Tag: little house on the prairie

Little House On The Prairie Adventure: Week by Week Science Lessons

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog10 Comments

**This post may contain affiliate links to some of the products and resources that we have used. These are provided at no extra charge to you and help to support our blog and family if a purchase is made through these links. -Thank you!

Here are our Lesson Plans For Science

Please note that YouTube has been removing some content from its site so you may need to search for another video on the topics listed.

These lessons were made to go along with ‘The Little House On The Prairie‘ written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are planning to go through the whole series and I am keeping track of the different topics we are learning about here on my blog. We hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

On weeks where there are several activities listed just choose a couple that interest you the most to work on.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Week 1: Chapters 1, 2 & 3

1. Read about mustangs.

  • Older kids can also work on a report. The report needs to include behavior, habitat, and diet.

2. Start learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are Simple Machines?

  • Read pages 1-3 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • Simple Machine
    • Mechanical Advantage
    • Compound Machine
  • What are the 6 types of simple machines? Write them down in your notebook.

Watch this video for more information:

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • What simple machines do we use in our homes?

What is Force?

  • Read pages 4-7 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • work
    • force
    • push
    • pull
    • equilibrium
    • unbalanced
    • gravity
    • friction
    • weight
    • lubricant
    • Newton
  • How can you fight friction?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 8-11.

Watch this video for more information:

3. What are Stars?

  • In this book Laura mentions watching the sky a lot and describes the stars.
  • Discuss what you learned.

Extra:

Week 2: Chapters 4, 5 & 6

1. Read about prairie animals.

  • Older kids can also work on a report about prairie animals. The report needs to include behavior, habitat, and diet.
  • Here are a couple of videos to get you started:

Here is a video about prairie dogs:

And another about Hawks:

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Choose an animal to study and write a report about. Your report will be due next week.

2. What is the solar system?

  • Discuss what you learned.

3. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are levers?

  • Read pages 12-19 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • fulcrum
    • load
    • effort
    • engineer
    • linkage
    • agriculture
    • defense
    • invent
    • shaduf
    • counterweight
    • irrigation ditch
    • archaeologist
    • catapult
    • trebuchet
  • How many types of levers are mentioned in the book? What are the differences?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 20-25.

Watch this video for more information:

Extra:

Week 3: Chapters 7, 8 & 9

1. What are mules?

  • Learn about mules and how they are different from horses.
  • Mules are hybrids. Learn more about this here:
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Name four ways that mules are different from horses.
  • Name two more hybrid animals.

2. Continue to study Prairie Animals.

  • Older kids can also work on a report. The report needs to include behavior, habitat, and diet.
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Name one interesting fact about wolves that you didn’t know before.

Listen to these sounds:

  • How would these sounds make you feel?

3. Why do animals’ eyes glow in the dark?

  • Find out why animals’ eyes glow in the dark.
  • Discuss what you have learned.

4. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are screws?

  • Read pages 46-52 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • thread
    • pitch
    • design
    • bolt
    • worm gear
    • spur gear
    • drill bit
  • What are some different ways that screws are used? How could these have helped Pa?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 53-56.

Watch this video for more information:

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Play Simple Machines Game
  • Check out this video to see how this talented artist uses screws to create pictures:

5. Research plants on the prairie.

We have been looking at prairie animals but what about the plants?

  • Discuss what you have learned.

6. Constellations

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Check out these neat constellation cards on this page HERE. Look for ‘constellations.pdf’ under History and Geography.
  • Or try this really neat craft HERE (I might try this with small flashlights.) or HERE.

Week 4: Chapters 10, 11 & 12

1. Continue to study Prairie Animals.

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Do you know how to tell a poisonous snake from a non-poisonous snake?
  • My kids like to remember this little rhyme:

Image result for red and black friend of jack

This holds pretty true here in Florida but may not hold true in other areas.

