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Winter Field Trip Ideas to Beat the Cold Weather Blues

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It’s cold and snowy outside. The kids are restless and spring is months away. Winter can make homeschool difficult. You feel trapped. (Possibly going crazy) Homeschool cold-weather blues are common. Don’t let them get you down. Escape your schoolroom and find these winter field trip ideas.

Winter can be the best time to take a field trip. Everyone needs a chance to get out, stretch their legs, and have a change of scenery.  Here are four ideas for homeschool winter field trips.

Aquarium Exploration

Too cold for the beach? Have the ocean come to you!  Aquariums are fun and fascinating for the whole family. You can take a trip around the world in an aquarium. There may be penguins from the antarctic and hippos from the hot jungle. An aquarium trip can be educational and recreational. Take some time to relax and just watch the fish swim. Or dive deep into learning with educational programs and informational brochures. The perfect way to beat those homeschool winter blues.

A Trip to the Mine

What, really? A field trip to the mine is not your typical excursion. However, caves, caverns, and mines stay at a constant temperature. So no matter how cold it is this winter, they will be tolerable. In fact, you will welcome the relative warmth underground. 

Make sure to find a mine or cavern that is set up for tourists to visit. Exploring caves can be dangerous. However, across the country, there are mine, cavern, and caves that are managed and safe. Take a tour with a knowledgeable tour guide. It’s amazing what you can learn in a couple of hours underground!

Field Trip into the Cold

Sometimes, you just need to embrace the cold. Winter provides plenty of opportunities for fun. What says winter more than ice skating? It’s great exercise and so much fun. Ice skating is also a phenomenal brain-building activity. Skating requires balance and cross-body actions, both of which activate the language centers of the brain. Plus you will be building pathways between the two hemispheres of the brain. This is essential for children to develop their math and reading skills, without even trying. So, head to your local skating rink or a thoroughly frozen pond, and exercise your brain and body. Oh, don’t forget about snow tubing, skiing, and snowshoeing. Bundle up and have some fun.

Field Trip to Nowhere

Sometimes the best plan is no plan at all. Take a drive out to the country, or a cruise around town. Drive down streets you have never traveled. Stop at that local shop that you always pass but never go into. Just see where life takes you. We often spend so much time getting places, we miss everything in between. A field trip to nowhere could keep you close to home or take you as far as time allows. 

Practice map reading skills along the way. Everyone has GPS, and that is a great tool. It will always lead you home. But for the field trip, shut off the GPS and find your way the old fashioned way. Unplug from your devices. Turn off the radio. Just enjoy the scenery and time together. You can become a party of explorers. Sometimes, we need to be tourists in our own backyard.

100 Homeschool Field Trips

If you are looking for more inspiration for finding fun homeschool field trips, we’ve put together a master list of 100 homeschool field trip activities you can add to your calendar! These low-budet trips are just right for homeschooling families and your children will love them!

Homeschool Planning Guide

Are you overwhelmed with planning your homeschool field trip? Here is a free homeschool field trip planning guide that will help you keep organized. We’ve organized this planning guide into six sections with tips and local recommendations.

  • Fine Arts
  • Local Government & Business
  • Museums
  • Parks & Recreation
  • Outdoor Activities
  • Group Tours

Click Here for our Free Printable Guide

Christmas Coloring Countdown Printable

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Last Minute Christmas Countdown

Did you forget to do a Pinterest worthy Advent Calendar this year?  Don’t worry, I’m right there with you. I blame Thanksgiving. It was just too close to Christmas this year, wasn’t it?  I mean, I ordered a bunch of tiny treats to put in my wooden advent calendar but I just never got the Christmas Rubbermaid out of the garage in time…and here we are half way through December.

Well, look. Today I have a simple, no-excuses Christmas countdown calendar you can print up for your kiddo.  There are not mini-chocolates or extra things required. Just print it up, make a few cuts, and you’ll have yourself a working countdown calendar that your little one will look forward to for the rest of the month.  And hey…..just tell them they get to color in the first 12 days as a special 12-days of Christmas bonus.

Free Printable Christmas Countdown

Let’s face it….there is just something so FUN about counting down to Christmas Day! Children LOVE to wake up and mark another day off the calendar. You might already have a felt advent calendar, or even a wooden advent calendar, but there is something extra fun and unique about creating your own countdown keepsake.

Simple Christmas Countdown Calendar

I’ve seen quite a few Christmas countdown calendars over the years, and while they are super-cute, sometimes they are just too much work to set up! Especially when Thanksgiving ends up really close to Christmas, there just isn’t enough time to transition from one holiday to the next. Well, this Christmas Countdown Coloring project solves that problem as it couldn’t be simpler.

To set up this countdown calendar, all you need to do is print out the two pages; the cover sheet that includes the numbered windows, and the background sheet that contains the pictures. Use scissors, or an Exacto knife to cut the windows on three sides as shown in the photos, then glue the cover sheet over the sheet with all the pictures.

Each morning, when you child wakes up, have them open another window and color in the Christmas picture! Every day they’ll be greeted with a new festive holiday character to color in. By the time Christmas comes around, you’ll have a special keepsake of their hard work you can keep for years to come! If you have nieces and nephews, or if you are sponsoring a child overseas, this is a lightweight advent calendar you can send along for not very much in postage.

Christmas Coloring Countdown

Print this free countdown to Christmas calendar on cardstock for best results. If you have colored paper for the the numbers that would add some holiday cheer!

PRINT

Homeschool Spelling Curriculum

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Interactive Spelling Activities for Any List

I don’t know about you, but spelling has been a constant struggle in our homeschool. We’ve tried many dedicated spelling curricula over the years, and they are either much too easy or much too hard for my children. Often they are quite boring and require hours of writing and rewriting words with little to no interactivity.

Additionally, they are often expensive, requiring us to purchase a teacher’s manual or a slew of manipulatives that my students bore of quite easily. For spelling, what I really need is a variety of engaging ways to encourage my children to practice their spelling words. I want them to have FUN while working on their spelling words. Is that too much for this homeschool mama’ to ask?

Well, this month, I decided that I had enough, and set out to create my own spelling word resources. I chose the following goals for this resource:

Let me tell you that I am BEYOND excited to announce our latest product: Editable Interactive Weekly Spelling List Pack

  • Editable for Any Word List
  • Adaptable for Multiple Ability Levels
  • Weekly Progression of Knowledge
  • Covers Written & Oral Spelling Activities
  • Covers Syllables, Vowels, ABC Order, Beginning Letters
  • Interactive, Hands-On Activities & Games
  • Is Virtually NO-Prep for Me :)

Let me walk you through how this spelling product works! Basically, on the first page of the product, you’ll type in your own word list (10 new words and 2 review words), and it will instantly AUTOFILL your words directly into all 18 pages of the document, giving you an entire week of custom spelling activities and games. Isn’t that exciting? Here is how a typical week will look:

Spelling PreTest

(Optional) If you’d like to see you’re your student knows beforehand, you can have them take the spelling pretest. This is also helpful for students to see their own progress. We recommend having students take this spelling pre-test at the start of the week on Monday. Remind your students that they aren’t expected to know these words, it’s just for them to compare their progress at the end of the week.

