unit studies, which include lapbooks and doing my series 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together with you, you know I love simple and uncomplicated lapbooks.

About Switzerland

Unless you’re working on your kids fine motor skills, having to cut every minibook and fill out every minibook can become monotonous though many homeschool moms continue to make their kids do that. Don’t forget that some of the prep work can be done when you help cut out the minibooks.

Switzerland Homeschool Geography Unit Study (and Lapbook)

There are many lapbook minibooks to choose from along with information that your child can glue inside the books instead of a bunch of blank useless pages. Again, because I’m short on time, I prefer lapbooks that have back ground information that my child can glue in especially when we don’t have time to research every topic.

CASE OF ADVENTURE may be a good fit for you and your kids:

  • If you don’t like to have to gather a lot of materials and you want background information at your fingertips.
  • If you want to cover literature, history, geography and have hands-on ideas laid out for you.
  • If you don’t want a complete unit study and prefer to add in some of your other subjects like math, grammar, a list of vocabulary words and spelling.
  • If you’re like me and have multiple ages of children, you want the option of choosing hands-on activities for younger and older kids.
  • If you don’t want to lesson plan and write out your lesson plan ideas each day.
  • If you want the ability to cover the unit study in broad strokes, then do it in 12 lessons or if you want to expand it, then take two or more days, weeks or even a quarter to cover the unit study.
  • If you like easy lapbooks like I do. My lapbooks are not lessons in how to color and cut. You can do that if you want to, but I want the emphasis on hands-on fun, not drudgery. Look at my post Beware of the 3 C’s of Lapbooking.
  • If you want unit studies that use living books.
  • If you want living books that follow a series. This is her first book and unit study. More are coming.
  • If you don’t mind printing all of your material.
  • If your children like to watch videos instead of doing research papers.
  • If you’re inexperienced at unit studies and need one that is laid out.

About Switzerland

What I would like to see change.

There are some features that I feel could make this unit study more helpful.

Try to remember that I value organization because my time is limited. So some of these things I’m going to mention may not bother you, but I think they are worth mentioning.

It would be helpful if the Teacher’s Guide had hands-on activities, printables for hands-on activities and lapbook printable separated under each chapter.

Sections in the teacher’s guide for each chapter of the novel can be Read-Aloud, Hands-on Activities, Lapbook Printables and Media Content. This would help me not to have to take so much time sorting through them.

This would allow me to see the flexibility for each chapter. For example, one time we may not want to do a lapbook and may want to read and do just hands-on activities. The next time we cover Switzerland I may want to print out the lapbook.

It keeps all the content easily organized when you can see all the choices at a glance for each lesson.

Also, receiving two emails up front about how to print made it a bit confusing. Receiving setting up and printing instructions would be less confusing if they were only in the download. Then, it’s all in one place at my fingertips on my laptop instead of having to flip back to read my email while reading on my laptop.

Tightening up the places to go to read about how to do the unit study keeps it from being too heavy on instruction and more importantly gives you one place to read for set up and printing.

I know these are just organizational and cosmetic preferences. They don’t really affect the content which is really more important.

Switzerland Unit Study and Lapbook @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

How to purchase it.

  • Product Names: Destination Switzerland Unit Study, MEGA Travel Activity Pack, and Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (Case of Adventure Travel Series Book 1) .
  • Website: CASE OF ADVENTURE
  • About the product: Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland is Book 1 of the CASE OF ADVENTURE Travel Series. “There was a cracking noise and the crumbling of mortar. Rome put his Swiss army knife to work and carefully ran it around the edge of the stone, scraping away the plaster. He
  • signalled to Ren, who pulled harder. Suddenly the whole stone came away from the wall. Together, they slid it out and gazed at the gaping hole that was left behind.” Dive into adventure with Ren, Rome, Jake, Libby and Tiffany as they discover an ancient coin and a mystery connected with a cuckoo clock
  • which takes them to the beautiful land of Switzerland. In their quest to solve the puzzle, they unearth some fascinating history and recover a lost fortune.
  • Suitable for Ages: Younger (5 to 7 years old) Older (8 to 13 years old)
  • Formats: Grab the book, Cuckoo Clock Secrets in Switzerland (Case of Adventure Travel Series Book 1), in Kindle or paperback and visit CASE OF ADVENTURE to purchase the Destination Switzerland Unit Study and the MEGA Travel Activity Pack.
  • Worldview: The novel has a Christian worldview, but the unit study can be tweaked to add your view. The novel mentions Bible study and prayer. If you want a strictly secular view, it’s possible to purchase the lapbook which comes with the video content and not read the novel.That would be the best way to tweak it. Again, the novel is about a Christian family and there is a mention of a Christian life style in the novel, but the curriculum is not a Bible curriculum.

