Enjoy a fun Squirrel unit study with all or some of the ideas we’ve gathered to help you learn about squirrels. Pick three to five of these activities to each day to build your own squirrel theme week for your homeschool.
Fall is a great time to study all about squirrels because they are so active hunting and gathering food for winter and as the leaves fall the squirrels get a little easier to spot. Spring also works well because they come out of hiding as the weather warms up and fresh food becomes plentiful. But if you’re one of those fun moms that enjoys learning around special days and holidays, then you might find learning about squirrels a blast for National Squirrel Appreciation Day – January 21.
Squirrels Unit Study
If you love doing unit studies with your kids, you will enjoy learning about squirrels in your homeschool. I’ve put together a list of resources so you can cover everything from science to literature while staying on the topic of squirrels. You do not have to do all of these. Build your own squirrel theme by picking and choosing!
Books to Learn about Squirrels
Reading books is a great foundation for your squirrel unit study. The books on this list are all about the science of squirrels — what they look like, what they do, and how their bodies work.
Squirrels: Animals That Make a Difference! by Ashley Lee
Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep by April Pulley Sayre
Gray Squirrels (Woodland Wildlife) by G.G. Lake
Squirrel Fun Facts: Picture Book for Kids by Extraordinary Publishing
The Squirrels’ Busy Year: A First Science Storybook by Martin Jenkins
Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide
North American Tree Squirrels by Michael A. Steele
Squirrel Books for Literature
The squirrel literature book list is a collection of fun picture books and chapter books with a squirrel theme, perfect for reading practice or literary discussion.
Goodnight Bat. Good Morning Squirrel! by Paul Meisel. A book about home and friendship.
The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose
Those Darn Squirrels! by Adam Rubin
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri
Squirrel Soup! by Caitlin Proctor
Squirrel’s Sweater by Laura Renald
The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin by Beatrix Potter
Zippy The Squirrel by Jeremiah Dane
Nuts To You by Louis Ehlert
For High Schoolers: Chasing the Squirrel: The Pursuit of Notorious Drug Smuggler Wally Thrasher by Ron Peterson
Science: Nature Study About Squirrels
Squirrels are a member of the animal kingdom, so any squirrel unit study should include a section on the science surrounding this animal. I’ve given you five different activities to get you started. Combine this section with at least one of the books from the first list. If you have not yet learned about animal classification, you may wish to begin with the free Animals Classification Lapbook from Homeschool Share.
Activity One: Find a quiet place to sit with sketch pad (nature journal) and drawing utensils where you will definitely have the chance to observe squirrels. Make observations and draw or write about what you see. Are they gathering food, building a nest, feeding young, or scampering about? Ask questions and figure out the answers!
Activity Two: Look up the anatomy of a squirrel and copy a labeled anatomy drawing in your sketchbook.
Activity Three: Watch these two viral Youtube videos about the smarts, guts, and flexibility of squirrels. Record your observations. Squirrel Ninja Obstacle Course 1.0, and Squirrel Obstacle Course 2.0: Walnut Heist.
Activity Four: Research and write an essay about how a squirrel’s body is optimized for a squirrel’s lifestyle.
Activity Five: Set up a squirrel feeder for ongoing observation.
Squirrel Theme Writing and Grammar
It is so easy to throw together a writing activity for the squirrel unit study. If you have elementary school kids, give them one of the squirrel writing prompt worksheets. With younger kids in preschool take this opportunity to work on letter recognition with the printables on this list.
Preschool
Squirrel Alphabet Game from Teaching Mama.
Preschool and Kindergarten Printable Set from Natural Beach Living.
Squirrel Letter Recognition Activity from ABCs of Literacy.
Elementary
Squirrels Fluency Practice from Growing Book by Book.
If I was a Squirrel Writing Prompt Worksheet from Lesson Planet.
Super Squirrel Writing Prompt with pictures and video from Mrs. Warner Arlington.
A Squirrel Lapbook from Homeschool Share.
Math Activities as you Learn About Squirrels
Hands-on learning is the best kind, and with these math activities with squirrel illustrations and acorns galore your kids are sure to build math skill as they learn about squirrels.
Squirrel Themed Ten Frame Activities from J Daniel 4’s Mom.
Count and Compare Acorns from Kool Kids Games.
Ten Frames Squirrel Mats from Kool Kids Games.
Squirrel Crafts and Squirrel Art
Arts and crafts are not just great for creativity and brain development, they also help kids build better fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, critical thinking, and visual perceptual skills. When students make a craft or complete an art project during your squirrel unit study, they will be learning to follow directions, learning new art techniques, and creating something unique and beautiful.
Easy Moveable Squirrel Craft from Kid’s Craft Room. I love kid’s crafts with moveable parts! They are always a favorite.
Squirrel Painting Art from 3 Dinosaurs. A little messy but totally worth the end result.
Squirrel Craft inspired by Nuts to You by Louis Ehlert. From Buggy and Buddy. A craft to go along with a fantastic kid’s book about squirrels. I love book-inspired crafts!
Squirrel Coloring Pages for Teens and Tweens from Red Ted Art. For you older student who loves coloring pages and has been enjoying the squirrel unit study.
Magnetic Squirrel and Acorn Fall Craft from The Joy Sharing. Any time you can use a magnet in a kid’s craft, it’s a guaranteed win. Make sure you supervise!
Cut and Glue Squirrel Craft from Simple Every Day Mom. A very basic cut and glue squirrel that turns out super cute.
Squirrel Paper Bag Puppets from Crafts by Amanda. If you can’t get a Folk Manis puppet, having your child make his own paper bag puppet. Same educational value, at a fraction of the cost.
Learn about Squirrels with Educational Squirrel Toys
This LEGO® Friends Forest Waterfall set includes an adorable squirrel. I’m a huge fan of using LEGO bricks in a homeschool setting, and this delightful set is the perfect example of a great set. Give this to your child and watch them play. You will find out how much they’ve been absorbing from all the squirrel books you’ve read!
The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game from Educational Insights is an award winning game and loads of fun.
This beautiful and realistic Folk Manis Squirrel Puppet is a great way to encourage pretend play which will help your students internalize what they have learned.
Giving your kid realistic plastic animals like this play set of forest animals is a great way to encourage story telling. These are all perfect for making a forest animals sensory bin.
You may also like our list of Maple Syrup Homeschool Resources!
