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My Unit Studies {Free Printables & Hands-on Ideas}

Kinder Gardening to Celebrate Nature and Science

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Today I’ve rounded up some fun things to get the next generation of green thumbs digging in the dirt. I wished I had started gardening earlier with my kids, but your littles will love these kinder gardening resources to celebrate nature and science.

Kids Garden Unit Study Resources

Look at this adorable Radio Flyer big-kid wheelbarrow. Your kids will love to haul their own plants or just dirt. No intimidation here when they have their own kid-sized wheelbarrow for hauling.

Also, grab these fun crocs which are easy to clean and your littlest gardener is ready for his big kid project – well almost!

One thing that held me back from putting my kids in charge of their own garden was the lack of room in one place we lived while homeschooling.

When we got to move out to the more scenic and country areas where we had wide open spaces, gardening was easier.

It wasn’t so easy to do a fun science garden unit study when we lived in the city or in our smaller home which is why I loved these next fun things.

Kid Science in the Garden

These adorable growing your own herb kits are just the perfect kid-sized project. This raised bed is the perfect working height for little kids.

A huge plus is that you can take all of these things with you or move them around as you need to.

Then sneak in some fun ways to learn about gardening with this this flower families go fish game.

Add in some bug bingo for a creative way to learn about bugs from all over the world and you’ve added in a touch of geography.

You can also add in fun boxed craft ideas like this greenhouse from Groovy Lab in a Box.

Then, of course no unit study about gardening is complete without fun books.

With Seedfolks you can add in cultural awareness into your unit study which is a nice twist while learning about nature and science. Grab the Teacher’s Guide to the book and you’ll have a ready-made unit study.

Including a good amount of nonfiction living book ensures that a kid will find science in the garden fun as you avoid boring textbooks.

Nurturing a love of science and nature happens by digging in the dirt. Whether you live in a tiny house with minimal room or a large area, learning by doing teaches your kids to love nature.

Not only will your kids love doing what they naturally like doing at this age which is being outside digging in dirt and playing with water, but it teaches kids valuable life skills.

Independence to care for their basic essentials and a sustaining food source are life skills you want your little kinder gardeners to have.

You’ll love these other unit study ideas and activities to add to your own study.

How to Dissolve a Seashell – Beach Hands-on Fun Activity

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With summer quickly approaching I thought a fun beach themed activity would be just the thing to keep kids interested and learning even with the end of the year burnout that we often face. I put together a fun activity – how to dissolve a seashell.

How to Dissolve a Seashell EZ beach themed or ocean themed hands-on fun activity @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Seashell Acid Base Experiment

I remember doing it myself years ago; I like it because it’s low cost, easy to assemble, and the kids can do most of it on their own.

It gives them a visual of what might be going on beneath the ocean’s surface and truly can give them a glimpse of what acid can do in general in a safe manner. This simple lesson covers chemistry as well as including some conservation awareness.

What is a seashell anyway?

Seashells are mostly made up of a substance called calcium carbonate which is easily dissolved when left in vinegar even for a few days.

A seashell is the exoskeleton of mollusks. This could be an oyster or a sea snail for example.

Vinegar is great for a quick wash and disinfection of the seashells you bring home from the beach, but if you leave them in for too long they begin to eat away at your seashells.

Let’s see what happens.

How to Dissolve a Seashell Activity Ingredients

You will need:

  • white vinegar
  • seashells
  • a glass jar

Ocean Acidification Activity

Directions:

You can either use seashells from your collection that you’ve brought home from your own beach visit or you can purchase a bag at Dollar Tree.

Save the extra for a fun art project or you can place them in a pretty jar for summer decor.

Place a seashell or two in your container of vinegar. Be sure to cover them completely and watch as bubbles immediately begin to form, this is carbon dioxide.

1 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity immediate bubbling

It is a product of the reaction between the acetic acid in the vinegar and the calcium carbonate of the seashell creating a gas. Science is cool, right?

Add in a few fun workbooks like this Ocean Habitats activity book by Evan Moor and it’s easy to sneak in learning too.

