When the days are warmer and longer, the beautiful sunny weather makes homeschool lessons more and more difficult to do indoors. Why sit inside and stare at textbooks when you can teach your kids some lessons in the great outdoors? We've got summer homeschool projects to get your kids outdoors and enjoying the fresh air. Read on for homeschool activities you can do outside with the kids!
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Whether you’re teaching homeschool science, math, or life skills, we’ve compiled a list of some homeschool projects to get your kids outside and learning at the same time!
Grow a Kid-Friendly Garden
Gardening with kids is educational and a good mental and physical workout. Not to mention, digging around in the dirt and planting some flowers with your kids is just good old fashion fun! The internet is full of all sorts of different gardening lesson plans, and you can make this homeschool project as simple or complex as you want.
However, sometimes keeping it simple is the best way to get your kids engaged in a project. Start by building a raised garden bed that is all theirs. If they’re old enough, have them help you put the bed together. This gives them the opportunity to explore their carpentry skills! Next, plant some easy-to-grow vegetable seeds or starts such as beets, potatoes, tomatoes, green onions, beans, and kale.
When the time comes to harvest your plants, you’ll be able to teach your kids a bit about the food industry, and they’ll make the connection that all the vegetables and fruits they eat have to be grown from seed before they make it to their plate!
Education-Based Nature Hike
Hikes are one of the best parts of summer. They get your heart pumping, work up a good sweat and the view at the top of the mountain is always breathtaking. While hiking will definitely fulfill your kids’ PE requirement, it’s also a great time to explore your area’s local climate! Depending on where you live and where you choose to hike, there will be a few different homeschool lessons you can teach. Check out this list of ideas to get started!
Do a Beach Treasure Hunt
As a kid, you probably remember going on a field trip or two to the beach to look for seashells and hermit crabs. The beautiful weather is a great excuse to go do a little hands-on marine biology lesson!
Create your own treasure hunt and have your kids explore the area to find everything on the list. Not only will they learn more about your local environment, but they’ll burn off all that energy by running around trying to collect all their items!
Outdoor Art Projects
Your kids love art projects. They’ll love them, even more, when they get to do them outside! There are a variety of different art projects that utilize plant material to create something beautiful. Some tried and true classics include painting rocks, sun prints, and nature sculptures.
Visit Some Local Historical Landmarks
Who says history lessons have to be taught out of a textbook? Take your kids on a trip to some local landmarks to teach them a little bit about your town’s unique history.
Get in touch with your local museum to see what programs they have going on for kids during the summer. Or, take a day trip to your state’s capital or nearby national or state parks.
Tried and True Baking Soda and Vinegar Volcano
Sometimes the classics are hard to beat. Kids love watching stuff explode, but having to clean up the ensuing mess may be a turn-off. Take the mess outside and teach them a little bit about chemical reactions with a baking soda and vinegar volcano. There are hundreds of tutorials on the internet, and this project can be as simple as using a 2L bottle or as complex and crafting a paper mache volcano to go along with the experiment!
Build a Compost Bin
I didn’t realize it at the time, but when we built a compost bin in my 7th-grade science class, I learned so much about building healthy soil and the benefits of compost! Not only will building a compost bin give your kids some experience with woodworking, but they’ll have the first-hand experience of watching kitchen and yard waste turn into a valuable soil additive.
Finish off the lesson by having your kids add your homegrown compost to the garden and observe how the plants respond. Have them predict ahead of time what they think will happen and then help them keep a log of the plant growth and changes.
Bird Watching and Identification
During lunch, take the opportunity to sit outside and do a bit of bird watching! Install a few bird feeders around your yard and you’ll be surprised to see how many of them flock to the seeds. If you can get close enough, you can even make a project out of identifying them. Find a local bird guidebook and have them check off all the different species they find. Or, get out of the house and visit a bird sanctuary.
Take Your Regular Lessons Outdoors
Sometimes getting out and enjoying the outdoors is as easy as taking your regularly scheduled lesson plan outdoors! Establish an outdoor area that your kids can study at without baking in the sun. Consider installing a hardtop gazebo and building a high-quality outdoor table that your kids can comfortably study at.