MONDAY:

(after the optional spelling pretest)

Robot Roll Game: Students roll the dice, add the number. Students match the number they rolled to their spelling words and write that word in the empty box.
Inspect & Trace: Students identify consonants & vowels, tracing their spelling word with different colors. Next, students circle the number of syllables in their word.

TUESDAY:
Spelling Practice Fold & Peek: Students practice writing their spelling words. Words are written along the right side of the paper where students can fold, cover, or peek as needed.
Dab & Spell Aloud: Students use bingo daubers to find and dab their word. Each time they dab, students spell the word aloud.
Word Worm: Students spin and read their spelling word aloud. Students then write the word on a worm and spin again.


WEDNESDAY:
Letter Boxes: Students write their spelling words in the shaped boxes.The shapes of the boxes give students a clue as to what letter might fit in the box.
Roll & Write: Students roll the dice and practice writing their spelling words in the columns. The first column to fill up is the winner!
Target Word Practice: Each letter has a number value. Students write their words, then calculate the value based on the number chart.

THURSDAY:
Rainbow Alphabet: Students write their words in alphabetical order. Then students write their words in rainbow colors.
Spelling Word Cards: This set provides you with spelling word cards for each of your spelling words. Cards can be used for flashcards, or as a memory
Spin & Dab: Students spin and dab a letter from the word they land on until the word is spelled completely. Students read and spell each word aloud. Crayons can be substituted in place of a dauber.


FRIDAY:
Mystery Spelling Word JumbleStudents decipher the spelling word by identifying the beginning letter of each picture and writing the letters in order on the line.
Spelling List BingoStudents play spelling BINGO in small groups with these bingo board cards. Since each word has the possibility to be called multiple times, students can choose strategically.
Spelling Bee GameStudents practice spelling their words as they collect each one for their game board. Students must collect and spell each word correctly to win the game.Full instructions provided on the game board. (2 pages)

Click Here for more details on Interactive Spelling

Pros & Cons of Homeschool Unit Studies

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If your family is tired of textbook learning, or you have a child who learns best through hands-on projects, unit studies could be your best friend. Unit studies are short or long term curriculum plans that teach most or all of the coursework revolves around the same theme. So, instead of having math, science, history, and language arts as separate subjects, they are all integrated into one subject one a theme, such as horse, the civil war, space, or art history.

Topic-based lessons can be a fascinating way to homeschool. Before beginning them in your homeschool, here are some of the pros and cons of homeschool unit studies.

Free Mushroom Unit Study from The Crafty Classroom

Pros of Unit Studies

Unit studies could be just what your family needs. They are engaging and easily adaptable to various levels. This means the entire family can work together instead of having to teach every child a different program for each subject. Here are some other positive attributes of unit studies.

Passion Led

We are all motivated by our interests. Children learn better and retain more information when they are engaged. The easiest way to engage children is by appealing to their likes. Choose unit studies that your child will love doing. This eliminates the “boredom” of school and makes even the less desirable subject interesting.

Customizable

A unit study is what you make it. It can be on any topic you choose. Even the sky isn’t the limit. Traditional curriculum follows a set pattern. There are only so many different textbooks available. Most are not built around specialized topics. A unit study can also be customized to your family’s schedule and make-up. The same unit study could be used for one student, or adapted to be used with five at different levels.

At Student’s Pace

A homeschool unit study moves at the pace of the student. Unlike traditional lesson plans that tell a student what to do each day. Homeschool unit studies give the student a goal and resources to explore at his own pace. Siblings can explore the same subject matter according to their ability. The point is not to get everything completed, but to master the topic at hand.

Endless Possibilities

The greatest pro for unit studies is the endless possibilities. Anything can become a unit study. They can include field trips, projects, blogs, experiments, and volunteer work. Unit study-based homeschool curriculum is never limited to just books. There is no wrong way to do a unit study and the same topic can be explored many times from different angles.

Cons of Unit Studies

While unit studies have so much to offer, they aren’t for everyone. There are drawbacks to this kind of homeschooling. Before delving into the world of unit studies, consider the following cons.

Can Be Time Consuming

Putting together homeschool unit studies are a good deal of work. It requires much more of an investment than just using a textbook program. You will need to plan out every aspect of the unit study, find resources, create or find projects, and decide what your ultimate goal is. There are pre-made unit study available. These will save time, however, you will still have to gather the resources. Unit studies are doable for most homeschool families. Just make sure to evaluate how much time you have to invest before beginning.

Need to Stay Organized

Tackling a unit study requires organization. You will need to keep on top of what books and resources are needed when. Make sure to allow time for checking out books, ordering supplies, and delivery. Also, it will take a little more attention to stay on top of what students are doing.

Watch the Expenses

Don’t fall down the rabbit hole! Unit studies can easily get very expensive. Be conscious of costs when planning projects, tools, resources, and books. There is so much out there to explore, and so many ways to do it. Have a budget and stick to it. On the topic of getting carried away, it is easy to over-plan and want to do more than is humanly possible to complete. The best unit studies homeschool curriculum does not have to be expensive or elaborate, but it is easy to get carried away.

Non-traditional

Homeschool unit studies are not like traditional schools. There are no daily lesson plans. Assigning grades is not like marking paper tests or quizzes. They are very open-ended and free form. If you like structure and a more traditional school approach, you may not enjoy unit studies. However, unit study homeschool curriculum can be what you make them, just decide how flexible you are willing to be.

Do you have any pros or cons to add?

Now that you are aware of the pros and cons of homeschool unit studies, here’s HOW to create a unit study that’s fantastic and fits your family perfectly!

Or, if you are looking for great examples of fabulous unit studies, grab my favorite free unit studies right here:

Pumpkin Unit Study

If you love all things fall and harvest, like beautiful imperfect round pumpkins there are many wonderful ways to incorporate them into your homeschool routine. Pumpkins can be turned into math, science, and history lessons, but also so much more. For a pumpkin unit study, you really need no special supplies or expensive curriculum, just a few pumpkins and some basic items you already have around the house.

Pumpkin Math

Grab a ruler, a scale, and a flexible measuring tape. Bring home several pumpkins or head to the pumpkin patch with them and work on some math skills.

