Young children will enjoy a special scarecrow unit featuring books, activities, and printables. To make it easy for you, I’ve created this scarecrows unit study!

If learning with themes is new to you, check out my post on How to Create a Unit Study. The Unit Study Planning Pages can help you organize your scarecrow theme. As you go through the ideas below, select the ones that will work best for your children 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: Facts About Graphic Organizer.

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 my free one: Free Scarecrow Craft.

Barn Dance 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 book has fun language and entertaining illustrations that will appeal to young children.

If your children enjoy 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

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.

Scarecrow Writing Prompts

Ready to do some creative writing? Here are some fun scarecrow writing prompts to use. If your child is too young to write for herself, have her dictate her story to you. For more writing prompts, see my Scarecrow Writing Prompts!

• 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

Dress Like a Scarecrow

For some active fun, provide the necessary props to create a scarecrow (clothes, straw, hat, etc.) and have your children race to dress up like a scarecrow. Switch props and see if it makes a difference who finishes first. Discuss why.

More Fall Learning Fun

Scarecrow photo credit