Watch this video about the differences between venomous and non-venomous species:

Watch this video on how other animals react to snakes:

  • Discuss what you learned.

Watch this video on skunks too:

  • Discuss what you learned.

2. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are pulleys?

  • Read pages 68- 74 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • fixed pulley
    • movable pulley
    • compound pulley
    • block & tackle
    • windlass
  • How many types of pulleys are mentioned in the book? How are they different?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 75-79.

Watch this video for more information:

  • Discuss what you learned.

Here is a fun project:

3. How do we get our drinking water?

  • Watch a video and older kids can do some independent research.
  • Discuss what you learned.

Here is a quick video showing the well that was dug in the book.

4. What gases were in the well?

  • Check out this article HERE for some possible answers to this question.
  • Discuss what you learned.

Check out this video on quicksand too:

  • Discuss what you have learned.

5. What is the Milky Way?

  • Discuss what you learned.

Week 5: Chapters 13, 14 & 15

1. Continue to study Prairie Animals.

  • Watch a video and older kids can do some independent research.
  • Discuss what you learned.

2. Is there anything good about mosquitoes?

  • Watch a video and older kids can do some independent research.
  • Discuss what you learned.

3. What are parasites?

  • Discuss what you learned.

4. Research blood.

  • Discuss what you learned.

5. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are wheels and axles?

  • Read pages 34-40 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • crank
    • Mesopotamia
    • sledge
    • spokes
    • artifact
    • radiocarbon dating
    • carbon
  • What did people use to move things before wheels were invented?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 41-45.

Watch this video for more information:

Extras:

Play one of these games:

Week 6: Chapters 16, 17 & 18

1. Watch this fun video:

  • Discuss what you learned.

2. Why do leaves change color?

  • Watch a video and older kids can do some independent research.
  • Discuss what you learned.

3. Why do birds migrate?

  • Watch a video and older kids can do some independent research.
  • Discuss what you learned.

4. Continue learning about simple machines.

  • We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.What are inclined planes?
    • Read pages 26-29 of your book.
    • Write down these words and their definitions:
      • lock
      • skeleton
      • switchback
      • ascent
      • descent
    • What are some different ways that inclined planes are used?
    • Do one of the activities on pages 30-33.

    Watch this video for more information:

5. Meet the five dwarfs.

  • Discuss what you learned.

Week 7: Chapters 19, 20 & 21

1. Continue to Research Prairie Animals.

  • Discuss what you learned.

Listen to these sounds:

  • How would that make you feel?

2. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

What are wedges? Not the shoes.

  • Read pages 57-62 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • ravine
    • caravan
  • Can you name four uses of wedges? p.59 Write them down.
  • Do one of the activities on pages 63-67.

Watch this video for more information:

  • Discuss what you learned.

3. Get to know your galaxy.

  • Discuss what you learned.

Extra:

Week 8: Chapters 22, 23 & 24

1. Research Wild Fires.

  • Discuss what you learned.

How we fight wildfires:

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • How do these methods compare/contrast with the methods used by Pa and Ma?

2. Continue learning about simple machines.

We will be using Explore Simple Machines!: With 25 Great Projects for this study.

Can you be an inventor?

  • Read pages 80-83 of your book.
  • Write down these words and their definitions:
    • engineering design process
    • construct
  • What five types of inventors are there?
  • What would you invent?
  • Do one of the activities on pages 84-85.

Watch this video for more information:

  • Discuss what you learned.

3. Navigating the night sky.

  • Discuss what you learned.

Extra:

Week 9: Chapters 25 & 26

1. Free Choice

  • Pick out a previous topic to research more and write a report about it.
  • Go to Mystery Science and learn about something you are interested in.

2. Continue learning about simple machines.

3. Planets in our Solar System.

  • Discuss what you have learned.

4. Read about how to start plants indoors like Ma did.

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • What plants would you like to start?
  • Make a list of materials you would need.

