nature study

Fun Hands-on Free Mushroom Unit Study and Kids Learning Activities

March 27, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

This mushroom unit study is a fun topic to study any time of the year. Also, grab more ideas on my best homeschool unit studies page.

While you can find many species of mushrooms year-round the very best time to get out and study them in nature is in the fall and in spring.

Fun Hands-on Free Mushroom Unit Study and Kids Learning Activities

Besides, even if you are not able to find any mushrooms in your backyard, fields, or woodland areas there are still plenty of fun hands-on free mushroom unit study and kid’s learning activities to be found.

You can gather resources from the library or Amazon to put together a wonderful nature study on mushrooms so easily.

But first, let’s learn a few fun and fungi facts.

5 Funky Mushroom Facts

Mushrooms grow in all 50 States.
Mushrooms are like plants, but they lack chlorophyll and must take their nutrients from other materials.
Just one Portabella mushroom can have more potassium than a banana.
There are over 30 species of mushrooms that glow in the dark.
The name for those who collect and eat mushrooms from the wild is a Mycophagist.

Next, add some fun books.

9 Mushroom Unit Study Books

Grab some of these fun books to learn about mushrooms, the part of a mushroom and the life cycle.

Mushrooms: How to Identify and Gather Wild Mushrooms and Other Fungi

This mushroom foraging book is packed with vital information that will help you identify the exact types of mushrooms you are looking for when you’re out foraging. You’ll learn how to identify the caps, stems and gills, which all have different physical characteristics like shape and texture, and color.From the Neobulgaria pura and the Mitrula paludosa, discover newly-found fungi species and complex ones which can only be viewed microscopically. The detailed illustrations and identification charts will help you name the mushrooms you find or hope to search for.

Back to the Roots Organic Mini Mushroom Grow Kit

GROW YOUR PLANT ALL YEAR-ROUND: This organic mushroom indoor kit allows you to grow your own crop all-year round; Just place the box near a window with indirect light, mist twice a day, and you'll see delicious, beautiful mushrooms growing within a week; Included in this kit is an organic plant-based soil infused with mushroom spawn and a booklet with instructions

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

See the world in a whole new way! Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world. Explore the anatomy of a jellyfish, the inside of a volcano, monarch butterfly migration, how sunsets work, and much more. Rothman’s whimsical illustrations are paired with interactive activities that encourage curiosity and inspire you to look more closely at the world all around you.

National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms (National Audubon Society Field Guides)

Featuring a durable vinyl binding and over 700 full-color identification photographs organized visually by color and shape, the National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Mushrooms is the perfect companion for any mushroom hunting expedition. Each species is accompanied by a detailed physical description, information on edibility, season, habitat, range, look-alikes, alternative names, and facts on edible and poisonous species, uses, and folklore. A supplementary section on cooking and eating wild mushrooms, and illustrations identifying the parts of a mushroom, round out this essential guide.

The Mushroom Fan Club

Elise Gravel is back with a whimsical look at one of her family’s most beloved pastimes: mushroom hunting! Combining her love of exploring nature with her talent for anthropomorphizing everything, she takes us on a magical tour of the forest floor and examines a handful of her favorite alien specimens up close. While the beautiful coral mushroom looks like it belongs under the sea, the peculiar Lactarius indigo may be better suited for outer space. From the fun-to-stomp puffballs to the prince of the stinkers―the stinkhorn mushroom―and the musically inclined chanterelles, Gravel shares her knowledge of this fascinating kingdom by bringing each species to life in full felt-tip-marker glory.

Botanicum: Welcome to the Museum

The 2017 offering from Big Picture Press's Welcome to the Museum series, Botanicum, is a brilliantly curated guide to plant life. With artwork from Katie Scott of Animalium fame, Botanicum gives readers the experience of a fascinating exhibition from the pages of a beautiful book. From perennials to bulbs to tropical exotica, Botanicum is a wonderful feast of botanical knowledge complete with superb cross sections of how plants work.

Ridley's Funky Fungi

FUN FAMILY GAME: See if you have what it takes to be the mushroom master in Funky Fungi from Ridley's Games! In this card-collecting game that will definitely grow on you, forage for the best fungi to be the first player to reach ten points and win the game.