  • Measure the height, width, and circumference of several pumpkins. Weigh pumpkins on a scale, remove the pulp and seeds and weigh them separately.
  • Have younger children place pumpkins in a line in order of largest to smallest and reverse. Cut open a pumpkin and count the seeds.
  • Once your pumpkin is cut open measure the amount of seeds vs. pulp.
  • Cut a small pumpkin in half, then quarters, then eighths to introduce or reinforce fractions with your child.
  • Use pumpkin seeds as manipulatives for counting, skip counting, grouping, creating arrays, use a fine tip sharpie to write numbers on clean dry seeds to use to create math problems.

Label the Parts of a Pumpkin

For this hands-on activity, you just need toothpicks and a bit of cardstock. Cut cardstock in small 1”x2” squares. Write the parts of a pumpkin on each piece of cardstock- stem, seeds, pulp, skin, and ribs.

Tape each piece to a toothpick. Cut pumpkin open or in half and have them stick the label in the correct place, hands-on fun is much more memorable than a worksheet!

However, if you’d rather not label an actual pumpkin, I don’t blame you one bit! You can still work on labeling and identification when you use our free Parts of a Pumpkin labeling worksheet. The set includes a Coloring Page, Notebooking Page, Chart, Labeling Sheet and a Cut and Paste Activity. You can also grab the pumpkin clipart to use within your own teaching resources, just be sure to read the Terms of Use first.

Cinnamon and Sugar Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

An easy pumpkin recipe is a great way to enjoy a hands-on activity for math, science, and reading skills. Recipes help children learn to follow directions, introduces them to fractions, scientific reactions, and more.

You will need:

  • ¾ cup Pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon or pumpkin spice
  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  • Remove the seeds from your pumpkin.
  • Wash well, drain in a strainer and remove all bits of pumpkin pulp.
  • Dry seeds well.
  • Toss in a bowl with melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon.
  • Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet.
  • Bake for 25 minutes.
  • Allow to cool then store in a container with a tight-fitting lid.
  • A delicious treat to enjoy while learning all about pumpkins!

Quick Facts About Pumpkins:

  • In Colonial America they sliced to top off the pumpkin, removed the seeds and pulp then filled it with milk, spices, and honey, They then baked it right over hot ashes to make the first pumpkin pies!
  • Pumpkins are made of 90% water.
  • Every single part of the pumpkin is edible, even the stem.
  • Pumpkin is considered a fruit, mainly due to its seeds.

Decorating pumpkins this year but want an educational spin on it? Paint your pumpkin like a globe, label the oceans and continents. Have older children label additional details.

Pumpkin Art Project for Kids

If you want to add a little fall fun to your classroom try these DIY Pumpkin Window clings! Your kiddos can each design their own colorful pumpkin, using these special paints, and our free pumpkin template. You’ll have a unique fall decoration you can hang up for years to come!

Educational Pumpkin Books

Pumpkin Vocabulary

Pumpkin is from the Greek Word ‘pepon’ which means ‘large melon’.

Use the words below as spelling and vocabulary words for your child. There are many ways they can be used such as in sentences for handwriting and grammar,

Pumpkin, Gourd, Seed, Vine, Rind, Pulp, Seedling, Gourd, Harvest, Stem, Tendril, Ribs, Sprout, Skin, Leaves.

Pumpkin Geography

Read the following pumpkin facts aloud and have your child locate the places on a map.

  • Pumpkins are grown on every continent but Antarctica.
  • Morton, Illinois considers itself the pumpkin capital of the world.
  • The world record for the largest pumpkin is 2,600 pounds and was grown in Germany in 2016.

More Pumpkin Printables & Ideas:

We have a great variety of free pumpkin printables and teaching resources you can add to your unit study. These are great for adapting your lesson for younger students:

Hummingbird Art Project for Kids

Learning about hummingbirds can make a fantastic unit study for your homeschool classroom. Especially if you time your studies up with Spring & Summer when hummingbirds are likely to be out and about. Besides nature journaling, you might consider making some beautiful window art so you can enjoy hummingbirds year-round.

We’ve designed two different ways to make stunning window cling hummingbirds. The easier version is presented first and the more difficult version is second.

Hummingbird Art Material:

Hummingbird Template

Faux Stained Glass Paints

Laminating Sheets

Hummingbirds Field Guide

For either project, you’ll need the free hummingbird template along with some basic supplies. The reason you’ll need a laminating sheets is because that is how we’ll be making the plastic for the base. You’ll also need a laminator to run the blank laminating sheets through to strengthen the plastic. If you don’t own a laminator, you might consider just purchasing plastic sheets for crafting. However, I believe that the least expensive method is with the laminating sheets, especially if you’re doing this project with a large group.

Hummingbird Art Project 1

This first hummingbird art project tutorial creates a more modern stained glass looking bird. It’s also a bit easier so it might be better for younger children. A hummingbird art project for older children can be found below. However, the first few steps are the same as far as prepping so read through the next few steps before scrolling to the more realistic version.

Step 1:

Before starting the project, you’ll want to prepare your plastic. Basically, you’ll run your laminating sheets through the laminator wihout putting anything in between the sheets. The end result is a stick plastic sheeting you can use as the backdrop for your project. I always run a few extra so I have plastic sheets on hand. TIP: Purchasing laminating sheets is much less expensive online

Step 2:

Tape your plastic sheet on top of your hummingbird template. If you need to be able to move your project while it’s drying overnight, then tape them both to a piece of scrap cardboard as well.

Step 3:

Using black paint, outline the shape of the hummingbird. Set aside to dry. I set mine aside for about 40 minutes, and it wasn’t dry, but it had set enough that I could continue.

Here is how the bird will look when fully outlined. If you are doing this project with younger students, you might consider doing the outlining for them. That way there is no waiting and no frustration with outlining.

Step 4:

Once your outline is set enough, you can fill in the colors. Just be careful not to jab your paint nozzle into the black paint. The outline seems to help the paint settle into the unpainted areas, so don’t worry if you don’t get the paint right up to the edge as it will settle a bit and spread out as it dries. I started with a blue beak and a green head.

Step 5:

Continue to add colors to fill in the hummingbird’s body. I used Pink, orange, white, welly and green on the rest of the body. Then blue on the tail.

Step 6:

Using different hues is a good way to add colors to the bird’s tail. I added turquoise, light blue, and then violet.

Step 7:

Here is how I filled in the hummingbirds wings. I used blue, green and yellow for the top of the wings and then orange, pink and white for the underside of the feathers.

Step 8

Here is how the bird looked once completely painted in. You can fill your bird in any way you want though! The more color the better! When finished, set it aside to dry overnight

Step 9

Here is how the bird looked in the morning. The colors all seem to have darkened up a bit, but don’t worry…once the light shines through you’ll see those beautiful colors again!

Step 10

Use a pair of scissors to cut out around the hummingbird. I don’t know if you can see in the photo above, but I went about 1/3 of an inch all the way around the bird.

Once you’ve got your bird cut out, it’s time to hang it on the window! How stunning is that!? Mine stuck on either side, but the side with the paint did seem more secure. However, I’m not sure if the paint will transfer to the window on a hot sunny day so I’m going to leave it with the plastic side touching the window for now.