Extra:

Week 10: Finishing Up

1. Free Choice

  • Pick out a previous topic to research more and write a report about it.
  • Go to Mystery Science and learn about something you are interested in.

2. Continue learning about simple machines. Pick a project to do.

3. A constellation guide.

Extra:

**BE SURE TO SAVE A FEW SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK FOR YOUR  PORTFOLIO!  TAKE PICTURES OF BIG PROJECTS!

Little House On The Prairie Adventure Resource List

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog4 Comments

**Although I try to provide as many FREE resources as possible this post may contain affiliate links alt no extra cost to you. We may earn a small commission, if a purchase is made through these links, which helps to support our blog and our family. Thank you!

We read Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Biography and Little House in the Big Woods before starting this study.

NOTE: My kiddos were 5, 6, 9, 11, and 15 at the time we created study unit. Some ideas may need to be changed/adjusted for older kids.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or topic simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Introduction:

We have been using the Little House on the Prairie Books for our homeschool this year and my kids are loving it. I have scoured the internet for resources to make our learning experience as fun and exciting as possible. This series of posts is a compilation of different resources we have found and used in our home. Please note that some of these may have been FREE at the time I found them and prices and/or availability may have changed. Feel free to leave your own links in the comments section below.

I also want to take a moment to thank all of these wonderful people who put together so many wonderful resources for all of us to use with our children. I know that many hours, blood, sweat, and tears went into these projects but your work is greatly appreciated!

Answer Key found HERE. **ANSWER KEY password: momsrock (highlight blank area)

Language Arts:

Reading:

We will be reading the noted selection for the week as well as discussing what we have read. I may come up with other questions as well. Kids are curious and I know we will have many questions which may lead to some research in other areas.

We will also be working on reading through a few books, see Kirby’s Kids Grade by Grade Homeschool Reading List , for each different grade level. The older kids (ages 9 & 11) will have some independent reading while the younger ones (ages 5,6, and my special needs son who is 15 but at a Kindergarten level) will have a mixture of read alouds, read alongs, and independent reading.

You should keep a record of the books read. You can do this in a notebook or using this printable HERE.

You may also like to check out these links for book reports:

Handwriting:

I did not list handwriting in the weekly work tasks as my kids are using the Spencerian Penmanship for handwriting and will practice this every day.

Vocabulary/Spelling:

We will be doing various activities for this area. We will be looking up definitions, matching words, putting the words in alphabetical order, and a variety of other activities.

The vocabulary words could also be used as spelling words, if you choose to do so. We are also using these resources below:

Writing:

There will be a variety of creative writing ideas as well. I have tried to vary them and offer choices to help encourage writing. We will also be doing various writing assignments in some of other areas as well.

Check out PRINTABLE WRITING PAPER- TWENTY FREE TEMPLATES FOR KID’S WRITING for some FREE writing resources!

Other Activities:

These are just some of the other activities that I am incorporating into the lessons with my kiddos as we are all at different learning levels. I put these in here to keep me organized so I don’t ‘forget’ something. In our Group activities I include a lot of reading out loud books that may seem ‘young’ but my older kids missed out on some of these nursery rhymes and such when they were younger due and they really enjoy listening to them as they work. Many of the titles can be found at your local library too!

I will add links to worksheets I find or make as we go through the unit. For a general guideline of skills your child should know by grade level click HERE.

I have pulled a lot of the material from the book for the worksheets listed down below.

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

  • Other materials may be listed with the individual sections.

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Other resources used:

The younger kids will also have access to various Read-Along books and puppet books. I will update links to those as we go along.

Math:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

Note about Ray’s Arithmetic Books: These can be a little confusing at first but the Parent/Teacher guide is so useful! I have found that the books are in order as follows:

  • 1st/2nd grades: Ray’s New Primary Arithmetic
  • 3rd/4th grades: Ray’s New Intellectual Math
  • 5th/6th grades: Ray’s Practical Arithmetic
  • 7th/8th grades: Ray’s Higher Arithmetic

I have used a lot of the examples from the book to create the worksheets you will find listed below. **ANSWER KEY password: momsrock (highlight blank area)

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Social Studies:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

Science:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

My kids also enjoyed reading:

 Bears on the Brain (Science Solves It!)

