We love creative thematic units. We use unit studies to learn about everything except our core curriculum (like math, science, and language arts). Today, I’m sharing with your our I Am a Bunny Unit Study based around the book I Am A Bunny illustrated by Richard Scarry. It was one of my favorite books growing up and my kids love it, too!
I Am a Bunny Unit Study: Younger Kids
Since I Am a Bunny is meant for a younger audience, I was a bit stumped on how to make a unit study appropriate for older children. If Bo was a little older, we would have discussed seasons and weather changes, using questions like:
What do you wear in each season?
Is winter hot or cold?
What grows in each season?
Why does weather change?
What are the benefits to changing weather?
What do different temperatures feel like?
Since Monkey is beyond such questions, I decided to dig a little deeper for this subject. We ended up exploring the book from a naturalist standpoint.
I Am a Bunny Unit Study: Older Kids
We decided to become naturalists and explore bugs and plants native to Texas, since there were many plants and bugs mentioned in the book. I am sure other regions would also have easy-access guides to plants and bugs where you live.
Seasonal Plants Native to Texas
I had Monkey go out into the yard and find a variety of plants for each season. We used twigs for winter, flowers for spring, leaves for summer, and dead leaves for fall. We discussed the various types of plants that would emerge during each season in Texas.
Monkey then glued the bits of nature to a piece of paper that I had divided into four sections for each season. I thought about making a printable for it, but all I did was divide a piece of paper into four sections, and I’m pretty sure that’s too simple for a printable. 🙂
Next, we discussed various bugs that we would find in each season in Texas.
I had Monkey draw a diagram of each seasonal bug. She chose a brown recluse spider for winter, a Lepidoptera moth for spring, a Cicada for summer, and a Ladybug for fall.
Note: I don’t think you would find spiders during the winter, but Monkey didn’t want to draw a roach, which is just about the only bug you will find here during the winter.
We read some homeschool mini-unit studies. which is a comprehensive study on how to identify many insects common to Texas.
Our project was simple and educational- which is my favorite kind of project. Monkey loved that she got to go outside to hunt for the plants, and she also loved the hands-on aspect.