Hummingbird Art Project 2 (Realistic)

If you have older students, or maybe you want to create a hummingbird alongside your kiddos, you might appreciate these more realistic version. This tutorial is pretty much the same, however we won’t be outlining the bird, and we’ll be blending the colors as we go.

Step 1:

As mentioned above, there is no outline, so you’ll basically be painting on top of the plastic/template with the colors you want for each section. Here is a look at how I’ve painted my bird. I used purple then blue for the beak. Turquoise for the head, then a row of orange and pink. A section of white, yellow and green. Each time I’ve added a new color, I used the tip of the paint applicator to blend streaks into the previous color. I did so in a curved fashion to create the appearance of texture for the features. It sounds more difficult than it is, once you get going on it, it’s pretty simple to blend.

Step 2:

Here is an up close look at the blending. This was all created simply by dragging the tip of the paint applicator through different colors to create “movement” I’ve also used the purple and darker green to create depth where there should be shadow (at the base of the wings, and where the tail feathers meet the body, those areas should be naturally darker).

Step 3:

I actually used quite a bit of white for the center parts (the center of the body, and the center of the feathers). After the base of white, I blended in some greens and blues to help the appearance of individual wing feathers. I also pulled some orange up into the top of the turquoise head.

Step 4:

Here is how the bird looked when I was done painting. I set it aside to dry overnight.

Step 5:

This is how the bird looked in the morning. Again, it looks as if it has darkened up, but that is just because there isn’t any light shining through the colors.

Step 6:

Once I cut out the hummingbird and hung it on the window the colors brightened up nicely. A lot of the different colors and textures cam through very nicely. In the photo you can see the edges of the plastic, but from a distance, you really can’t see it at all, and it looks quite stunning on the window.

Step 7:

The only problem with this little guy is that he needs some friends! How pretty would it be to have multiple hummingbirds on the window?! This is definitely a project you can do alongside your kiddos. I’ve even recommended that my kiddos make some into Christmas gifts for family members. And this art technique can be used with a variety of different pictures. In fact, I’ll have some more tutorial and templates coming soon so stay tuned for those!

Fall Art Projects for Elementary Students

The first day of fall brings opportunity for all kinds of stunning art projects for your students. These fabulous fall leaves will look fantastic hanging on a hallway bulletin board, or adorning your classroom walls. This is a simple art project that students of all ages will love.

Fall Leaf Art Project Materials:

Fall Leaf Template

Chalk Pastels

Black Construction Paper

First Day of Fall Art Projects

Step 1:

Cut out your leaf template very carefully. If you are using this project with younger students you might cut out the templates beforehand as they are a bit of a challenge. Tape the leaf in the upper right-hand corner as shown in the photo, with the edge of the stem almost off the paper.

Step 2:

Starting with your red chalk pastel, press the flat edge on the end of the leaf and drag it forward away from the leaf and onto the black paper. Continue this stroke always starting on the leaf and pressing away from the leaf.

Step 3:

Choose another warm color like orange and repeat the steps. It is a bit more difficult to get the color into the smaller curves, so using the narrow end of the chalk pastel might help with those areas. Overlap the orange over the red to blend in the color.

Step 4:

Continue this method around the leaf, using colors like cream, yellow, light green, brown, and more fall colors. If younger students have difficulty getting the chalk into the curved areas, it’s okay to just color those sections in. Just emphasize pulling the color in an outwards direction.

Step 5:

Even though we are using mostly Warm colors for this fall leaf, it’s good to bring in a couple of splashes of cool colors for contrast. Use purple and blue to make narrow streaks randomly around the leaf. Also, make sure that the leaf template is completely covered in colors as we’ll be using it for the next part of the project.

Step 6:

Once you have your colors how you like them, carefully lift up the leaf to reveal the shadow. If you have any mistakes you can use a Q-tip and a dab of water to remove any chalk mistakes or to tidy up the edges.

Step 7:

Crumple up the leaf a bit so that it looks like a dried-up fall leaf. Then, tape it near the bottom of the page so that it hangs off the edges and looks like it has fallen. Use the white chalk pastel to draw dashed lines to show the movement of the leaf.

If you like, you can have students add the word “FALL” by cutting colored construction paper, or from some extra Fall themed scrapbook paper. If your having a classroom full of students doing this project, be sure to hang them up on the bulletin board! You can even have each child put a word of a fall poem on their project so that the final display has a special message for people to read as they walk by.

If you find your students like this project, you might try our other Fall Leaf Art Projects or our Chalk Pastel Butterfly Craft. Both are great for learning new art techniques while having fun.

Free Trees Unit Study

Besides the fact that nature studies are the best way to enjoy the world God created, I love the fact that they are so easy and require very little money or preparation (aside from a couple of good field guides and such).  You really don’t have to have a very structured curriculum or one at all for your children to absorb and learn a lot.  Just get outside and dig deep into whatever topic you are interested in.

Investigating Trees in the Field

Grab your nature journal, a field guide, water and take a walk out into your own yard or a local park and take a deeper look at the trees. Of course, you have noticed them before but how closely have you really looked?

This time notice the bark, the limbs, the leaves, what types of animals and insects make their homes in and on a tree? Does it bear fruit? Investigate a woodpile, what is different about the cut wood from a rooted tree? Find holes made by woodpeckers or boring insects, carefully inspect knots, and exposed roots.

Take out your nature journal and draw a tree or a section of a tree. You can identify it at home later on at home if you are not able to while out in the field.  Look for fallen trees and note the roots, are they wider or deeper root systems? What kind of creatures make their home in a fallen tree? Does the tree produce food for animals or humans? Gather leaves, small fallen branched, acorns, pinecones, and other parts of trees to observe more closely at home.

Use a camera or smartphone to take photos of knots, leaves, signs of animal life, roots, and other parts of trees.

Younger children will enjoy gathering fallen sticks and leaves to bring home, investigating knots and rotten logs as well as making tree rubbings of the various trees you find.

If time and weather permits visit different areas to observe as many different trees as you can. Find trees that produce food for humans as well- citrus, apple, pecan, maple, etc…

Investigating Trees at Home

Once you have enjoyed a wonderful hands-on investigation of trees in their natural habitats you can continue it at home no matter what the weather is like.  Pick up an inexpensive tree slice from the unfinished wood section of your local craft store, I have a large one, some small tree slices that were bought for crafts and these little bitty birch slices I scored a whole bag of at Dollar Tree.   

Use these to check out the bark a little closer, count rings, measure the height, width, and circumference of the tree ring. Test the softness of the wood.

Use the photos you took out in the field to help you identify the trees, fungi growth, and other characteristics.