And when the school day is over, that same gazebo and table can offer your guests a place to hang out on those long summer nights. In the rainy season, you can still use that outdoor space to complete messy projects that you don’t want to do indoors.
What projects are you planning for your kids this upcoming summer? Let us know in the comments below!
Bio: Leigha Staffenhagen is the managing editor of Insteading.com, a homesteading and sustainability site focusing on everything from gardening and raising chickens to tiny homes and off-grid living.
Learn about Mars with Online Lessons and Worksheets
Mars. The planet all ages love. Is there the possibility of life on Mars? Will you have the opportunity to live on mars? In this Mars Planet Study, we've compiled a series of online lessons and activities for kids from preschool to high school. Enjoy!
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Online Elementary Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers
I scour the Netflix episodes to find a title that coordinates with our daily Science or Health lesson. Below, I've highlighted some Health Resources for Homeschoolers with episodes we used to study the Human Body and Human Growth and Development which can be a touchy teaching subject. Enjoy!
Online Science and Health Resources for Homeschoolers.
Those old Saturday edutainment programs are an excellent resource for companion videos. Reward children who don't like to read with a video upon completion of their reading assignment. The video will reinforce what they've read.
Don't do the video first, or they will say things like, "I know this already." "I don't need to read it; I just watched it!" "This is boring me!" The video can help them remember key points of information. They may even have to refer back to what they've read to make sure the two media forms agree. My kids are always looking for mistakes in school books!
Beakman touches on many things to do with the body like flatulence (super fun for kids), lungs, allergies, the skeletal system, and much more. When studying about health, especially for fourth-grade, with those all important hygiene lessons (remember those cheesy movies about getting your period and raging hormones?) and the birds and the bees, Beakman's world is a good place to start.
We signed up for Time4Learning and love it!
Previously, I had searched for a companion video to teach about the senses. There were plenty of videos out there, but all of them targeted preschoolers. Beakman's World had many great videos on Science and Health. (We started with Season 4 to learn about Human Growth).
Is an awesome resource that public school teachers often use as their go to video to fill in some curriculum time. In the past, it was available only on DVD through Netflix, but now it comes in the streaming version too. Inside Ralphie and Goes Cellular are two episodes that focus on the body. We paired Flexes its Muscles (Season 2 Episode 2) with Beakman's World on Human Growth.
Khan Academy is an online school of sorts. It is every bit as good as some of the popular academies for online learning (We previously attended Connections Academy), but it isn't an official school. Kids can learn at their own pace. It is TOTALLY FREE! Lessons are set up for grade levels. Children can watch videos, do practice problems, and take quizzes until they've mastered the subject.
Exploring, can be a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of it, it is an AMAZING educational resource. Kids earn badges in each subject matter. Lessons are targeted on core learning principles. Some of the video are a snore, but they are consistently getting better. They even offer an online scratch pad, hints, and more to insure your child doesn't get frustrated by taking the tests. A lot of it is for older children, but they have been adding new material for early elementary age students. Our favorite lessons are Computer Coding, but there are some videos on health and the senses too.
Speaking of Coding, you might also enjoy Minecraft Summer School Camps. These is an online learning experience, you won't learn about the human body, but you will learn about Wonder of the Natural World!
ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)
If you are a homeschool family, Arithmetic may be a scary subject. Don't let homeschool math intimidate you. Math can be fun! We found a great resource in the Life of Fred series. For elementary students, math is taught in a story format. If you are looking for homeschool math curriculum, we're sharing our math projects and lessons for homeschoolers. Check back often as we update this page as we learn math online. Enjoy!
Wondering when is Jackie Robinson Day? Jackie Robinson Day is April 15. Who is Jackie Robinson? He is one of the most famous baseball players in history. Do you know why? Yes? No? Maybe? Either way, you'll learn about Jackie Robinson with these online activities and videos on Jackie Robinson for kids. This is a great post for students to learn facts about Jackie Robinson. Enjoy!