PE/Health & Safety Resources:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons ideas with these links:

We often have some ‘Free Play’ outside whenever the weather allows as well.

Life Skills:

This area contains our lesson plans for a few different areas that I have included with our ‘Life Skills’. You will find lessons on cooking, cleaning, and organization as well as bible memory work and character training. All of these will go together to help raise our children into the responsible and caring citizens of tomorrow.

You can find a FREE printable log for keeping track of memory work here:

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

We will be focusing on OBEDIENCE this unit. If you don’t have the book we used you can go HERE and download a lesson plan guide to use in your home.

Music, Arts & Crafts:

These lesson plans include Music, Arts, and Crafts. Choose one or two ideas/day as desired.

Many of the ideas have been pulled from the following resources:

You can also find FREE Lessons with these links:

We have also bought the following books/products for use with this series:

Remember: These are the lessons and activities that we used while doing this study but you can do anything your heart desires to make this a great adventure for you and your kids!

 

 

Little House On The Prairie Answer Key Links

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog6 Comments

Here is the links to the answer keys that I made for this unit:

(There may be a few missing from the list as they are worksheets I found online.)

Language Arts

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week 5:

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

Math

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Week 5:

  • none

Week 6:

Week 7:

Week 8:

Week 9:

Week 10:

 

Little House On The Prairie Adventure: Week by Week Music, Arts, and Crafts Lessons

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog12 Comments

**This post may contain affiliate links to some of the products and resources that we have used. These are provided at no extra charge to you and help to support our blog and family if a purchase is made through these links. -Thank you!

Here are our Lesson Plans For Music, Arts & Crafts

Please note that YouTube has been removing some content from its site so you may need to search for another video on the topics listed.

These lessons were made to go along with ‘The Little House On The Prairie‘ written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are planning to go through the whole series and I am keeping track of the different topics we are learning about here on my blog. We hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

On weeks where there are several activities listed just choose a couple that interest you the most to work on.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or subject simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

You can check out my Pinterest page Little House on the Prairie Crafts for even more crafts and activities.

Many of the songs come from this book:

Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook

You can find more Native American crafts and activities HERE, HERE, HERE, and a FREE printable coloring book HERE.

Week 1: Chapters 1, 2 & 3

Crafts:

  1. Try one of these campfire crafts:

2.  Horse Crafts

3. You could start making a Pioneer Life Diorama to depict the book scenes.

Art:**

  1. Draw a picture of Pet and Patty on their lines.
  2. Wagons on a raft coloring page.

Music:

  1. Listen to the sounds of nature on the prairie:

2. Listen to the sounds of nature at night:

Week 2: Chapters 4, 5 & 6

Crafts:**

  1. Try making some origami animals.

Art:

  1. Prairie Dog Coloring Page
  2. How to draw a Prairie Dog
  3. or Free Choice

Music:

Week 3: Chapters 7, 8 & 9

Crafts:

  1. Build a log cabin with Lincoln Logs
  2. Make a Log Cabin Photo Frame p. 36 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  3. Use My Book of Little House Paper Dolls: The Big Woods Collection to reenact and retell the story to someone.
  4. Make a Flower Mask p. 16 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  5. Build a Pretzel Log Cabin

Art: 

  1. Color some prairie flowers
  2. Draw a rock fireplace as Laura described it.
  3. Draw a log cabin.

Or you can try to draw a wolf:

Music:

Listen to the natural songs made by wolves:

Week 4: Chapters 10, 11 & 12

Crafts:

1. Snakes

2. Water well

Art: 

  1. Snake coloring page

Music:

Listen to some Native American music:

Week 5: Chapters 13, 14 & 15

Crafts:

  1. 9 NATIVE AMERICAN CRAFTS FOR KIDS
  2. Indian Necklace Craft
  3. Make a Fringed Vest p. 13 Pioneer Crafts for Kids

Art:

  1. Longhorn coloring pages
  2. Cattle drive coloring page
  3. Three Wigwams coloring page

Look at these Native American Bead Projects HERE or below:

Music:

Listen to some of these old cowboy songs:

Week 6: Chapters 16, 17 & 18

Crafts:

  1. Turkey Crafts for Kids – Wonderful Art and Craft Ideas for Fall and Thanksgiving
  2. 15 TERRIFIC TURKEY CRAFTS FOR KIDS
  3. Turkey Leaf Lanterns Mason Jar Thanksgiving Craft

DIY Paper Turkey Headdress Turkey Hat Crafts

Art:

  1. Make a Turkey from things found in nature: Nature Made Wild Turkey
  2. Turkey Coloring Page

Music:

Novum Crafts Feather Headdress

Week 7: Chapters 19, 20 & 21

Crafts:

1. Make musical instruments:

2. Christmas

Art:

  1. Santa Claus coloring page
  2. Christmas coloring page

Music:

Some more Plains Indian Music:

Week 8: Chapters 22, 23 & 24

Crafts:**

  1. Choose a Frog Craft

Smiling Wisdom - Jumping Hop Frog Origami Game - Holiday Favors, Classroom - 50 Colorful Origami Frogs - Children's Paper Game - Holiday Party Activity Ideas for Boys & Girls - Multicolored

Smiling Wisdom – Jumping Hop Frog Origami Game

2. Buffalo Crafts

3. Indian Papoose Craft

Art:

  1. Buffalo coloring pages
  2. Native American Hunter coloring page

Music:

  1. The Gum Tree Canoe p. 117Laura Ingalls Wilder Songbook

Week 9: Chapters 25 & 26

Crafts:**

1. Make a Covered Wagon p. 37 Pioneer Crafts for Kids

2. Indian Headdress

Amscan Thanksgiving Make Your Own Headband

Amscan Thanksgiving Make Your Own Headband

Art:

  1. Choose a previous project that you haven’t done yet.
  2. Indian Headdress Coloring Page
  3. Native American Dancing coloring page
  4. Free Choice

Music:

  • Experiment with making music around the house.

Westco Sounds of Nature Kit Musical Instrument Toy

Week 10: Finishing Up

Crafts:**

Make some crafts for your Indian Party. Check out these ideas HERE on Amazon. You can also check out my Pinterest board HERE.

  1. INDIAN CRAFTS FOR KIDS: Ideas to Make Native American Indians with Easy arts and crafts for children, preschoolers, teens
  2. Make a Spoon Doll p. 14 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  3. Make a Pioneer Doll p. 32 Pioneer Crafts for Kids
  4. Make a Pioneer Life Diorama p. 51 Pioneer Crafts for Kids

Art:

  1. Choose a previous project that you haven’t done yet.
  2. Free Choice

Music:

**BE SURE TO SAVE A FEW SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK FOR YOUR  PORTFOLIO!  TAKE PICTURES OF BIG PROJECTS!

Little House On The Prairie Adventure: Week by Week PE, Health, and Safety Lessons

Published on by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog11 Comments

**This post may contain affiliate links to some of the products and resources that we have used. These are provided at no extra charge to you and help to support our blog and family if a purchase is made through these links. -Thank you!

Here are our Lesson Plans For PE, Health & Safety

These lessons were made to go along with ‘The Little House On The Prairie‘ written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. We are planning to go through the whole series and I am keeping track of the different topics we are learning about here on my blog. We hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

On weeks where there are several activities listed just choose a couple that interest you the most to work on.