Let's learn about mushrooms

Introduces the characteristics and uses of a variety of mushrooms and discusses some of the beliefs and customs connected with this plant family.

Katya's Book of Mushrooms

Mushrooms are exciting to find, beautiful to look at, fascinating to identify, and delicious to eat. When you know what to look for, a mushroom hunt is as safe and enjoyable as a treasure hunt. Katya Arnold ranges through the world to find hundreds of varieties of mushrooms, as well as fascinating anecdotes and fun facts that make these wonders of nature exciting and immediate. A walk in the woods will never be the same!

Mushroom Unit Study Lesson Plans and Resources

Lesson Plan for Teaching about Fungi
Fungus Files K to 6 Educator’s Guide
More awesome mushroom activities here.

Vocabulary words about mushrooms

cap – The cap or the top of the mushroom protects the gills.
gills – The gills are the structure that produce the spores, and the spores are similar to seeds.
mycelium – The spores germinate into mycelia which are root-like threads that usually grow underground, similar to a root.
fungus – any of numerous plants lacking in chlorophyll, including yeasts, molds and mushrooms.
asexual – Showing no sexual differentiation (no male or female forms)

Hands-on Activities for Mushroom Unit Study

Get out and explore your own backyard, woodland area, or local state or national park and see what you can find to study firsthand.

We found this growing in a flowerpot that was in the shade and stayed very damp.

This was growing on the side of a picnic table, which we think might be Turkey Tail.

And several different types of lichen growing on trees.

MORE MUSHROOM ACTIVITIES

Free Life Cycle of a Mushroom Worksheet & Fun Meringue Mushrooms

The app iNatrualist is great for helping to identify individual mushroom species, just capture an image of any you find with your phone and plug it in, search for suggestions and you can figure out what you have found.

Make these super fun mushrooms for snack time while you study all about them.
Try growing your own small batch of oyster mushrooms in just 10 days with this kit.
Make a mushroom spore print to get a reverse detail look at the underside of a mushroom, the gills.
There is a wealth of great mushroom activities at Treehouse Magazine for middle to upper elementary ages, including printable pdfs with math, crosswords, puzzles, spore prints and more.
Make a Felt Mushroom to label. It’s such a fun craft. You will find the directions below.
Print these Mushroom worksheets like labeling the parts of a mushroom, coloring pages, life cycles, etc.
Play Mushroom themed games like Morels or Funky Fungi.
Take the kids to the grocery store or farmers market and check out the different types of mushrooms. Bring some home and try a new recipe together.

Then here is a cute and simple dot to dot mushroom print for the wee little ones.

In addition, look at more best homeschool unit study ideas.

Best Homeschool Unit Study Ideas

I have many different themes.

Finally, look at this fun hands-on mushroom activity.

Parts of a Mushroom Labeling Activity

You will need:

Red, tan, and white felt
Black permanent fine-tip marker
Scissors
Craft/school glue or hot glue
Cardstock

Directions:

Cut out a red slightly oblong piece of red felt for the cap whatever size you like for your labeling activity.

Cut tiny white pieces for the “spots” on your mushroom.

Next, cut longer skinny white strips for the “root” or mycelium.

Further, trace the red mushroom cap onto tan felt but only cut out the bottom third.

This will be the underside of the mushroom to show the gills.

Draw the gills as curved lines with a fine permanent marker.

Cut a curve along the bottom of the red cap to show more of the gills.

Also, from the tan color, you will also cut your rectangular stem as well as the volva and ring as seen here in the book we used for reference.

Too, the ring wraps around near the center of the stem and the volva is the cuplike structure at the base with natural edges and shapes rather than straight across.

We went back and added a little brown marker to the edges of our tan pieces to help differentiate the parts on the stem after we glued it together.

However, learn from us and make it easy on yourself. Do this step right after cutting.

Begin assembling your mushroom by gluing the tan gills to the red cap with the stem in between.

Next, wrap the ring around the stem and glue it in place as well as the volva.

Moreover, add your little bits of white with glue to the cap.

Transfer your mushroom to a tray and add a layer of grass and dirt beneath with brown and green felt.

Add your mycelium to the soil.

Write -mycelium, ring, cap, gills, volva, and stem on cardstock and use them to label each of the parts.