Pine Cone Science

If you were lucky enough to come across a few pine cones on your nature walk, you can use these free pine cone science notebook pages to expand learning. Students can color, label, and identify different parts of a pine cone.

Leaf Investigations

Grab some of the leaves you gathered from your nature walk and drop several different kinds in a large glass or bowl of water, be sure they are completely submerged. Be sure your leaves are fresh, this won’t work with dried out leaves!

Leaf Science Project for Kids

Set your bowls in a sunny window, you will need to leave them alone for a few hours.

Come back after a couple of hours and observe what you see. Do you notice the bubbles forming on the surface of the leaf? Do the larger leaves have more bubbles?

The leaves are using photosynthesis ( converting sunlight into energy) and they are releasing the excess oxygen and water that they do not need. Using the water gives us a pretty cool look at how the process works, something we would not normally get to see!

Leaf Identification Activity

While you are waiting for your leaves to bubble grab a field guide or other book, we are loving our Nature Anatomy books as a reference, and see if you can identify the leaves you found.

Try some fun art projects with the leftover leaves like pressing and drying them between the pages of a book to add to your art journal, laminating a few for a fun little placemat, or making a leaf collage.

Parts of a Leaf Printables

For students who are ready, you can add in our free parts of a leaf printables. This set includes coloring pages, worksheets, cut & pates labeling, and notebooking sheets that are sure to liven up your leaf nature journals.

Leaf Art Project for Kids:

Students of all ages will love to make these stunning zentangle leaf art prints. These oak leaves turn out just as unique as the children making them! You’ll find a free printable template and step-by-step instructionss to create these fall beauties here.

Books About Trees for Kids:

Here are some fantastic tree books for reference, tuck a field guide for your area into your nature pack for deeper study out in the field!

Tree Vocabulary:

Branch, trunk, bark, photosynthesis, transpiration, deciduous, coniferous, forest, roots, leaves, canopy, rings, deforestation, blossom, foliage, and dendrophile.

Choose words from above depending on your child’s level to use as spelling and vocabulary words during your study. Use them as writing prompts for journaling, create sentences label the parts of the tree during your nature journaling.

Choose some trees that are in your area and include these as well – Ash, Alder, Maple, Douglas Fir, Birch, Pecan, Lime, Oak…

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Fall Science Experiments for Kids

This helpful set is filled with a week’s worth of fun, educational math games, hands-on activities, science experiments, art projects, early readers and writing prompts. Everything you need for fall to add a little holiday fun to your kindergarten or first-grade classroom this year!

Science:

This set includes five simple autumn science experiments and challenges. Each thematic activity guides students through a fun, hands-on science exploration with very little prep-work. Students work their way through the scientific method using the step-by-step science journals. Each experiment includes a follow-up activity for added learning.

Math:

Each day students will play a fun Thanksgiving themed game or activity then follow up their learning with a lesson sheet to show mastery. Games focus on learning to frame numbers to ten, basic addition, counting to 100, and counting by 10’s.

Art:

We include five stunning fall art projects that are perfect for Thanksgiving. Each project comes with a full photo tutorial, printable templates and easy to follow materials list. Students work with oil pastels, paint, textures, blending and more.

Reading:

This set includes three early readers covering social studies and history. Each story includes a carefully controlled word list and incorporates key vocabulary for extended learning. Students are provided narrative and comparison writing prompts that are not only simple to follow, but would make wonderful educational keepsakes.

Take Home:

T is for Take Home Review Sheets. These sheets can be used as review work in the homeschool classroom or as homework in a standard classroom. Each page features reading, writing, vocabulary, and character thinking points.

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Back to Homeschool Signs

While you are gearing up to start your homeschool year, don’t forget to take back to school photos of your kiddos! Even though you children are not in traditional classrooms, you still might want to have some record of your student’s growth at the start of each school year. Today I have some free printable back to homeschool signs you can use for your photos!

Free Back to School Signs

Don’t worry if you don’t homeschool! I’ve made signs that work for both traditional classrooms and homeschooling classrooms! Simply print the one that applies to you and you’ll be good to go!

First Day of Preschool Sign

I’ve designed this set of back to school signs to start at the Preschool year! I know you’ve probably been “tot-schooling” for the past year or two, but I had to start somewhere and the First Day of Preschool sign sounded like a good beginning. This first day of school sign will look adorable when placed inside a frame and used as a photo prop for your first day of school pictures.

Editable First Day of School Signs

I’ve left plenty of room at the top of the sign for you to add your child’s name, and there is room near the bottom to add the year. You can use a white chalk paint marker, or even your NOYO crayons work too! This makes the set super-versatile because you can edit what goes on each sign. If your handwriting is anything like mine, you might want to use alphabet stickers or something across the top instead. How cute would it be with a 3-D glitter name across the top?!

Back to School Photo Signs

Anyway, with so many different grade levels and options, this set is sure to last you through the year and with multiple children! Simply print what you need below (or save a copy to your computer just so you have one).

First Day of School Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos.

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First Day of Preschool Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of Preschool," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Kindergarten Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of Kindergarten," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of First Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 1st Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Second Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 2nd Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Third Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 3rd Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Fourth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 4th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Fifth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 5th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Sixth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 6th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Seventh Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 7th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Eighth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 8th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Ninth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 9th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Tenth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 10th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Eleventh Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 11th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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First Day of Twelfth Grade Sign

This is a free printable back to school sign you can use for your back to school photos. This sign reads, "First day of 12th Grade," and has room to write your child's name.

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Fine Motor Skills Activities for Preschool

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If you have a preschool student who is in need of working on fine motor skills, you’ll want to provide them with numerous hands-on activities and development tools. These activities should provide students with the opportunity to use their small motor muscles while having fun learning.

Our monthly fine motor skills activity packs are filled with engaging resources, worksheets, activities, and games that build those small motor muscles for young students. If you have missed the prior months activity packs, not to worry, you can still pick them up in our TPT store here.