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Books, Videos, and Lessons: Jackie Robinson for Kids.
To learn the bio of Jackie Robinson, students can watch these videos about Jackie Robinson:
Watch this Video of Jackie Robinson from Brainpop.com. They also have a good video on Civil Rights. If you don't have a Brainpop account, you should! However, you can do a search for a password that you can use to watch the videos. You won't be able to keep track of all your hard work without an account. So, if you can't do that, here is a another video about Jackie Robinson from History.com.
Be sure to do the FYI and take the quiz on Brainpop. You'll also find lesson plans for teachers there.
Keep scrolling for games and activities about Jackie Robinson.
No matter your age or grade level, you will enjoy this book, I am Jackie Robinson* by Brad Meltzer. It is a fun biography written from the point of view of Jackie Robinson as a child. Packed full of Jackie Robinson facts, this book is the perfect companion book to a lesson on Jackie Robinson.
Do you know the original lyrics to Take Me Out to the Ball Game? Listen here:
And, here's the version you've probably heard:
That's a lot of baseball history, let's move on to other lessons. Language Arts Component:
Since we're talking famous baseball, you'll want to read the most famous baseball poem of all time, Casey at Bat. Even better, listen to James Earl Jones recite the poem, Casey at Bat:
ADS DISCLOSURE: We've partnered with some wonderful advertisers who may sponsor blog posts or send us samples to test. Some companies pay us to review their products. *We also use affiliate links, if you make a purchase we get a tiny commission. Kids Creative Chaos participates in the Amazon LLC Associates Program*, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a mean for blogs to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon properties, including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com. We also offer Tapinfluence, Google Adsense, SoFab, and Izea ads here. Thanks so much for helping us keep the lights on! :)
My kids have grown up! They are off to college or the trades. I am now a certified teacher in Art and Special Education for P-12 and Language Arts for 5-12. I've coached a high school speech and debate team for the past 4 years and taught middle school language arts and high school art while also serving as a special education teacher of record.
So, my blog content is also growing up. At least some of it. I am starting a new teaching gig as an elementary art teacher this fall! I will definitely share more homeschool art lessons in the coming months. I just wanted to pop in for my long-time readers and blogging friends to say, I've been busy, but I haven't forgotten about you! Here's to raising our children together, enjoy this high school homeschool lesson in Communications in the Media.
And if you don't homeschool, this is a great lead in to a classroom discussion on bias in the media; assuming you are allowed to teach about that and share some of the topics discussed here.
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In high schools, we now have Communications teachers. This used to be called the Speech teacher. The curriculum may include giving speeches in various styles (impromptu, dramatic, how to, extemporaneous) and learning about media communications in classroom lessons. These classes are often offered for dual college credit. While taking a course to teach dual credit classes, I had to step outside of my comfort zone and review mediathrough different lenses. Meaning, not as myself, an aging white woman or not even as the standby demographic of any straight male. We learned that most media, whether commercials, songs, television, movies, or even books, is written and directed toward the "heterosexual male gaze." This isn't always intentional either. In general, we have learned that this is the way to do things.
Explicit Content Warning: Many won't find the following articles or video content explicit, but some may find the topics of viewing through a queer theory lens or focusing on the anti-feminism sexism in media inappropriate for their teenage homeschoolers. If that's you, just move on to the next website or click around in my elementary homeschool content.
There's a slide depicting a condom in the video media critique. In another (not posted here,) there is discussion of the female and male anatomy as other items, such as the trunk of a car or a high heel shoe, and how they may serve as stand-ins for genitalia.The following content is made up of projects that I completed for a graduate course in Communications. They are not necessarily my personal views.
Remember, the assignments were designed to get us thinking about how different viewers have a differing perspectives and why two people could view the same content and have different take-aways. Anyway, I thought this might be a good way to start a conversation with your high school homeschoolers on media biases.