Additionally, you can also use felt to create other mushroom species like Honey Mushrooms.

Or Hen of The Woods. Finally, we had so much fun creating our mushrooms. Going to give them a try?

Fun Homeschool Unit Study Egg to Sea Turtle Lesson Plans & Lapbook

March 26, 2023 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have some sea turtle lesson plans and sea turtle lapbook today. Grab more ideas on my lapbook ideas page. Also grab more ideas on my best homeschool unit studies page.

We made a detour on finishing up high school for a quick nature read about sea turtles.

From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook

I chose Our Sea Turtles as a spine and we weren’t disappointed.

Today, in sharing from egg to sea turtle nature unit study and lapbook, I’ve rounded up some awesome links and ideas for you.

Also, I created a fun lapbook for about upper elementary to middle school for your kids.

Of course, you can decide what ages to use the lapbook for because I never make my lapbooks baby-ish.

Using cursive font and avoiding baby-ish or goofy looking clip art the best I can, I create my lapbooks for all ages.

Sea Turtle Unit Study & Lapbook

First, let me show you how much we loved the book Our Sea Turtles.

It is a 282 page reference book with beautiful color pictures on each page.

It has several sections, including:

The Species, Sea Turtle Form and Function,
Life Cycle and History, Ecology,
Our Sea Turtles on Land,
Sea Turtles in Water and
Saving our Sea Turtles.

One thing we learned right away that we did not know was that not all turtles in salty waters are sea turtles.

They are truly marine animals and one of the things that makes them different is their shell.

Moreover, sea turtles don’t really have the ability to pull in their head and limbs inside although they can still withdraw their neck.

Although we know that sea turtles are mostly herbivores, we did learn that they won’t pass up some easily captured prey.

From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit

Additioally, we learned about some of the predators of the sea turtle.

The Northern raccoon, ghost crab, fire ants, laughing sea gull, bobcat, fish crow, dolphinfish, crevalle jack, tiger shark and bull shark are a few of the sea turtle predators.

What was really interesting was learning what was inside an egg. Sea turtles have an amniotic egg.

The features of a sea turtle egg include a papery eggshell that protects but is porous (to air and water vapor), and an allantois (fetal membrane) which facilitates respiration and helps with waste.

The yolk sac supplies nutrients for the embryo and it shrinks as the turtle grows.

What we didn’t know was that the amniotic sac is like the equivalent to the placenta in mammals.

Sea Turtle Lesson Plans, Guides, and Background Information.

Along with reading the book Our Sea Turtles I really loved a lot of these resources. Too, look at some sea turtle lesson plans.

Journey of Survival educators guide I found super helpful and used a lot of the information from here to do the lapbook. You can read it online.
22 page pdf educator’s guide has a great roundup of vocabulary words.
Grab this fun coloring page with crossword puzzle activity.
You love this Sea Turtle Inc. site for great hands-on ideas like make a sea turtle habitat, make a magnet sea turtle for older kids (cool), and a template to create your own hatchling for younger kids. So cute.

Then here is a free discussing and activity guide to use with the book Sea Turtle Science which is also good to add to your sea turtle lesson plans.

9 page elementary school guide has some great question and answers or facts about sea turtles.
A super nice 180 page educator’s guide with printable lab cards and hands-on ideas. Nice!
You’ll love this massive 160 educator’s guide One Ocean from National Geographic on who lives in the ocean which includes background information on sea turtles.

Grab these free and beautiful sea turtle posters in pdf.
Use these free maps to add in some geography to your unit study as you learn about tracking the sea turtles.

Grenada Fun website has a wonderful graphic for teaching the parts of a sea turtle along with background information. It’s the one I used for making the minibook in my lapbook.
Here is an ultimate sea turtle guide.
Look at this fun prek sea turtle unit study over at Homeschool Preschool.

Sea Turtle EASY Hands-on Ideas and Activities

Easy Hands-on Math Build a Geometric Turtle @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

There is a fun and easy build a geometric turtle activity that is in the Sea Turtle, a Journey of Survival guide I shared above.
Build an origami turtle.
More hands-on idea for the littles over at Munchkins and Beans to learn about sea turtle life cycles.
Make this clay sea turtle over at Buggy and Buddy.

I love this tin foil turtle for some art.
Nice coloring pages and make great covers for your lapbook although I have created some for you too.

