I love science and art, so I especially love it when we can find ways to combine the two. Earlier this year we did a unit on the solar system. As we studied each planet we looked at photos and learned about surface features and then made a watercolor painting. It ended up being so much fun, and one of our favorite projects of the year! You can grab free printable planet templates here:  Solar System Coloring/ Watercolor Pack Below I share some fun facts and a couple online resources for each planet, and some more fun solar system activity ideas: Planet Facts The solar system has 8 official planets. 4 terrestrial or rocky planets, 2 gas giants, and 2 ice giants.  Mercury - Mercury is the closest planet to the sun. It is a rocky planet covered with impact craters. It is the smallest planet, just slightly bigger than Earth's moon. A day on Mercury is equal to about 59 Earth days. A year on Mercury is about 88 Earth days. That's a pretty short year! Learn more about Mercury...

Learn all about bird anatomy, nests, avian eggs, the avian lifecycle, bird beaks, migration, feathers, birds of prey, songbirds, and more with this 33-page printable unit study. This unit study includes: 14 informational pages, vocabulary words, 4 diagrams/posters, worksheets, a crossword puzzle, a word search, 2 art activities, a STEM activity, instructions for several hands-on activities, and more! Grab it here:   All About Birds Printable Unit Study And for additional resources and activity ideas for learning about birds with your kids or students, check out my  Learning About Birds  blog series. For more educational resources and activity ideas follow me on: Facebook Instagram Pinterest Teachers Pay Teachers

Butterflies are one of the most well known and appreciated types of insect. Their colorful and beautifully patterned wings make them a favorite of children and insect enthusiasts everywhere. In this post I share some fun facts about butterflies, instructions for a butterfly metamorphosis craft, and lots of resources for learning all about butterflies.  Grab a free butterfly lifecycle coloring sheet here:   https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Butterfly-Lifecycle-Coloring-Sheet-7903680 Fun Facts About Butterflies The largest butterfly in the world is the Queen Alexandra's birdwing. It has a wingspan of nearly 12 inches!  The western pygmy is the world's smallest butterfly, with a wingspan of about 1/2 an inch. There are over 17,000 species of butterflies worldwide and butterflies can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Each fall the North American monarchs travel as far as 3,000 miles from their summer breeding grounds to their overwintering location...

Happy spring!  In this post I share a few creative ways to dye Easter eggs! Try Homemade Natural Dyes For the last couple years my kids and I have experimented with making homemade natural Easter egg dyes. So far our best results have come from red cabbage and yellow onion skins. Red cabbage makes beautiful blue eggs and yellow onion skins make orange. To make your dyes you'll need about a cup of red cabbage and a cup of yellow onion skins. Boil a small pot of water for each color. You'll want 2-3 cups of water per pot. Add your plant matter and reduce heat to low. Cover each pot with a lid and let them simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Let your dyes cool, then strain out the plant matter. Add your dyes to a few glass mason jars and add a hard boiled egg to each jar. Put on the lids and stick in your fridge. Leave the eggs in the dye for an hour or two for lighter shades and overnight for deeper shades. To make hearts and stripes like the eggs in the photo, cut pieces tape and st...

Here are links to all my printable products, organized by subject:   Nature Study - 365 Day Weather Tree - 30 Day Weather Tree - 31 Day Weather Tree - Insect Family Tree Sorting Chart - 12 Month Phenology Wheel - Moon Map - Birds of Central and North Texas Checklist - Butterfly Lifecycle Coloring Sheet Science - Zoology Vocabulary Pack - All About Insects Printable Learning Pack - All About Birds Unit Study - Nutrient Cycle Pack - Water Cycle Pack (includes water cycle wheel template and instructions) - Printable Rock and Mineral Journal - Printable Moon Study Pack - Owl Digestion Diagram - How Penguins Stay Warm and Dry Activity - Layers of the Rainforest Cut and Paste Activity - Feather Anatomy Worksheet Math - Emoji Math Puzzles - Emoji Math Puzzles #2 Social Studies - Calendar and Weather Wheel Set - Democratic Republic of the Congo Activity Pack Freebies - Fall Scavenger Hunt - Pumpkin Anatomy Diagram and Worksheet - 12 Month Phenology Wheel - How Penguins Stay Warm and Dry Ac...

 I often get asked what a typical school day looks like for our family as relaxed homeschoolers, but since our days are so varied, no single day would give an accurate picture of what learning really looks like in our household. Instead I decided sharing about an entire week would be better. Before I get started sharing about our week, here's a little background information about my family:  I have 3 girls. My oldest is 11 and on social media I call her L. My middle kiddo is 5 and we call her Red. My youngest is 3 and we call her Birdy. We don't have a strict wake up or bedtime schedule. We all go to sleep when we feel tired and wake up when we are ready. Typically, though, all three of my kids are usually in bed asleep by about 9pm. L and Birdy usually wake up around the same time as I do, about 7am. Red is my little sleeping beauty, and doesn't usually get up until at least 8, sometimes 9.  Most of our learning tends to be student and interest led. Some days my kids wak...