Tip: If you want to go to a certain week/chapter or subject simply push the ‘ctrl’ and the ‘F’ button down together and a small bar will pop up. Type in the week number or chapter number you want and it will take you to it.

Week 1: Chapters 1, 2 & 3

1. Water Safety

  • Crossing the creek proved to be very dangerous and scary for the Ingalls family. Watch these videos for some safety tips.
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Name 5 ways to stay safe around water.

2. Games/Outdoor Play

Horses were very useful in many ways during the pioneer times. This game doesn’t involve horses but is a fun game to play.

Week 2: Chapters 4, 5 & 6

1. Outdoor Exploring Safety

  • Laura and Mary had a lot of fun exploring outdoors and you can too. Watch these videos to learn how to stay safe.
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Name 5 things you can do to stay safe.

Cool Outdoor Activities: Great Things to Do in the Great Outdoors

2. Sprains

  • Ma got hurt when the log fell and she sprained her ankle. We can get hurt when we are playing and exploring to. Do you know what a sprain is?
  • How do you treat a sprain?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • How did the treatment in the video compare/contrast with the way Ma treated her sprain?

3. What is Molasses?

  • Watch how molasses is made:
  • Discuss what you have learned.

4. Games/Outdoor Play

Mr. Edwards did jumping jacks when Pa played the fiddle. Do you know how to do a jumping jack?

Week 3: Chapters 7, 8 & 9

1. Fireplace Safety

  • The Ingalls’ family used their fireplace not only to cook but also to keep warm. This means it was essential to use almost everyday. They kids learned how to stay safe around the fireplace and you can too.
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • List 5 things you should do to stay safe around a fireplace.

2. Heater Safety

  • The Ingalls family used their fireplace to keep warm but many of us don’t have fireplaces. Sometimes people use heaters to keep warm. Let’s learn how to stay safe.
  • Sometimes people use things like BBQ grills to heat their home when they can’t use a heater. Do you know why this can be dangerous?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Make a safety checklist for heating your home.

3. Games/Outdoor Play

Laura enjoyed watching all of the animals on the prairie and mentioned the many different types of birds she saw. You can take turns naming the birds while playing this game.

Week 4: Chapters 10, 11 & 12

1. Sun Safety

  • The story talks about how hot the sun was on the prairie and mentioned how Mr. Scott didn’t tan but burned. Let’s learn some safety tips for when we are in the sun.
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Name something that Ma continued to remind the girls to use to protect them from the sun.
  • Do you think the girls tanned or burned? Why?
  • What are some ways that we can stay safe in the sun?
  • Do you know how to treat a sunburn? Watch this video for tips:

2. Snake Safety

  • The girls enjoyed exploring and playing outside. They often saw a lot of different wildlife on the prairie but they knew to stay away from snakes. Let’s learn a little about snake safety and what to do in case you get a snake bite.
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Write down the steps to take if you see a snake.
  • Write down the steps to take if you get a snake bite.

3. Games/Outdoor Play

 

Week 5: Chapters 13, 14 & 15

1. What to do if you get lost.

  • The girls often went exploring but made sure not to wander off. It would probably have been easy to get lost on the big prairie. Would you know what to do if you got lost?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Make a list of all the steps to do if you get lost.
  • Work on memorizing the information you would need if you got lost.
    • name
    • phone number
    • address
  • Click HERE for a FREE printable.

2. Insect Safety

  • When the family got sick they didn’t know what had caused the illness. Mrs. Scott had believed it had come from the watermelon but it had actually came from mosquitoes. How can we protect ourselves from mosquitoes and other insects?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • What are some ways that we can prevent bug bites?

3. Calcium for strong bones

  • Ma and the girls were excited to see that Pa had brought home a cow as they hadn’t had any milk for a long time. Why is milk so important in our diets?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Name some of the benefits of drinking milk.
  • Watch this video to learn about how much calcium we need and other sources of calcium.

Click HERE to read about the Plains Indian’s diet.