What a fun keepsake – do a hand print turtle craft.
Make a 3d turtle craft.
Cutest Ever Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft and Learning Activities for Kids

In addition, look at some of these books.

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.

Sea Turtle Media

How Baby Sea Turtles Find their Way Home.
This is a great graphic for Sea Turtle Facts.

Fun Homeschool Unit Study Egg to Sea Turtle Lesson Plans & Lapbook

Then also, our unit study reminded us of the co-op we had where my sister brought a turtle shell Native American craft made by one of her Native American friends.

I love when we have a tie in to what we learned before in one of our co-ops.

Then of course a family visit to the ocean is a great field trip.

The Galveston coast near us had these new and beautiful benches that are part art and part bench.

Local schools got to decorate them with facts about the marine life that live in the ocean.

It not only makes for a beautiful enhancement to seawall, but a fun way to learn facts.

I think doing a mosaic like this would make a great art project too.

Next, here is my lapbook.

Grab this FREE Sea Turtle Lapbook | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

The minibooks include:

What Makes a Turtle a Sea Turtle?
7 Species of Sea Turtles layered book.
What Are the Sea Turtle Parts?
The Anatomy of a Sea Turtle.
Sea Turtle Tagalongs trifold book.
From Egg to Sea Turtle Life Cycle Circle book.
The Struggle to Survive.
Predators petal book.

If you’re looking to do any spring nature studies, you’ll want to get a few of the NaturExplorers. I love those studies for multiple ages.

How to Get the Free Sea Turtle Lapbook

Now, how to grab the free lapbook. The lapbook is a subscriber freebie.

1) Sign up on my list to get my emails.
2) Download your freebie.
3) Glad to have you following.

Look at these other links:

Clay Eggs Project from Table Life Blog
An Online Book Club choice from Hide the Chocolate
A Mermaid’s Purse: A Surprise Discovery Within from Eva Varga
Citizen Science – Nest Watch from Eva Varga
Egg Identification Nature Bingo {Free Printable} from Freshly Planted

From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook. Grab this fun sea turtle lapbook for your middle school kids and these easy hands-on activities and ideas to bring your homeschool science to life! CLICK HERE to grab it!

You’ll also love these other nature studies:

An InLinkz Link-up

Cutest Ever Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft and Learning Activities for Kids

March 25, 2023 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a fun egg carton sea turtle craft. Add my fun From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook to make it for multiple ages.

I love taking trash and turning it into a treasure.

And this was a really fun way to do it.

Create the cutest little sea turtles to put together a lesson that would be perfect for preschool or kindergarten.

Pair it with a book and a couple of fun activities and you have a wonderful lesson without a textbook or worksheet in sight.

Cutest Ever Egg Carton Sea Turtle Craft and Learning Activities for Kids

Grab a copy of Ocean Anatomy to dive into learning a little about sea turtles with your little one while you work together on this sweet egg carton sea turtle craft.

This book in a series by Julia Rothman covers a lot of ocean topics including sea turtles, seaweed, the food chain, ocean currents, and many of the other animals that make their home there.

5 Fun Facts about Sea Turtles

There are 7 different species of marine turtles – Flatback, Green, Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Leatherback, Olive ridley, and Kemp’s ridley.
The record for the largest marine turtle recorded goes to a leatherback that was found ashore measuring 8.2 feet long and 8.2 feet from flipper to flipper and weighing almost 2000 pounds.
Unlike other kinds of turtles, sea turtles cannot retract their flippers and head into their shells.
Nest temperatures determine the sex of sea turtle hatchlings. Warmer temperatures will produce more females while cooler will produce more males.
Sea Turtles can live to be about 100 years old.

Next, add some books and resources.

Sea Turtle Books For Fun Egg Carton Sea Turtles

Like I mentioned Ocean Anatomy is a must-have book for studying the wonderous ocean, look at the beautiful illustrations.

While it is not super in-depth it covers so much of the ocean in general and gives a great page on sea turtle Identification, some facts, and labeling of the parts of a sea turtle.

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

I'll Follow the Moon

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

National Geographic Readers: Sea Turtles

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

Sea Turtle Scientist (Scientists in the Field)

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

The Life Cycle of a Sea Turtle

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

Next, add some fun hands-on sea turtle activities.

