Do your kids enjoy collecting acorns in the fall? Here are some fun learning activities that you can use them for! •Learn to ID Oak Trees by Their Acorns There are about 90 different species of oak trees in the United States. Get familiar with some of the species that grow in your area. Use a field guide or an ID app like iNaturalist to help you identify what species of oaks your acorns came from. Other features that can help with identification are leaf type and bark. •Make a Bar Graph Collect acorns of several different species. Then sort and count them. Use the data to make a bar graph (or some other type of graph). •Use Acorns as Math Manipulatives Collect some acorns. Avoid acorns with holes or rot. Use them as math manipulatives. •Make Acorn Flour Collect acorns and use them to make acorn flour. Oak tree species are divided into two groups, white oaks and red oaks. Acorns from white oak species are preferable for making flour, as they are easier to proce...

B etween watching the leaves change color, watching pumpkins ripen, and watching animals prepare for winter, f all offers so many wonderful learning opportunities! Keep reading for lots of fall themed science activity ideas. Study the anatomy of a pumpkin plant I have a free printable pumpkin anatomy coloring sheet that you can grab  here . Collect and identify fall leaves Collect fall leaves and use an identification app or a field guide to identify what types of trees they came from. Study the oak tree lifecycle Check out this  "Acorn to Oak Tree Timelapse  video on YouTube. Study the pumpkin lifecycle Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell is a great story to read about the pumpkin lifecycle. YouTube has a read aloud version  here . Male pumpkin flower vs female pumpkin flower   Fall leaf chromatography Separate the different pigments in fall leaves using a simple paper chromatography process. Check out this  blog post for instructions. Learn about why leav...

Are you looking for ways to keep your kids engaged on family nature walks? Or maybe you want to find a way to make your nature walks more educational. In this blog post I share some fun educational activities to enhance your nature walk experience! Mini Beast Hunting Hunt for insects and other creepy crawlies while you walk. How many different kinds can you spot? If you have older kids, try identifying the mini beasts that you spot. Is it an insect? A gastropod? An arachnid? If it's an insect can you figure out what insect order it belongs to? Hunt for Hearts Hunt for heart shaped rocks, leaves, etc... Bird Watching Grab some binoculars and look for birds while you walk. If you have older kids, bring along a bird guide or use the Merlin Bird ID app to try to identify birds that you spot. Nature Photography Bring a camera and encourage your kids to take pictures of things that interest them. Hunt for Different Leaf Shapes Look for different leaf shapes while you walk. Wildflower Hun...

  Homeschooling your kids doesn't have to cost a small fortune. It can actually be done very affordably. Keep reading to hear about some of the free and low-cost resources available to homeschooling families. Free The library - Your local public library is an amazing resource. In addition to books, many libraries offer free classes, story and craft time for kids, and some even have things like museum or zoo passes that you can check out. Easy Peasy All-In-One Homeschool - Easy Peasy is a free complete curriculum for preschool through 12th grade. Check it out  here . Khan Academy - Kha n Academy and Khan Academy Kids offer free online math, language arts, and science curriculum. Learn more about it  here . The Good and the Beautiful - The Good and the Beautiful offers free Christian based language arts, math, and science resources that you can find  here . They also have a full curriculum available that is not free, but is fairly reasonably priced. Ambleside Online - ...

My kindergartener and my 3rd grader have been studying the biomes of the world. This week, we learned about the marine biome. One of their favorite topics of the week was bioluminescence, so I decided we should try making some glowing ocean art. It ended up being such a fun project! Even my 14-year-old joined in! What is bioluminescence? Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light from a living organisms. Some examples of bioluminescent organisms include fireflies, glow worms, lanternfish, anglerfish, some species of jellyfish, some types of mushrooms, and some types of algae. Resources for Learning About Bioluminescence • SciShow Kids- Glowing Animals • BBC Earth Kids- Why Do Some Animals Glow • NOAA Ocean Exploration- Bioluminescence • National Geographic- How Bioluminescence Works in Nature Bioluminescence Art Project For this project you will need: •Black construction paper •Fluorescent paint or fluorescent colored highlighter pens (orange and yellow seem to work best) ...