HUGE Brick Building Mat Mega Pack Available Here

April’s pack is filled with fun, thematic learning opportunities covering Weather, Earth Day, and Easter. NOTE: If Easter falls in March you can simply swap out the Butterfly & Frog theme from March for the two weeks of Easter in April. Everything is designed to coordinate and adapt to the changing holiday. Here is a peek inside our April Fine Motor Pack. For each of the themes, there are at least 14 activity pages described below:

Earth Day Fine Motor Skills Activities
  • GEOBOARD: Students use rubber bands to create the pictures on a geoboard. Each sheet features a letter of the alphabet alongside a thematic picture.
  • MAZES: Students solve the mazes and follow the prompts. Each page features thematic mazes alongside a tracing activity or prompt.
Weather Fine Motor Activities
  • TRACING: Students trace the pictures with colored pencils or fine tip markers. Each page features thematic content and prompts students to complete the pictures.
  • PUZZLE PICTURES: Students use puzzle blocks to create thematic pictures. These sheets feature thematic shapes and provide students with easy and more difficult patterns. A full color example is available for easy reference.
  • LISTENING SKILL SHEETS: Teachers will read the directions aloud and the student listens carefully to finish the task. Tasks involve fine motor elements, coloring, and prepositional positioning of drawings
Easter Fine Motor Activities
  • DOT & POKE: Students cut apart the halves. Students solve the dot to dot activities. Then, students use a push pin to poke a picture onto colored construction paper. See full instructions below.
  • CUT & SORT CROWNS: Each crown features a theme alongside a 4-step sequencing pattern. Students cut out the pictures and glue them in the correct order. Students write their name, color the pictures, then staple the sides to make a crown.
  • SNAP CUBE CREATIONS: Students use counting cubes to make thematic pictures These cubes can be snapped together. If you do not have cubes, students can color the squares in the grid to match the picture.
  • PLAYDOUGH: Students use playdough to complete the prompts. Prompts require students to form and shape the dough to make pictures, solve problems, or complete the scene.
Easter Fine Motor Activities
  • DAB & DOT: Students use daubers to dab by number in order to reveal the mystery picture. (Hold at a distance to help students see the pictures).
  • CUT & PASTE CRAFTIVITY: These crafty projects are perfect for little hands.Students color, glue, and cut to make fun, thematic pictures.Pair with a simple writing prompt or poem for extra learning!
  • POM PICTURES x 2: Students use pom-poms to complete the picture.For added difficulty have students use plastic tweezers to pick up the poms. Alternatively students can glue poms to make these sheets into a simple craft project.
Fine Motor Skill Games
  • CUISENAIRE™ ROD PICTURES: Students use colorful centimeter rods to build thematic pictures. Students are asked to color the rod key to show how many rods they used of each color.
  • BRICK BUILDERS: Students use classic building blocks to recreate these thematic pictures. Students work on storing, planning, and stacking before creating their final picture.

With over 60+ pages of fine motor activities, this set is sure to be a hit for spring! With multi-level activities, this pack easily adapts to your homeschool or classroom setting. Read more and purchase from our TPT store here.

10 Places to SELL Your Used Homeschooling Curriculum

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What do you do with your used homeschooling curriculum after the semester is done? Each time you need to purchase new homeschooling curriculum, you also have old curriculum you need to get rid of. One of the best things you can do is to sell your used homeschooling curriculum, helping fund the next set you need to buy.

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Creation Preschool Printables

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Do you have little ones learning the Days of Creation?  Today I’m happy to report that I’ve updated all of our Creation themed preschool printables, and even added in a few new extra games and activities.  Best of all, I’ve combined them into an activity pack which is available FREE to our subscribers! Grab these creation preschool printables today!

Days of Creation Activity Pack contains the following:

  • Creation Bookmarks
  • Creation Story Coloring Book
  • Creation Story Bulletin Board Display
  • Creation Minibook
  • Creation Story Wheel
  • Creation Mobile Craft
  • Creation Memory Match Game
  • Creation Wordwall Cards

Print these Free Creation Preschool Printables here on our sister site Christian Preschool Printables

CreationeBook

Subscriber Exclusives

06 subscriber exclusive printables on the crafty classroom

Thanks for subscribing! As a subscribing member you’ll receive easy print workbooks, exclusive freebies, sponsor offers and updates when new printables are available. Plus you’ll receive notification when new crafts, games, and activities are posted on our blog. Check your email after subscribing for a list of our current subscriber freebies!

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Bible ABC Coloring

A complete set of Bible Alphabet coloring pages from Adam to Zacchaeus. These full page coloring pages are just right for children's ministry or outreach. You could even plan a Letter of the Week Bible program around these key Bible characters and concepts.

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Bible ABC Handwriting

A complete set of Bible Alphabet handwriting pages from Adam to Zacchaeus. These handwriting worksheets include tracing, coloring and a a place for a sticker. Combine these with your letter of the week activities or during your Sunday School lessons.

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Bible ABC Cursive Handwriting

A complete set of Bible Alphabet cursive handwriting pages from Adam to Zacchaeus. These handwriting worksheets include tracing, coloring and a a place for a sticker and match our Bible ABC tracing pages. Combine these with your letter of the week activities or during your Sunday School lessons.

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10 Commandments Activity Pack

100+ pages of activities, games, and worksheets for teaching children the Ten Commandments. You'll find Bible copywork pages, coloring sheets, file folder learning centers, handouts and more. Great for Sunday School and children's outreach programs.

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10 Commandments Handwriting Pack

https://thecraftyclassroom.com/ten-commandments-handwriting-pack/

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Holiday Pack

50+ pages! This is a set of printables for 10 different holidays you'll have a fantastic set of craft cards, worksheets, activities, bible verses and more for these important holidays.

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Bible Timeline

Over 25 different pages, filled with 200+ events from Biblical and World History. These cards are full color, ready to cut out and place in your assembled timeline. Children add in their own dates and notes for each event.

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Genesis 1 Pack

Over 100 pages of Genesis 1 coloring, copywork, timeline, and bible verse cards you can use with you homeschool or children's ministry. These resources take children through the story of creation.

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Note that we will email you as new resources are added but be sure to check our Newsletter Archives for more resources.

 

ACNBooksTransparentSmallAlphabet Curriculum Notebook

Letter of the Week Simplified!  Over 650 pages of downloadable resources for teaching children the Alphabet one week at a time. For each letter of the alphabet you’ll receive 25 pages of activites, worksheets, charts, coloring pages, math explorations and more. Designed to keep the prep work to a minimum, our letter of the week Alphabet Curriculum can be spread over 26 weeks.  View the sample pages above for a sample 3 and 4 day schedule.  Suggested age range is Preschool to K4.

Fall Art Projects for Kids

Learning about fall leaves is a great time to work in some beautiful autumn art projects for kids. This fall leaf project helps children to understand patterns, hues, and the art technique of etching. Students of all ages can build key art skills and technique with this fun fall art lesson.

This project uses a fall leaf template so that students can focus on the art technique of etching. However, if you are using this project with older students you might have them draw their own fall leaf with the template as a visual example. That way each leaf will have it’s own unique qualities like your students.

Oil Pastel Fall Leaf Project Materials:

Fall Leaf Template

Oil Pastels

Scratch Stick

Optional Colored Foil

Step 1:

Print your leaf template above. Color in each section of the leaf using a different color of oil pastels. Press hard to get a nice thick layer down.

Step 2:

Add a variety of Fall colors to your leaf. Don’t forget to add in a few purples, they always look stunning with Fall colors.

Step 3:

Using a sharp wooden stick (I’m using a cuticle stick), scrape away the top layer of the pastel to begin to make designs and textures into each of your leaf sections.

Step 4:

You can make patterns, checkerboards, leaf veins, strips, swirls, triangles etc…..try to make a different pattern for each section.