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • How does this compare to our diet?

4. Games/Outdoor Play

  • Regular exercise is important for strong bones. Watch this video to learn about what exercises can help increase bone density.
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Go outside and play 30 minutes and try out some bone strengthening activities.

Bonus:

Did you know that Square Dancing is a good exercise for helping you to have strong bones?

If you haven’t already signed up for classes have your parents check for a local club near you.

Week 6: Chapters 16, 17 & 18

1. Fire Safety

  • Ma and Laura acted quickly when there was a fire. Would you know what to do if there was a fire in your home?
  • Watch this fire safety video:
  • Discuss what you learned.
  • Come up with a fire safety plan and practice it.

2. Burn Treatment

  • After the fire was out Ma checked Laura for burns but she wasn’t hurt. This was a good thing.
  • We have learned about fire safety but sometimes we might find that we have accidentally gotten burned. Let’s learn about how to treat a burn:
  • Discuss what you have learned.

3. Games/Outdoor Play

Pa told them about the geese and turkeys he saw while out hunting and brought back some ducks for dinner. Have you ever watched the birds flying south for winter? If not, maybe you can keep an eye out for them in the Fall.

Week 7: Chapters 19, 20 & 21

1. Wild Animal Safety

When they heard the scream at night Pa thought it may have been a neighbor needing help. He soon realized it was a panther and came back home quickly.

  • Wild animals can be dangerous. Do you know what to do to stay safe if you encounter a wild animal?
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • What kinds of wild animals could you encounter where you live?
  • How will you keep yourself safe?

2. Games/Outdoor Play

Laura and Mary played games with each other and Baby Carrie. Try any of the games listed below or choose your favorite game to play. These would be really good games for when you are stuck inside the house.

You can find more games and activities in this book:

Pioneer days: Discover the past with fun projects, games, activities, and recipes (American kids in history)

Week 8: Chapters 22, 23 & 24

1. How are diseases spread?

We learned about how the Fever n’ Ague was spread by mosquitoes but do you know how other diseases are spread?

  • Discuss what you have learned.

2. Diseases spread to the Indians

We have read and researched about the Indians. Did you know that many Indians died from diseases that were brought by the newcomers? Let’s learn about some of these diseases.

  • Watch this video to learn about some of the diseases spread to the Indians by settlers:
  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • What diseases have you heard of? Which ones have you never heard of?
  • Are these diseases still around today?
  • Older kids can choose a disease to research further and write a report about.

3. Importance of Sleep

In this section of the book the family had trouble sleeping. Do you remember why? Do you know why sleep is so important?

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Talk about a time when you didn’t get enough rest. How did you feel?

4. Games/Outdoor Play

Week 9: Chapters 25 & 26

1. Tobacco Safety

The story mentions several time that Pa used his tobacco pipe. Do you know what tobacco is and how harmful it could be to you?

  • Discuss what you learned.
  • List 3 different side effects of tobacco use.

2. Games/Outdoor Play

Check out some of the games that the Native American children may have played with the links below:

Some of these games may be fun to include with your Indian Party.

Week 10: Finishing Up

1. Vehicle Safety

At the end of the book the family was moving again. I’m sure they didn’t have seatbelts but Ma and Pa made sure the girls knew what they needed to do to stay safe while traveling. What safety rules should you follow when in a vehicle?

  • Discuss what you have learned.
  • Go over the safety rules for the vehicle.
  • Practice these rules every time you go somewhere.

2. Games/Outdoor Play

Riding in the wagon was probably pretty boring at times and I’m sure the girls needed something to keep them occupied. Have you ever played Rock, Paper, Scissors with your friends? If not you can learn how to play this game and many other skills at SkillTrekker.com. How about this modified version:

**BE SURE TO SAVE A FEW SAMPLES OF YOUR WORK FOR YOUR  PORTFOLIO!  TAKE PICTURES OF BIG PROJECTS!