You’ll find helpful my post How to Grade a Homeschool Unit Study for an Older Child (& high school assessment) and Ultimate Homeschool Unit Study Planner – Which Lesson Planning Pages to Use.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Don’t forget to follow BOTH of my Pinterest accounts for AWESOME pins.

Visit Tina Robertson’s profile on Pinterest.


Visit Tinas Dynamic Homeschool ‘s profile on Pinterest.

3 CommentsFiled Under: Geography, History Resources, Homeschool Curriculum Review, Lapbook, Lapbooks, Product Review Tagged With: geography, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, homeschoolgeography, lapbook, switzerland, unit studies

Medieval Homeschool History – 4 Surefire Ways to Beat a Boring Study

May 8, 2016 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We’re studying Medieval homeschool history and knights and castles make for a fascinating study of the medieval times. Also, look at my free 4 week Middle Ages Unit Study for more fun.

However, many other topics and vocabulary words can make it hard and well, flat out boring to study this time period.

Getting lost in the medieval world where definitions of words and topics are not things that you or your children hear and speak everyday can make you feel like you’re sinking when you start studying about them.

Medieval Homeschool History - 4 Surefire Ways to Beat a Boring Study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Medieval Homeschool History

Today, I am sharing 4 surefire ways to beat a boring study.

They have worked for me when we studied this topic before and how I will be incorporating them again when we study medieval homeschool history next.

We are excited to move on to medieval history and we will be using Beautiful Feet because you know I love their books and how they give a framework to guide you in the study.

However, I also love Beautiful Feet because they fit my criteria needed to complete a meaty and fun history unit study.

4 Surefire Ways to Beat a Boring Study

Take a look at these 4 things to include when studying medieval history.

1. LIVING BOOKS.

Living books are a must-have to cover history eras, which may be hard or boring to explain.

Too, when studying history where there may be fewer primary resources, fictional history can stir a child to think about the “what if”.

Teaching facts and making a story relevant to current life is the advantage of living books. Mix in fictional history and your child’s curiosity is sparked.

I love the living books used in Beautiful Feet’s medieval history study because reading about King Arthur, Robin Hood and Beowulf draw my boys into thinking what it would be like to live back in those times.

That is the beginning to expanding on subjects that are important, like inventing the first printing press, which may or may not interest your children.

2. HANDS-ON HISTORY.

My second must-have or must-do when studying time periods that are difficult to understand is to add hands-on projects. Hands-on history hooks a kid on a topic they’ll remember on into adulthood.

They not only make a subject come to life, but motivate a kid to keep digging into deeper topics. Take a look at 10 Ways to Hook Homeschooled Kids On History.

3. VOCABULARY WORDS DEFINED.

Vocabulary words are normally better understood and defined when they are read in a book because it helps your kids to understand their relevance.

That is still important when studying the ancients or medieval, but because of how archaic the language can be, I find that defining vocabulary words separately too is absolutely necessary to making the meaning clear.

I don’t believe in a long drawn out process that takes away from whatever it is your kids are learning at the moment. Narration is a perfect tool to incorporate at this point.

Writing them down helps to reinforce them too so that your kids don’t get lost in the out of date language.

4. MAPPING AND GEOGRAPHY.

Lastly, geography is important to visualizing the medieval world.

Then, a connection can be made to the modern world.

Geographical boundaries and names can change, but land forms can stand the test of time for a much longer period.

When a child sees where events take place at, then maps become not just a boring paper with names to memorize, but a picture from that time period.

It’s easier to understand how the environment affected the way people thought and felt at that time.

Living books, hands-on history, out of date words defined and geography are four surefire ways to beat a boring study about medieval history.

You’ll love the literature lists put together by Beautiful Feet. They are my go to place for guides and literature.

I can’t wait to get started with our unit study.

What do you like to include in your study of medieval history?

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

Also, look at how we used Beautiful Feet before in When We Used Beautiful Feet Books as our History Spine and also look at How to Use a History Spine to Build Your Study of History.