After consuming my content, think about your favorite commercials, shows, books, or songs and study them for gender biases, for flimsy characters whose only purpose is to show that the media is trying to be inclusive, or for messages that are hidden from your view because of the lenses you wear. How do you identify? How does this affect your perspective?
Some lenses you might wear when viewing are: cultural, queer, feminist (gender,) socieo-economic (marxist,) historical, psychoanalytic (freudian and others,) aestheticism, personal mirror, the list goes on. Once you start consuming media this way, it is difficult to just sit back and watch for enjoyment. You will become a more educated viewer. You will wonder how you never realized that so many things were taken from the straight male point of view. You may even have a better understanding of yourself and why you think a certain way even though you may not feel that way.
Up first, my media critique through a feminist lens, the final project for the Communication course as a slideshow with voice-over. This was created in Canva which is a great tool for digital art of all kinds. You can create video and slideshows with the paid version. It even allows you to use AI to create video and images. As a past obsessed Michael Jackson fan, do I believe what I am saying? You decide.
For your viewing pleasure, here's the original Billie Jean video by Michael Jackson. View for yourself. What do you see? The queer theory media review is below.
Prior to creating the video of Billie Jean through a feminist lens, we had to view a media text through a queer theory lens. Topics were given and I chose Carly Rae Jepsen. Then, we were told to choose a beloved media and do the same. For me, there is no more beloved media than anything by Michael Jackson. They call it queering when you view a media through a queer theory lens. As I reviewed Billie Jean with a queer lens, I began thinking how misogynistic it was and that is what led to the slideshow above.
Here is my class discussion text for media communications lesson through a queer theory lens:
“Carly Rae Jepsen’s Queer Renaissance” argues that Jepsen's music resonates with queer audiences because it celebrates desire without action. Queer audiences experience this throughout their lives - the longing for another often without being able to tell anyone or take action. This queer experience is often underrepresented in mainstream culture.
In the article, Michael Waters analyzes Jepsen's songs like "Call Me Maybe," "Boy Problems," and "I Really Really Like You," He says the music allows for diverse interpretations of desire, making her a queer "cult hero.” He says. “Jepsen’s music provides a sense of wholeness for a community often pressured to be out."
I was intrigued by the idea of Jepsen’s "invisibility" being a strength for a marginalized audience. It can relate to anyone who has felt unseen or shy about striking up a conversation in hopes of a new relationship, but that message connects with a queer audience because they often keep that part hidden.
Waters interrogates normativity in the narrative of pop music. Pop music is often romantically heterosexual, but feelings don’t always lead to action. He reinterprets Jepsen’s lyrics highlighting subtexts to uncover queer meanings that may not be intentional. Jepsen's music focuses on vague "feelings" rather than typical romantic outcomes and the queer community relates as they don’t always feel comfortable expressing their true feelings in public. The “other” may not be receptive to their feelings.
A Marxist theoretical lens would interpret Carly Rae Jepsen's music very differently from a queer theoretical lens. This lens would see pop music as a capitalist entity. The songs are created to generate profit. Therefore, the songs are designed to reach a wider audience to maximize sales. Jepsen or her label would be at the top with her staff, roadies, etc. being the workers.
Of all media texts, I am most familiar with Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" music video. How does it fare under a queer theory analysis? If we disrupt binaries, the primary theme of "Billie Jean" revolves around Michael, a man, being pursued by a woman who claims he is the father of her child. A queer analysis might question this heterosexual framework. Remember, the lyrics say, “Billie Jean is not my lover, she’s just a girl who thinks that I am the one.” But, is Billie Jean really the antagonist, or is she a symbol for something else? What if the "baby" is also a symbol representing a hidden secret that Michael is trying to escape? “But the kid is not my son.” Is he trying to tell us that the kid couldn’t be his son because of his sexuality?
Michael is trying to run away. Is he showing that he is vulnerable and doesn’t want to let anyone see his true self. A queer lens could see this as a metaphor for being "in the closet." Based on interrogative normative, Jackson's persona is unique. He's not really masculine, in fact, he is somewhat non-binary by today’s standards. Perhaps, he is trying to run from the pressure to be more masculine. On the surface, the song's lyrics hint at a paternity scandal. A queer lens could see the baby as a stand-in for something else that society sees as unacceptable. The detective who follows Michael cannot catch him. The "truth" eludes those with a fixed normative understanding.