Theme Pockets: Ocean Habitats, Grades 1-3 - E-book

Check out what’s happening. In just 12 hours or less you should be able to see the edges of the shell eroding and maybe some holes in the center of the shell in the weaker areas.

2 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity 12 hour results

Encourage the kids to check the progress of the shells and vinegar every few hours.

This photo is after 24 hours of soaking in vinegar, after about 12-15 hours the acid left in the vinegar will no longer be effective at dissolving the shell so you can dump it out and add fresh vinegar. 

3 How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity 24 hours

We changed ours out three times during the experiment and it took about three days for the to seashells to dissolve completely.

Ocean Unit Study Activity

After 2 ½ days, all we have left is just a few remnants of the seashell.  It is amazing how quickly this common acid begins to change the seashells, thin shells will go even quicker.

This is a great lesson to talk about the impact that pollutants have on our oceans.

Chemicals which are dumped intentionally or even accidental runoff of chemicals can affect the delicate organisms that live there and eventually larger animals.

Ask your child what they can do to change things in the future or what impact, positive or negative, that they can have on the oceans and other nature.

We also choose a few books to learn about shells more in-depth.

For anywhere from preschool to Upper Elementary the Let’s read and find out science books or one of our favorites for delivering information in a more fun and engaging way than a textbook might.

Shell guides are a great item to take to the beach with you, you can quickly and easily identify the shells that you find while you’re there and because they’re laminated there reusable we take them to the beach every time we go.

Ocean Seashell Chemistry Activity

You can take this experiment a step further by choosing 2 or 3 other liquids to soak your seashells in. Try placing tap water in one jar, vinegar in another, soda, lemon juice or even salt water in others. Label each container with the contents so that you know what is in each.

See how long it takes for the seashells to erode, does the water or saltwater do anything to the shell? How quickly did you start seeing changes to your shells?  Be sure to have your child record their hypotheses, observation, and of course the results in their science journal.

This project would make a great science fair project.

Your child can share it just with the family, as an end-of-the-year project, or if your Co-op has a science fair it would be a wonderfully simple demonstration to share with a group.

You’ll love these other ocean themed activities:

How to Dissolve a Seashell - Beach Hands-on Fun Activity. Whether you're doing an Ocean or Beach theme, your kids will love this EZ activity. Click here!

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids

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Seed tape makes a great activity during the spring months. While creating super easy seed tape, kids’ hands are busy and their minds are open to absorbing new information!

Not only is it teaching a practical life skill, but you are incorporating math and science into their learning as well. It is the perfect rainy-day activity while you wait for planting season. Seed taping makes for a sweet homemade gift too. Grandma might really enjoy a little help with her garden

Look at this list to make fun seed tape with kids:

  • Assorted seeds
  • Toilet paper
  • All-purpose flour
  • Wooden craft stick
  • Water
  • A small bowl
  • Permanent marker
  • Ruler/measuring tape
  • Clear zippered bags
  • Tweezers
How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Seed tape can be used in small or large gardens, containers, or even cut into small pieces for seed starting pots.

12 Easy Seed Tape Steps With Kid

Pull out a length of toilet paper that is easy to work with, I recommend from 2’ to 4’ depending on your garden space. If your toilet paper is more than 1-ply you will want to separate each layer.

Use a sharpie to write the name of your plant carefully at the end of the roll so you don’t get confused.

In a small bowl stir together just enough flour and water to create a sticky paste, it should be like a thick pudding. A couple of teaspoons of flour will go a long way.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Mark off spots for your seeds by making a dot with your sharpie on your lengths of toilet paper, this will depend on the recommended planting distance of the flowers or vegetables you are planting, you can find this information on the back of your seed packet. This is a great time to include some math in your child’s activity, have them use a ruler to mark off the spaces.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Drip a bit of your paste on your mark using a craft stick.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Use your tweezers to drop a seed or two onto the paste dot, tape down gently.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Leave your paper out and allow the paste to dry completely, this is an important step, if you move to the next step before it’s dry it will stick together and become a big unusable mess.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Once your paste is completely dry roll up your seed tape into a tidy little roll and place inside a plastic baggie, don’t forget to use your sharpie to write the name of your plant on the baggie.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Gardening Activities for Kids

Store your seed tapes until ready to use!

