Theme Unit Thursday: OWLS

Theme Unit Thursday is a new feature at Brighton Park where I share with you the theme units I have put together for my own homeschool in addition to others!

I have always done theme units in my homeschool. Each month I pick one or two fun theme units (depending on their size), one topic on safety (fire safety, water safety, etc) and one green learning unit (recycle, where paper comes from, compost, etc) to use in our lessons during that month in addition to our regular curriculum. They are a great way to encourage cooperative learning across the various subjects and childrens' ages and the kids really love them.

 I map them out at the beginning of the year so that I can link units together with as much congruity as possible (for example: this month's Audrey Penn's The Kissing Hand theme unit (characters are raccoons) also started a two month long science learning unit on nocturnal animals! This nocturnal animal unit continues in October as our fun theme unit becomes OWLS.

Here are some great things you can do with an OWLS theme unit for October. We wil be doing these!

• Reading to the kids, The Legend of the Guardian
• Netflix Legend of the Guradian Movie once book is completed and watch as a family movie night
• Reading "What do animals do at nighttime"
• coloring sheets and worksheets of owls  (free from Scholastic Learner)
• Utilizing the owl activities from the Evan Moore Theme unit book   , "nighttime creatures" section. (multiple crafts with learning components--all very easy)
• Making pinecone owls, like these I found on Pinterest

You can also do:

• Have a Harry Potter Fan? learn about Hedgewig, Harry Potter's owl. Younger kids will enjoy learning about Hedgewig, older kids could write a report on the type of owl she is and her indelible characteristics.
• Talk about why owls are considered "wise".
• Turn a pumpkin into an owl, using a child proof craft glue, feathers, and felt, or simply with construction paper, like this one:

We chose Owls  this year as our fun theme. Every October we also start some extra work on Saints, since Nov. 1st is All Saint's day, and there are always some Halloween crafts to be had as well. Here are some other great choices for October Theme Units:

• Halloween
• History of Halloween
• Harvest
• Scarecrows
• Pumpkins
• Farm
• Corn
• leaves
• Fire Safety Month
• Saints (if you are Catholic)

(Look for new planned out theme units, categorized by month, already made up for you to give you ideas for your own homeschool or classroom , each month under our "Theme Units" page across the top!)

I will leave you with a few more OWL inspired crafts and pumpkins from pinterest. Enjoy!

**owl pictures from pinterest. Please see this board for the original credits.
**This post is linked up to Mommy Moment Fall Link Up.

Blessings,