Sea Turtle Hands-On Activity Ideas

Grab a life cycle set to help your child get a grasp on the various stages of life sea turtles go through. They can be added to a science table or sensory bin or used with a life cycle worksheet.
Paint a picture of sea turtles with watercolors, acrylics. Use chalk pastels or some medium you have never tried before using a book or photo from Google for inspiration.
Use a mixed collection of land and water turtles to compare their differences and encourage your child to sort and make a pile of each. What is the difference between their feet (or flippers?) What about the difference between sea turtles and aquatic turtles that live in freshwater?
Include the whole family with my free From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study and Lapbook.
Visit a local aquarium if you live near one and spend some time at the sea turtle tank observing their behavior, learning what type they are, and learning about these beautiful creatures.
Use play dough to help your child recreate the Sea Turtles Life Cycle Craft.
You could also add plastic sea turtles into this Fun Making Ocean Layers Soap activity to cover even more ocean topics.
Finally, replace the shark in this Fun Aquarium Jar Craft with a plastic sea turtle to match with the theme.

Next, make this fun hands on sea turtle craft.

How to Make an Egg Carton Sea Turtle

You will need:

Cardboard egg carton
Green pom poms
Google eyes
Green construction paper or craft foam
School glue
Green paint
Paintbrush

Directions:

Cut out individual cups from a cardboard egg carton and cut one for each turtle you want to make.

Paint the entire cup green and set aside to dry.

Glue googly eyes to a green pom pom and then attach it to the body with glue as well.

Cut 4 flippers from green construction paper or craft foam.

It is basically just a long crescent shape.

I recommend you draw 1 and let your child cut all 4 out at once by folding the paper into quarters before trimming.

Attach flippers to the underside of the egg cup with glue and allow to dry.

Add a little sand and you have all the makings for a lesson on how baby sea turtles find their way from the nest to the sea.

Homeschool Kindergarten Life Science – Hands-on Fun Nature Tree Study

December 22, 2022 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Homeschool kindergarten life science is one of the most fun sciences to teach. Grab my other kindergarten tips on my kindergarten homeschool curriculum page.

Too, with a fun nature tree study you don’t need expensive equipment or curriculum.

Add a few interesting books, a fun item or two. a backyard or a great tree filled park.

Homeschool Kindergarten Life Science - Hands-on Fun Nature Tree Study

From books to videos, I’m sharing some of my favorite resources for introducing simple botany lessons to your preschooler or kindergarteners day.

Books are always the best place to start with any unit study whether you purchase them or grab a few from the local library.

Books about Trees

Look at these beautiful books for young learners.

9 Tree Books & Resources for Kids Who Love Reading and Being Read To

You'll love using one of these books as a science reference or to use for art to inspire life science lessons.

Celebritrees: Historic & Famous Trees of the World

Some trees have lived many lifetimes, standing as silent witnesses to history. Some are remarkable for their age and stature; others for their usefulness. A bristlecone pine tree in California has outlived man by almost 4,000 years; a baobab tree in Australia served as a prison for Aboriginal prisoners at the turn of the twentieth century; and a major oak in England was used as a hiding place for Robin Hood and his men (or so the story goes…).

The fourteen trees in this book have earned the title "Celebritrees" for their global fame and significance. Both in fact and in legend, these fascinating trees remind us not only how much pleasure trees bring, but what they can tell us about history.

The Busy Tree

Spectacular illustrations rendered in oil paint, and a rhyming text that describes a tree’s activities from its roots to its branches, introduce young readers to the amazing activities that go on in a tree. Acorns nibbled by chipmunks, ants scurrying across a trunk, a spider spinning a web, leaves “breathing out air for all to breathe in”—everything adds up to a “busy tree” for all to “come and see.”

The Tree Book for Kids and Their Grown-Ups

This is a fantastic reference book to have on hand for tree studies.

It has great illustrations and covers everything from how a tree “eats and drinks” to types of trees, seeds, how they change in the seasons, why we need them and more

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

Acclaimed illustrator Julia Rothman combines art and science in this exciting and educational guide to the structure, function, and personality of the natural world.

Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take Along Guides)

An introduction to the world of insects, caterpillars, and butterflies including identification information, educational activities, and fun facts.Invites young naturalists to spot wildlife.

Tree Full of Wonder: An educational, rhyming book about magic of trees for children

Tree Full of Wonder is a vibrant, rhyming, educational and unique picture book showing the unbreakable bond between people and trees. For children ages 3-8. Kids will fall in love with nature and will become Protectors of the Trees.

The Magic and Mystery of Trees (The Magic and Mystery of Nature)

From the highest branch and leaf down to the complex “wood wide web” of roots, it’s no wonder every part of a tree plays an important role in its own growth and the habitat of the whole forest or woodland. The Magic & Mystery of Trees is a nature book that takes children on a fascinating journey of exploration, showing them just how special these mighty organisms are.

Figurines of Pine, Elm, Juniper, Monkey Puzzle, Topiary, Petticoat, Aspen, Two Maples

Learn and Play: These figurines provide a fun and educational way to learn about different tree species, promoting environmental awareness and appreciation.

Fandex Family Field Guides: Trees

Bringing the world of TREES to your fingertips, FANDEX presents a foolproof field guide. Four visual keys--die-cut leaf, bark pattern, flower, nut or seed, and photo of the full tree--plus descriptions of habitat and more combine to give a complete picture of North America's forest and backyard trees.

In addition, TREES is a cultural history--of the mighty White Oak, California Redwood, Aillanthus, the tree that grows in Brooklyn, and the stately White Ash, as important for the bows of early Native Americans as for the baseball bats of today.

However, the best part of any science for young children are the hands-on activities.

And children this age learn best through hands-on activities.

Hand-on Activities for a Tree Unit Study

Investigate, touch, experiment, draw, and play your way through learning.

First, study each of the trees parts. Study the leaves, their shape, color, and size, use an app or book to help you identify the tree.

Second, investigate the rings on a stump or cut of wood.

Then talk about how the rings indicate how old a tree is and every knot and scar in it tells a story of fires, storms, etc.

Look at what is growing on it.

Next, check out the different types of bark, peek in knot holes, and let them touch and investigate every part they can.

Third, create a science shelf in your home on a designated shelf, coffee table, or even a little wooden crate.

Make it a place your child can store his collections of leaves, pinecones, birds’ nests, and any other items of interest he finds on nature walks or in the yard.

More Homeschool Science K – 2 Ideas

Fifth, make this Hands on Literature Nature Study Simple Tree Craft

Sixth, create a leaf collection book to gather specimens.

Seventh, Safari Ltd. Toob Trees are the perfect size for little hands and have a variety of uses that make them worth the investment.

They can be used along with blocks and cars in small world play, to create a themed sensory bin, or in a little diorama to give it some dimension.

On a rainy day when you can’t make it outdoors, research the type of trees each one is and learn about it.

Eighth, work in some math by measuring the diameter of smaller trees with a flexible measuring tape.

Too, sort sticks and pinecones into sizes or measure them with a ruler.

Further, use acorns and leaves as counters and manipulatives for simple math problems.

Lastly, make a leaf rubbing by placing leaves under thin copy paper.

Rubbing the side of the crayon across it to bring out the detail for the drawing.

Also, this can be done also do this on the bark of the tree as well.

In addition to this, add videos to your learning day.

Historic Trees Nature Study

However, include your older kids too when you’re doing this kindergarten life science lesson.

I have this fun and free unit study Famous and Historic Trees Fun Nature and History Homeschool Unit Study

Kindergarten Life Science Videos

Not only can videos help a child learn a topic you may be nervous about teaching, but it can give you 10 minutes to work on something else. Your child gains independence.

As well here are some questions to help you teach kindergarten life science.

Because kids are always full of questions, a good place to start with a unit study is ask them a lot of questions like

For example, what kind of tree is it. Use your books, apps, and google to help you figure it out.
What do the seeds look like? Are they acorns, pinecones, a pit, a pod, husk, wings, or seed inside a fruit?

Then, what grows on it?

Moss, leaves, fungi, fruit and what kind of things are on the tree including its own parts as well as those that attach themselves to it, why do they do that?

Is it a good thing or bad? Find out together.

Another one is who lives in it.

A tree study can easily take a lot of rabbit holes learning about the birds, bugs, and other creatures that make trees their home.