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

When ready to plant you can use the entire length or trim them into smaller pieces, even a few squares for container gardening will work!

Dig a shallow trench in the prepared soil and unroll your seed tape, cover with a thin layer of soil, water well.

Remember to identify your rows with plant markers.

Turn this simple activity into a larger unit study by including some other activities that go along with it well and add a little “meat” to it.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape With Kids @Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

11 Seed Tape Unit Study Ideas

One/ Track your planting from seed tape to harvest with a gardening journal.

Two/ Incorporate art by sketching your plants.

Three/ Work in some math by having your child draw out a square foot garden and filling in the plants you plan to grow.

Four/ Practice measurement by having them track the plant’s growth with a ruler.

Five/ Purchase a rain gauge and track the rain for the season on a simple bar graph.

Six/ Use leftover seeds for a seed sorting activity. Look at my tips here for Easy Seed and Gardening Unit Study for Kids (Middle – Upper Elementary)

Seven/ Create a garden budget and have your child compare prices and help choose plants and other items needed to fit in the budget.

Eight/ Make plant markers for art and writing practice.

Nine/ Check out books from the library about seeds and planting, I have a list of suggestions below!

Ten/ Draw and label the parts of a seed.

Eleven/ Photograph your plant from seed to harvest and create a book.

Seed Tape Science Words

You can use the following words for vocabulary, spelling, copy work, and journal starters.

Angiosperms- Flowering plants.

Gymnosperms-Non-flowering plants.

Tuber- Thickened underground part of the stem.

Rhizome- A horizontal underground stem with lateral shoots and roots.

Corm-Short swollen underground plant stem.

Bulb- An underground storage organ with a short stem and fleshy scale leaves.

Germination- When a seed begins to develop after dormancy.

Bud- Flower or plant that is beginning to bloom

Seedling- A young plant, mostly raised from seed and not cuttings.

Seed Coat- Protective outer coat of a seed.

How to Easily Make Fun Seed Tape with Kids and sneak in some learning too. Check out this FUN activity over at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

You’ll also love these other fun activities:

10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Are you looking for engaging readers for your middle to upper elementary kids? It’s hard to find books that get reluctant readers interested and finding Geronimo Stilton books was like finding buried treasure in the library! (Geronimo would really appreciate that simile).

These books were always a favorite in our house. It took me a while to find books that my son looked forward to reading without nagging or prodding from me.

10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books

When we stumbled upon them, I was thrilled to have found something that kept his attention and motivated him to read on his own. It’s a big milestone when your kid finally grabs a book of their choice and plops down to read it. These were those books for us!

He plowed through them. In fact, these were the first books he asked to buy. One year his wish list was full of Geronimo Stilton titles. How sweet, right?

Recommended for ages 7-10, grades 2nd-5th, these chapter books are sure to please even the most reluctant reader. They are the perfect introduction to chapter books and each one is filled with entertaining jokes and engaging illustrations.

Geronimo Stilton Books

Geronimo Stilton is an editor in chief of The Rodent’s Gazette, the most “famous” newspaper in New Mouse City. He’s also the author of his own best-selling book series. 

He’s a timid single guy afraid of new adventures yet finds himself reluctantly traveling the globe with his friends and family solving mysteries and completing research for his next big story.

4 Reasons to Love Geronimo Stilton Series

  • Visual. Each book is full of colorful and inviting artwork. Great for keeping focus and grabbing the reader’s attention.
  • Fast-paced. Short chapters jam packed with adventure.
  • Amusing. Each page is full of silly jokes and fun facts.
  • Vocabulary builder. New vocabulary is brought to life with word pictures.

Words jump off the page through the witty illustrations. New vocabulary stands out and kids remember it!

10 Fun Things To Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books

One/Learn literary devices in a fun way.