Step 5:

Once you’ve added in all your patterns you can mount it to colored construction paper for a great background. I cut out the same leaf shape in tinfoil to make a shadow first.

Step 6:

All done! If you added a tinfoil shadow, you can continue the pattern by gently pressing into the foil with your stick.

Easy Fall Art for Kids

Hang your stunning fall leaves up on the bulletin board and pair them with a writing sample. Choose a favorite fall poem or rhyme for children to write and hang them next to their artwork.

Just look at those textures! How fun is that? Have you tried this fall leaf art project with your students? We’ve love to hear how it went! Leave us a comment below:

More Fall Art Projects:

Zentangle Fall Leaf Art Project

In my homeschool classroom, there is nothing quite so beautiful as seeing beautiful fall leaf artwork hung on the walls. While you are likely busy in the fall, settling into your homeschool routine, don’t forget to schedule time for a variety of art projects! Not only will you build artistic expression and creativity, but you’ll enjoy the colorful and unique creations throughout the year.

Our Free Fall leaf art project for kids is just right for children of all ages. The details can be as intricate or as impressionistic as needed. Because an oak leaf template is used for this project, students that have the ability to color can create beautiful autumn leaves. You can adapt this project for younger students by removing the zentangle portion and having students learn about blending colors with oil pastels.

Fall Leaf Art Project for Kids

Autumn Leaf Art Project Materials:

Here are the required materials for this project:

Oak Leaf Template

Oil Pastels

Watercolors

Black Marker

Step 1:

Draw in your zentangle designs. Choose a different design for each section, and try to fill in every other section or so, leaving space to color in later

Step 2:

Using your Oil Pastels, begin to fill in the blank sections of your leaf. Start with two different hues of the same color.

Step 3:

Add in different colors of yellow, brown green and red. You’ll notice that I’m using the Red very sparingly, just to highlight certain edges of the leaves.

Step 4:

When your leaf is completely filled in, you can stop here, or cut out and glue to black construction paper. If you have time you can paint a watercolor background to really make your colors pop

Step 5:

I chose to start with a light purple background, using lots of water, and making circular strokes with my paintbrush I begin to fill in the background

Step 6:

For each side and edge I chose a different color to blend into the purple. I used blue on the right side of the paper, pink in the top left corner, and orange in the bottom left. This is a great way to add some character to your background.

Step 7:

I finished my background by taking a very light blue and filling in the remaining white on the left side of the leaf….sort of like a shadow.

Your leaf is complete! Mount to black construction paper for an instant frame, or hang in the classroom,

Seed to Plant Coloring & Worksheet

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PlantLifeCycle
Spring is a fantastic time to learn about the life cycle of a plant!

I highly recommend that you take children out into the garden, plant some seeds and track the results!  There is great satisfaction in cultivating and tending a garden and it will keep their little hands and hearts busy for hours.  Some easy and quick growing plants: Sunflowers, Nasturtium, Peas, Green Beans, Marigolds, Tomatos.

PlantColoringPin

 

HomeschoolClipart.com has some free plant life cycle printables:

Life Cycle of a Plant Worksheet

Life Cycle of a Plant Coloring Page

We’ve even taken small lima beans and “planted” them in the classroom.  Take a wet paper towel and crumple it into a plastic bag.  Place a bean down the side of the bag so that it’s able to absorb the water from the towel, but so you can also see it as it grow.  Close the bag and tape it up on the window.  In a few days your children will be able to observe germination, the first roots, and the sprouting seedling.  It’s a wonderful way to get hands on in the classroom.

 

SeedChart      SeedLabel     SeedNotebook         SeedPartsColoring

 

Parts of a Seed Chart

Parts of a Seed Notebooking Page

Parts of a Seed Label & Color

Lima beans are perfect for dissecting, and allow children an inside look at the anatomy of a seed.  Simply soak the seed for about an hour in some warm water and then provide children with small tweezers and things to inspect.  You can usually pop the seeds open with your fingernails and once open children can find the first leaves, the food and the root.

 

Seed to Plant Sequencing Cards

Plant Life Cycle Sequencing Cards

These plant life cycle cards show progression from seed to seedling.  Children order the different stages of the seed as roots form and  the seedling emerges. We recommend leaving one set intact and cutting the additional set out for playing  pieces.

Flower Themed File Folder Games

These educational games have a flower theme and can easily be incorporated into your unit.

 

Parts of a Flower Chart

 

HomeschoolClipart.com has some free Flower Anatomy Printables

Parts of a Flower Chart

Parts of a Flower Coloring Page

Parts of a Flower Worksheet

 

GardenLarge

Garden Crafts & Projects for Kids

Our garden crafts can go alongside key gardening ideas, such as composting, fertilization, spacing, and plant knowledge in general.

 

Garden Lapbook

For children who take an interested in planting and gardening you might want to print this free Garden Lapbook from Lapbook Lessons.   Children can keep track of what they planted, how quickly it’s growing,  learn about different tools, insects, and more!  Add in some garden science by testing the ph levels of different soil samples around your house.

 

Suggested Resources for a Unit Study:

gardenScience Adventure Garden Kit

Young Scientists will make a terrarium, learn about underground habitats, explore the
different parts of plants, test the soil, design a mini-garden, grow all kinds of seeds,
perform plant experiments, identify bugs and their habitats, make a working sun dial,
and much more.  Click Here

 

 

 

Seahorse Art Project for Kids

These beautiful seahorses are adapted from an amazing torn paper collage I found at Torn Paper Paintings by Wanda Edwards.  I thought it might be fun to recreate this seahorse in a way that children could color and cut with ease so I drew a template based on this seahorse and decided to color it with bleeding tissue paper instead.  It’s not as stunning as Ms. Edwards torn paper art, but I think your children will be amazed at the work they can do, and this technique might inspire them to start making their own shapes from paper as well.

Seahorse Template & Materials:

Seahorse Craft Tutorial:

You can watch the video above or follow the following steps to make your stunning seahorse!

Step 1: Print your Template

Print up your seahorse template on cardstock or watercolor paper. You will need one template per child, and your final project will be facing the opposite direction of the seahorse template.

Cut out punch out small bits of bleeding tissue paper. Bleeding tissue paper is different than standard tissue paper. You can purchase bleeding Tissue paper at your local craft store on with the resource link above

Step 2: Plan Your Color Blending

Take a moment to look at your seahorse and decide what colors you might put around what part. I suggest you encourage children to start with warm colors on top, cool colors on bottom and maybe a cool color near the ends of the fin. Otherwise when you mix the blues, greens and reds you start to get brown :)

Turn your seahorse template over so that you’re working on the backside of the paper. Using a small paintbrush and a dab of water begin arranging your tissue paper onto your paper.

Step 3: Bring on the Color!