 

2 CommentsFiled Under: History Resources, Middle School Homeschool, Teach Homeschool History Tagged With: history, history resources, historyspine, homeschoolgeography, homeschoolhistory, medieval homeschool history, middleschool

Ultimate Guide to Learning Activities in a Jar or Bottle

April 24, 2016 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

 

The Ultimate Guide to Learning Activities in a Jar or Bottle @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Whether it’s a tiny ecosystem or a shooting rocket, anything learned in a jar or bottle is just so much more fun. When kids get to use their hands to make something, they learn the principle behind it so much better!

Plus, there’s just something about creating something inside a jar that makes a lesson more visual and relatable for children. After all, they get to make their own little worlds or crafts that they can observe anytime.


In the ultimate guide to learning activities in a jar or bottle, I rounded up hands-on activities that can be added to any homeschool unit study. There are activities for studying science, geography, math, music, and more – all in a jar or bottle!

The Ultimate Guide to Learning Activities in a Jar or Bottle

Creative & Easy Hands-on Jar Activities

Learning Activity Jar
Easy Fall Snow Globe in a Jar
Tornado in a Jar
Charcoal Water Purifying Jar Experiment
Cloud in a Jar Experiment
Make It Rain Inside a Jar
Seed Jar Science Experiment
Egg in a Jar Experiment
Global Warming Experiment in a Jar
Create a Beach Terrarium in a Jar
Make a Fall Sensory Jar
Craft Baby Animals from Jars
Hopping Corn Science Jar Experiment
Grow Fungus in Jars
Grow a Butterfly in a Jar
Make a Galaxy in a Jar
Make Earth’s Layers in a Jar
Robot Jar
Recycled Glass Jar Terrarium
Make Rain Clouds in a Jar
Fireworks in a Jar Experiment
Make a Mason Jar Biosphere
Make a Closed Aquatic Ecosystem in a Jar
Create Colored Sand Art in a Jar
Learn Numbers with a Ball Jar
Learn the 50 States in a Jar
Make Musical Instruments Out of Jars
Make a Let’s Move Jar
Grow Seeds in a Jar
Learn to make whipped cream in a jar
Collect Words in a Jar
Make a Storytelling Prompt Jar
Make Glass Jar Bird Feeders
Grow Sprouts in a Jar
Make Butter in a Jar
Make a Narration Jar
Beach Inspired Mason Jar
Mason Jar Aquarium

Creative & Easy Hands-on Bottle Activities

Message in a Bottle Language Arts Activity
Compost in a Bottle Experiment
I Spy ABC Bottle
What’s the Weather on Jupiter Bottle Experiment
Terra Aqua Column Bottle
Burping Bottle Science Experiment
Empty Bottle Science Experiment
DIY Lava Lamp Bottle
Floating Rice Friction Experiment in a Bottle
Blobs in a Bottle Experiment
Water Bottle Fountain Experiment
Light Refraction in a Bottle Experiment
Make a Jellyfish in a Bottle
Balloon in a Bottle Experiment
Make Planets in a Bottle
Make Mentos Bottle Rockets
Tsunami in a Bottle
Soda Bottle Greenhouse Activity
DIY Heart Valve
Hanging Planter
Plastic Bottle Guitar
Soil Erosion Experiment in a Bottle
Separate an Egg in a Bottle
Learn How to Make an Ocean in a Bottle
Create Blobs in a Bottle
Watch a Diver Move through a Bottle
Make a Wave in a Bottle
Make Blood in a Bottle
Learn How to Fit an Egg into a Bottle
Make the Galaxy in a Bottle
Collapsing Bottle Experiment
Sort and Count Math with Bottles
Make a Landfill in a Bottle
Teach Sense of Smell with Smelling Bottles
Grow a Cucumber in a Bottle
Make Quill and Berry Ink
Make a Bottle Rocket
Make Fog in a Bottle
Make Compost in a Soda Bottle
Make Bubble Snakes
Plastic Water Bottle Flowers
DIY Plastic Bottle Sandals

All you need is a jar or a bottle, a few extra pieces of material and some imagination and you can have an easy learning craft.

Hugs and love ya,

Signature T

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Leave a CommentFiled Under: Geography, Hands-On Activities, History Resources, Middle School Homeschool, Science Tagged With: hands-on, hands-on activities, handson, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources, homeschoolgeography, homeschoolscience

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