Ask your child who lives in a tree and let them dictate a list to you, seeing their words written down is a powerful language learning tool.

Lastly, what do we get from trees.

This is another important question that you can ask your child and write down their answers.

Paper, wood, apples, bananas, nuts, gum, wax, and dye just to name a few things.

Draw a tree on a piece of paper or better yet let them draw it and write down your child’s answers all around it.

Moreover, look at some more tips for homeschooling kindergarten. What do you think? Ready to give this lesson a try.

Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum And Crafts

Free Wildflowers Unit Study & Lapbook

June 2, 2022 | 14 Comments
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Sharing this wildflowers unit study and lapbook along with some hands-on ideas, I hope they’ll help your kids get excited about a fun wildflowers unit study. Also, you’ll love my other Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

When the Texas wildflowers blanket the fields here we’ve never been able to stay indoors. We’re always thinking of ways to get outside.

Here are a few fun facts about wildflowers.

Wildflowers by definition are soft-stemmed flowering plants that bloom once each year.
Some regenerate from the same rootstock (perennials), while others grow from seeds.
The flowering stem typically grows upright, but may be climbing, creeping, or trailing.

Next, wildflowers can be identified by color, but also by the shape of the flower head:

Bell shape
Cross shape
Trumpet shape
Ray flower
Two-lipped shape
Iris
Pea-shaped

More Hands-on Wildflowers Activities

Wildflowers Unit Study & Lapbook

In addition, I’ve rounded up some resources to make this wildflower unit study come to life.

Wildflowers Lesson Plan & Ideas

Petal Attraction. Why different pollinators are attracted to different types of flowers
Wildflowers in Bloom has images of many of the most showy wildflowers.
Use these poem ideas about botany for some memory work or copywork.
Great interactive site about the biology of plants.
Seed dispersal. pdf.

Oh wow, check out this list of state flowers.
Flowers seeking pollinators. Geared for 2nd to 7th grade.
Texas Wildflower bingo and lesson plan.
Pollinator Activity Book.
Bee Guides. Helpful.

Flower dissection instructions.

Texas wildflowers guide.
Plant life cycle worksheets.
Another list of state flowers.
Studying seeds printable book

Wildflowers Media & Interactive.

Video about Flower Pollination.
How Plants Grow Game.
Photosynthesis video and karaoke.
Parts of the Plant.

Funny young teen making edible candy flower.
Pick the Pollinator.
Life Cycle of a Flowering Plant.

EASY Crafts, Hands-on Ideas, and Activities About Wildflowers Unit Study

Do not miss these fabulous and free coloring books full of wildflowers. These also make great covers for the outside of your lapbook.

The coloring books are California Plants to Color, Coloring Book of the Western Great Lakes Region, Plants to Color from the Aspen Forest, Wildflowers of the Colorado Mountain Tops, Wildflowers of Ponderosa Pine Forests, Celebrate Wildflowers of Southwest Idaho and Wildflowers of the Western U.S.

Look at this Nature Study: Daffodils – Dissection, Poetry & Drawings.

Oh goodness, what is there to not love about the ideas on this flower and garden site?

Tissue paper flowers, make flowers out of household items like straws, make paper flower baskets, create stinkin’ cute hand print flowers, spinning paper plate flower, make cupcake wrapper flowers, egg carton flowers, crepe flowers and make a booklet that opens up into a daisy.

Make leafy animal crafts.
Something for the littles, cut and paste shapes to make flowers.
Use a plastic bottle to make a flower. Great for a tween or teen.
Springtime STEAM: Wildflower papermaking.
Creative flower arrangements. Great for a tween or teen.
How to Press Flowers. Top 10 Tips.

Z Is For Zinnias| Planting Wild Flowers.
Botanical Illustration step by step – Painting a Sweet Pea.
Create a dish garden.
Make a hydroponic garden with bottle.
Flower experiment for kids.

42 flowers you can eat.
Preschool math counting flower petals.
How to make a flower crown.
Spring flower activities for kids.
Cork-Stamped Flower Craft with Corks and Buttons.
Dyeing flowers.

And grab this free make your own flowers guide to go with this sweet book, Rose’s Garden. While waiting for her garden to bloom children bring Rose flowers they’ve made from different material.