If you find this post interesting, I'll be posting more articles viewing Gilmore Girls and Ginny & Georgia through different lenses and sharing a little bit more about Media Communications as a high school homeschool lesson. If you want to practice public speaking, check back often for some descriptions and examples of different types of basic speech lessons including Persuasive, Argumentative, and Socratic seminars.
Classifying Plants and Animals Activities and Videos for Homeschool Science
In this free online homeschool science lesson, we are classifying plants and animals. These science activities and videos are a fun way for homeschoolers to learn online. Lessons have material suitable for preschool, elementary, middle school, and high school. We round up the information and links each week as we teach homeschool to our own children. Every link has been child tested. Scroll down for the interactive student lesson. Lesson for Preschoolers is at the bottom of the post.
Free Online Homeschool Science Lesson: Classifying Plants and Animals Activities.
Classifying Plants and Animals Online Homeschool Lesson
Elementary and Middle School Science: Target Grades 3-8 with components for preschool, early elementary, and high school.
Student Lesson: Do this: Keep these questions in mind as you the watch the videos. Questions on Plant Growth click on the questions to find the answers, make sure you click through all 4 pages of questions! PBS Video: What Plants Talk About
Read about Plant Growth. What are the Kingdoms? If you want to watch these videos, you'll have to log into Brainpop. I'm told you can do a search and find Brainpop freebies, coupon codes, and passwords. Here is a free Biology lesson on the Six Kingdoms.
More about Plant Adaptations from Brainpop free for everyone. Math Component This Cool Companion Math Game is for Middle School and up. This Middle School to High School Plant Lesson Game teaches Math and Economics. You'll start your own business and work to keep the plants alive and well using your math skills. We found another cool math game for kids, but... there's an app for that! Ask your parent or teacher if you can install, Ruby Realms. Art Component Make Pressed Flowers
Science Fair Project or Science Experiment from Science Buddies Experiment on Plant Growth for Middle Schoolers. ****************************************************
Show what you've learned so far:
Grab your Science Journal: Name 3 types of Plant Classifications. Then, draw a plant and then list out the main parts of it.
Classifying Animals Lessons Classifying Animals - Free Brainpop Jr. Video. Make sure you take the quiz. Try the easy quiz and the hard quiz. You can do it!
More on Animal Classification from Sheppard's Kids Corner. Show what you've learned so far:
Grab your Science Journal: What are the Six Kingdoms? Need to research? Do a safe search here KidRex.org
We've had many great years teaching messy play and preschool classes for The Play Connection and hope the future will send even more blessings our way. Here are our top sensory and messy play preschool activities from 2013. What a blast from the past!
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Here is a listing of our top posts of 2013. Many offer great ideas for fun, preschool activities, clip art, and lots of fun for kids! Enjoy!
There are many Homeschool Lessons in this series, so make sure you click the labels under each post. (Still Life, Water Coloring for Kids, Weaving, Self-Portrait activities, Building Models for Science, Christmas Gingerbread House how to diy, Color Theory Lessons, Primary Colors, and even some History along the way - it's art to me how we've designed our lives throughout the years. I hope you will follow along on the journey.)
We published a Kitchen Kids Cookbook with mix and make recipes for kids. We helped fund raise for Santa's Elves of Indy, we started Homeschooling through INCA (Indiana Connections Academy,) and we moved to a house in the country.
2013 holds many dreams as we look forward to gardening, raising chickens, goats, and hopefully bunnies and alpacas, get that YA novel published, and share a few of the many stage plays and skits for kids I've written over the years. Bring it! I am excited to get started :-) What does your future hold? Leave a comment and let us know.
50+ Easy Circle Time Games for Three, Four, and Five Years Group Time for preschoolers often happens several times a day, you need fres...
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