Scarecrow Unit Study Activities

Scarecrows are a fun and colorful part of fall. Children of all ages, but especially kindergarten and first grade children, will enjoy a special scarecrow unit study featuring books, activities, writing prompts, and printables related to scarecrows. If unit studies are new to you, check out my post on How to Create a Unit Study.

In order to help make your planning as easy as possible, I created this Unit Study Planner and Printables – 21 Print-and-Go Pages. It contains 21 pages of unit study printables and worksheets that can be used with virtually any learning theme – including scarecrows! All of the single page unit study printables shown on this page are included in this very affordable download.

This unit study planner page is included in the pack to help you organize your scarecrow unit. As you go through the suggested ideas below, select the ones that will work best for your learners and record them on your planner page.

History of Scarecrows

Here is a bit of the history of scarecrows. Did you know they go back to the Ancient Egyptians? Amazing! (Parents may want to read ahead of time and summarize for their children.) Keep track of facts you learn about scarecrows using this printable.

Barn Dance Scarecrow Read Aloud Book

Barn Dance! by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is the delightful story of a young boy who sneaks out to the barn in the middle of the night when he hears the animals and scarecrow head out there for a hoedown. The scarecrow leads the way with his fiddle playing and the animals join in with a wild dance in the barn. This Reading Rainbow Book has fun language and entertaining illustrations that will appeal to young children.

Reading Response or Story Map

After reading Barn Dance!, your children can complete either A Story Map or a Reading Response for the book.

(If your learners love barn books, you can see more of them in this post – Fun Barn-Themed Books for Kids.)

How To Make a Scarecrow

Scarecrows can look so many different ways – funny, happy, scary, and more. Here are a few different ways to make a scarecrow!

A smaller scarecrow

After watching one of the above videos, have your children write out and illustrate their own directions for how to make a scarecrow using this printable.

Scarecrow Craft

Sometimes it’s not possible to make a real scarecrow out of clothes and hay. If you are looking for an easy scarecrow-themed craft made of paper, see this free download on my site.

Scarecrow Craft Sets

If you prefer something ready to go or need crafts for a group, try one of these.

A Scarecrow Song for Little Ones

Here is a fun song for little ones who need to move around a bit.

Little Bear Dances with a Scarecrow

One of the very cutest episodes of “Little Bear” is “Moonlight Serenade” when Little Bear goes dancing with a scarecrow under the harvest moon.

Season 4, Episode 43: Moonlight Serenade, Caterpillars, Goblin Night

After watching the video, write about your favorite part of the story.

Scarecrow Writing Prompts

Ready to do some creative writing? Here are some fun scarecrow writing prompts to use.

• The Day Our Scarecrow Came to Life
• The Mystery of the Unstuffed Scarecrow
• If I Were a Scarecrow
• Why Scarecrows Have Patched Clothing
• The Scarecrow Family Moves to the Big City

For more writing prompts, see my Scarecrow Writing Prompts! (Click cover for more details.)

More Books About Scarecrows

If you are looking for some fun picture books to add to your scarecrow unit study, here are a few!

There are many more fun fall learning activities in my Fall Literacy and Math Pack with 30+ Centers and Activities. (Click the cover below for more details.)

 Related Tags: Fall/Autumn Themed Activities & Books• First Grade• Kindergarten• Second GradeCategories: Theme Based Learning & Unit Study Topics