Squirrels are a fun learning topic for younger children. There are many interesting activities, printables, books, videos, and more below to make creating a squirrel unit study very easy. If learning with themes is new to you, check out my post on How to Easily Create a Unit Study.
Planning a Squirrel Unit Study
Squirrels KWL: I like starting a themed study off with a KWL. KWL stands for Know, Want to know, and Learned. Your child tells you what she already knows about the topic, what she wants to know, and (at the end) what she has learned. KWLs are a great way to easily document your child’s learning. You can find two of them in the Unit Study Activity Pack.
Squirrel Fun Facts Copywork
My free squirrels copywork set gives you the opportunity to practice handwriting (print and cursive) while learning more fun facts about squirrels.
Squirrels for Creative Play
Stuffed animals can be such a wonderful toy for creative play. Here are four cute options! We own the first one and her name is Miss Suzy.
Grey Squirrel
Red SquirrelSquirrel PlushNuts the Squirrel
Squirrels Vocabulary, Spelling & Word Search
Here’s a list of words you can use for your squirrel study for either vocabulary or spelling.
- squirrel
- flying
- scurry
- drey
- seeds
- nuts
- bury
- rodent
- baffle
- tail
You can also use this list of words to create a word search with the Word Search Template.
Squirrels in the United States
Where do squirrels live in the United States? Do a little bit of research online and use this free United States map to show where different kinds of squirrels can be found. You can look for:
- Eastern Gray Squirrels
- Fox Squirrels
- California Ground Squirrels
- Northern Flying Squirrels
- Southern Flying Squirrels
Create a legend on your map to show where the different squirrels live. Do any overlap? Which ones are found where you live? Which ones have you never seen?
If you learn about two different kinds of squirrels, you can compare them using a Venn diagram.
Squirrel Videos
Chattering Squirrels: Squirrels make a number of different sounds. Don’t miss these chattering squirrels courtesy of the pumpkin cam (and the bonus creature who shows up!).
Endangered Red Squirrels In Great Britain: This is a great example of how invasive species can cause unintended consequences. This short video explains the situation in Great Britain with red squirrels (native) and gray squirrels (not native). This is an article (that parents will want to preview first) with a compelling graphic about the destruction just since 1945 – Vital volunteers needed to save our last red squirrels from Lancashire Wildlife Trust.
Saving Baby Squirrels: A short story of how a family rescued two baby squirrels. What would you do if you found some baby squirrels who had lost their mother? How would you care for them? What would you need to buy? What would you need to do?
Favorite Squirrel Facts
What are your five favorite squirrel facts you’ve learned during this squirrels study? Record them on the Facts About Graphic Organizer Worksheet.
Miss Suzy Picture Book
Did you notice one of the squirrels in the video above was named Suzy and the book Miss Suzy was in one of the photos? Miss Suzy is one of my very favorite books which I’ve written about before. There are lots of fun activities to do with the Miss Suzy book. You can see an entire post about this right here – Miss Suzy | Homeschooling With Cozy Books.
Books About Squirrels
To learn more about squirrels, check out these books.
- Gray Squirrels (Woodland Wildlife)
- Welcome to the World of Squirrels
- Squirrels (In My Backyard)
- The Busy Little Squirrel
- The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin
- Squirrels: The Animal Answer Guide
Squirrel Protest Letter
Most people who feed birds put baffles like these on their feeder poles to keep the squirrels from eating all of the birdseed. Why do you think they call them baffles?
Audubon Torpedo Steel Squirrel BaffleAudubon Wrap Around Squirrel Baffle
Do you think the squirrels like this? What would a squirrel say if he or she wrote to the homeowner to protest the baffle and ask to have it removed? Write a letter from the squirrel to the keeper of the birdseed using one of the Write a Letter Worksheets.
I hope you have a great time studying squirrels!
Free Squirrels Copywork for Homeschoolers
I can’t wait to do this with my son during our last couple weeks of school here! We love watching the squirrels who have a nest in the oak right outside our kitchen window. Their names are Scampers and Glory.
Hi Elise,
Oh, I love that you named your squirrels! LOL!
Caroline and David’s newest thing is to throw the apple cores to the squirrels. Apparently one squirrel has gotten wise to what happens because when he saw David come out on the deck yesterday to throw it out toward the bird feeder area, he came racing over and grabbed it WHILE IT WAS BOUNCING. LOL!
Squirrels provide endless entertainment around here.
I hope you enjoy the activities!
Sallie
That’s awesome! One of our squirrels stole my son’s sandwich off the deck when he wasn’t paying attention! Smart little guys.
They are total opportunists!
I suggested to David that he start using a particular whistle pattern when he comes out on the deck to throw the core. He can train the squirrels to come to him. LOL!
I have always wanted to train birds to eat from my hand (chickadees, etc.). I haven’t taken the time to do it, but I think it would be so neat.