As your paper gets wet it will start to bleed the color and blend with surrounding colors for a stunning effect. Don’t be tempted to peel off the color too soon! You’ll want to let it dry so that as much color as possible is transferred to your paper.

Step 4: Let it Dry! Then, Peel it Off!

Once you are sure that you’ve covered your entire seahorse you’ll want to let it dry. If you are unsure if you covered your seahorse template in entirity you can always lift your paper to see what still needs covered.

As soon as the tissue paper is dried, you can gently peel off the circles to reveal the beautiful color blends that transferred to your paper.

Step 5: Cut Out Your Shapes

After your paper has dried completely (use a hair dryer if you are impatient or doing this in a single classroom setting) you can begin to cut out your shapes. I suggest cutting these out one at a time assembling them carefully in the correct order. Younger children will need help with the cutting so be sure to plan for that if you’re doing this project with multiple young students.

Step 6: Assemble Your Seahorse

Using a piece of black construction paper as your background, begin to assemble your seahorse parts. You may want to print a second copy of the seahorse template to use as a reference guide. Be sure to leave black spaces shinning through just as in the template.

As you add more pieces you’ll see your seahorse come to life. To give your seahorse a 3-d effect, you can only glue the center of each piece, and allow the edges to lift up and away from the paper.

Step 7: Add Details

Using a fine black marker draw lines, dots, and circles along the edges of your seahorse. This will give your stunning ocean creature some personality!

Step 8: Put Your Seahorse on Display!

This is a frame-worthy art project that makes an excellent gift for Mom, or Grandma.

Looking for more art projects you can try with bleeding tissue paper? Try our Taj Mahal Art Tutorial for Kids!

Japanese Carp Kite Craft

Our Japanese Carp Kites (or more accurately windsocks) make some really beautiful projects for children to make when learning about Japanese culture.  This would be a wonderful end of the unit project for your students or co-op groups.  Older children might prefer to make these out of fabric see our fabric painting tutorial here.

Japan Books for Kids:

japanesecelebrations
tokyo
japan
japancrafts

How to Make a Japanese Carp Windsock:

Materials:

  • Construction Paper (we used 12 x 18)
  • Tissue Paper (Dollar Tree)
  • Crepe Streamers (Dollar Tree)
  • Scissors
  • Glue
  • Hole Puncher

Step 1:

Lay your construction paper horizontally. Cut your tissue paper into the shape of “scales” as shown in the photo. Cut a variety of colors so students will have colorful fish. Dip your paintbrush into the glue and create a line along the bottom.

Step 2:

Carefully place your first row of fish scales along the glue line. Choose a variety of colors or even a pattern of colors. If you have younger students you can draw a glue line in pencil every 2 inches or so. That way they can create straigh lines of glue for their scales.

Step 3:

Glue your scales all the way across the construction paper. Take care to keep your line of scales as straight as possible. The top parts of the scales will be covered by the next row, so if you need to adjust your scale, you have a bit of wiggle room at the top side.

Step 4:

Repeat the first three steps to make 5 or 6 rows of scales. Each row will overlap the previous row as shown in the photos. Stop adding scales once you have about half of the construction paper covered.

Step 5:

Cut a strip of black construction paper about 2 inches wide and glue it across the top layer of scales. This will hide the ends and serve as the line separating the face and body of the carp.

Step 6:

Cut two almond shaped eyes from the black construction paper and glue them as eyes as shown in the photo.

Step 7:

Flip your project upside down. Cut strips of colorful crepe paper and glue them along the bottom side of the construction paper. Choose a variety of colors.

Step 8:

Roll your paper to connect the edges. Use a stapler to connect the ends near the top, bottom, and if possible the center. If you cannot reach the center with your stapler, use a small bit of glue to help seal the connection.

Step 9:

Then use a hole puncher to place to small holes on either side of the top of the kite. Connect a small piece of yarn through the holes to hand your carp windsock.

Taj Mahal Art Project

This Taj Mahal art project is a great way to introduce children to ink transfer using bleeding tissue paper.  This technique is not only fun, but the result is a stunning color combination as the inks blend together.

Students as young as preschool age can make stunning recreations with just a little assistance. Best of all, you can pair this art project with a unit study on India and add a little cultural studies to you homeschool classroom.


Taj Mahal Art Project Materials:

India Art Projects for Kids:

Print up the Taj Mahal Template and cut it out. It doesn’t have to be perfectly cut, just enough to get the general shape of the Taj Mahal. You’ll also want to cut out your bleeding tissue paper. I used my Circle Punch to quickly punch out the different colors of bleeding tissue paper. And yes, in case you are wondering, Bleeding Tissue Paper is different than normal tissue paper that you would wrap a gift with. So be sure to pick up the right kind of paper for this project or the results will be disappointing.

Place the template so that it is lined up with the bottom of your watercolor paper and trace it lightly with a pencil. For younger students, you might already have this part of the project done in advance, that way you are not spending the majority of your time helping them cut or trace.

Using a white oil pastel, draw lines and shapes inside the shape of the Taj Mahal. This is another aspect that doesn’t have to be perfect. We are simply laying down a layer of oil that will resist the ink so the paper won’t soak it up. You’ll want it to be streaky, with defined lines and shapes because any missed spots will add a little character to your project.

Dip you paintbrush into a bit of water and begin to fill in your paper with the tissue paper circles. A little water will allow them to stick to the paper. You want to use your warm colors, and arrange them around the background of your picture. Try not to put any warm colors on the Taj Mahal.

Overlap the circles so that the colors will bleed and blend together. You will want a lot of color in your background, so to make it vibrant add lots of layers. Don’t overdo it on the water or you will end up with a runny mess and a wrinkled paper. It only takes a little bit of water for this project to work, just enough for the tissue paper to stick to the watercolor paper.

Continue around until your background is filled with warm colors. Then, start on the Taj Mahal with your cool colors. Remember, you laid down oil pastel here earlier so this section will pick up the color in some areas and no color in others.

Once your paper is filled with color, set it asside to dry. Resist the temptation to peek at your project before it is completly dry. You want every last drop of color to soak into your picture.

Once the paper is dry, you can easily lift it up and gently brush away the tissue paper circles. You will be left with a stunning piece of artwork, but we are not finished yet!

Using a black sharpie marker, or a watercolor crayon outline the basic shape of the Taj Mahal again. You can look at your template for reference if you need help remembering where things go.

This time, add the doorwways, windows, and architectural elements to the design. This is another step where you might want to help younger children. Even outlining the main shape and allowing them to add the decorations might help your smaller students.

If you have been learning about India, or doing a unit study, this is a great time to add a paisley motif or other common Indian design to the background of your picture.

Mount your picture with black construction paper and hang up somewhere in the classroom for everyone to enjoy! This is one of those projects where each one turns out a little different so it’s fun to see each student’s interpretation. More India Art Projects for Kids