Be on the lookout for examples of literary devices such as:

  • Onomatopoeia
  • Similes/Metaphors
  • Hyperbole
  • Idioms
  • Puns

You could also add some of my favorite skills books which are by Evan-Moor and have the start of a fun unit study.

Check out Evan-Moor’s Skill Sharpeners workbooks, perfect for practice at home for Grades PreK-6 for math, science, reading, spelling, and writing.

What is onomatopoeia?

Other than it being my favorite little gem found in these books, it’s a literary device to know and super fun to teach.

Skill Sharpeners for Grades PreK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

First, let’s take a minute to appreciate how fun this word is to say. If this is a new word for your kids, be sure to listen to the pronunciation.

“Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes.”

For example, a dry fall leaf crunches underfoot.

A bumblebee buzzes around the backyard.

Geronimo Stilton must love Onomatopoeia too because the word pictures he uses to show the reader this literary device are perfection for a visual learner.

How many examples of onomatopoeia can you find in each chapter?

Two/Have a fun vocabulary scavenger hunt.

Make a list of new words you find in each chapter. It won’t be hard for your kids to find them!

Three/Focus on character development.

You will fall in love with the characters. They are full of personality. For example, Geronimo Stilton is quite the “scaredy-mouse”, but he is always going on an adventure and facing lot of fears to get there.

Have your child pick a favorite character and follow his/her character development throughout the story.

Four/Nurture a love for famous mystery novels and authors.

If your geek level is as high as mine, and I assume it must be if you’re reading this post, you’ll love the fun facts that pop up for adults too.

These books are a great bridge to a study about other famous mystery titles and authors. There’s even a nod to some characters you might recognize like Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s well-known fictional Belgian detective.

What a fun way to introduce your reader to other books, authors, and the mystery genre!

Five/Cultivate a love for history and geography.

Not only does Geronimo Stilton live in the center of New Mouse City, he reluctantly travels around the globe. Each book will land the reader in a new place.

These books are great for learning state facts, especially New York, and they’re also the perfect addition to a history and geography study about where the setting takes place.

Add some of these fun Highlights for Children – Kids Magazines, Clubs and Shop! which we love and you have some fun history and geography.

Six/ Have some cheesy food fun.

Geronimo Stilton is a cheese connoisseur. He eats lots cheese. He talks about cheese. He makes “punny” jokes about cheese. It’s impossible to not want to snack on some cheesy delights of some kind.

  • Create a cheese platter and sample some new snacks.
  • Make homemade macaroni and cheese.
  • Look at moldy cheese under a microscope.
  • Have a cheese fondue night.

Geronimo Stilton Series

Seven/Nurture a love for timeless treasures like antiques.

Any antique lovers out there? Well, you will love Geronimo Stilton’s eye for timeless treasures. If your kids are into antiques, visit a few thrift stores and hunt for treasures.

Check out American Pickers or Antiques Roadshow.

Eight/Learn how to plan a trip.

Plan a vacation to the destination in your book. Estimate the cost of flight, hotel, and car rental. Research prices on the internet to find the best deals.

How much will you need to for food and spending? What activities will you do while you’re there? Add the cost of excursions or admissions to special events or destinations.

Safe travels!

Nine/ Learn how to face fear.

Geronimo must face lots of fears to travel, solve mysteries, and go on each adventure. These are a great way to talk to your kids about fears, anxiety, and coping skills.

Ten/Learn about nurturing family ties.

I love the Geronimo is a family guy! He spends a lot of time with his nephew, Benjamin and his sister, Thea. It’s a great opportunity to focus on the importance of family.

  • Create a family tree.
  • Research your family’s origin.
  • Send an email to a family member to brighten their day.
  • Do something nice for a sibling.
Are you looking for engaging readers for your middle to upper elementary kids? It’s hard to find books that get reluctant readers interested, but these books will do it. CLICK here for 10 Fun Things You Can Teach Using Geronimo Stilton Books!

You’ll love these other reads and tips:

What do you love most about the Geronimo Stilton books.

Be sure to leave a comment or visit our Facebook Page and let us know!

