Squirrels Unit Study

Squirrels are a fun learning topic for younger children. Even though they are technically rodents, they are fun to watch during all four seasons. This collection of learning activities will help you do this with ease!

There are many fun 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 Theme

Unit Study Planner: As you read through the ideas in this post, start mapping out what you want to include for your family. The Unit Study Planning Pages have spaces for: Goals, Books, Supplies, Spelling and Vocabulary, Field Trips and Activities, Videos and DVDs, Printables, Assessments, and Notes. Choose the ideas that fit your particular needs.

 

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. You can find it for free in my shop.

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 SquirrelRed 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 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 United States 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 also lots of fun activities to do with the Miss Suzy book. You can see an entire post about this with more squirrel ideas – Creative Learning Ideas for Miss Suzy.

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!

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