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

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I don’t know about you, but in my house, if I can take a subject or unit of study and apply it to LEGO creations it is pretty much going to be a big hit. How to garden plan with kids using LEGO is a way to sneak in some learning. My kids, like so many others, love to create and build with LEGO so it is just a great hands-on natural extension to learning.

How to Easily Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

This time I applied it to a study on Garden Planning. This application gave us science, math, handwriting, fine motor skills development, critical thinking, and so much more. We will definitely be using LEGO again as the core of our learning.

You don’t even have to be planning a real garden, this is still the perfect way for them to dig a little deeper into the concept of gardening no matter what size space you live in or grow in.

After determining how many feet your real garden will be and whether you want it square or rectangle you are ready to move on to designing it with LEGO. We worked on our garden planning with LEGO in two different ways and I am going to share both of them with you so you can choose one or do both!

1 LEGO GARDEN SUPPLIES How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Gardening Activities For Kids

If you haven’t started your LEGO journey yet this is a great box to begin with!

For this one, it was a fun fully hands-on activity that required no writing from the kids (my sons favorite). I love how it gets their creativity flowing and provides them with a 4D visual of how our garden might look.

2 lego garden planning 1 LEGO GARDEN SUPPLIES How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

To begin, gather up a flat LEGO base plate in whatever size you like. I had two kids doing it and needed to display them for a while in our classroom so we used 5 x 5 base plates in the interest of space.

LEGO Garden Activity

Then, grab a bunch of LEGO in all different sizes and colors, we opted for 2 x 2 bricks and smaller, as well as LEGO plants. If you don’t have many plants LEGO and want to include them you can purchase a poly bag with a variety of plants.

Single round studs and square 1 peg bricks can be used to create many items for your garden, you can see on our garden that we mixed in both and it still looks great. 2 x 2 bricks make great pumpkins, eggplants, tomato plants, etc..

 Explain to the kids that while planting it is especially important to leave room for your plants to grow. Use the pegs on top of your base plate to represent square feet, you can use however many you like but just keep it throughout to represent the scale. We chose to use 3 x 3 to equal one square foot. Now as you “plant” with the LEGO keep that in mind, research how large space each of your intended plants’ needs.

Once you know your square foot and the needs of each plant you can begin constructing your lego garden. Work in rows placing the plants you create, remember to check for plants that should and shouldn’t be placed next to each other.

4 LEGO GRAPH FINAL How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Now when you are done you have a fun visual for your real garden and pretty display piece for your school room, living room, or wherever you would like to put it!

This version combines the fun of LEGO and some writing and graphing skills in a mixed media approach to creating a garden with LEGO. I like this one because it gives the kids a chance to develop other skills and also it is so easy to change up and  if you laminate your graph paper once colored it can be used again and again with LEGO to create new spaces.

GRAPH How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Grab some graph paper, smaller lego pieces, and something to color with. We used 1” graph paper because the large squares are perfect for representing 1 square foot.

LEGO Bricks for Kids Learning

Choose your desired garden size and color in those squares, brown of course is best for creating “soil”. We created a 5×6 plot to make our graph paper vegetable garden plan on. You can do the whole page if you wish, and use as many squares as you want to represent your one square foot.

The Basement Workshop Store
6 LEGO GRAPH ROWS How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Decide what crops you will plant and choose small LEGO bricks accordingly. Demonstrate to your child how to place the rows, explain the placement and how to allow room for growth.   Let them design a garden that they would like to help build and once they are done have them label their crops.

7 LEGO GARDEN FINAL How to Garden Plan With Kids Using LEGO

Our little red studs are radishes which can be crowded together a little more than something like say… squash plants which need a lot more space around them. Leave some blank rows for paths.

How to garden plan with kids using LEGO is a way to sneak in some learning. My kids, like so many others, love to create and build with LEGO so it is just a great hands-on natural extension to learning. Click here for this fun LEGO garden activity for kids!

Both of these ideas can be photographed and added to your garden journal or used as part of your end of the year evaluation in your homeschool portfolio.

You’ll also love these other hands-on ideas: