Dandelions: Summer Homeschooling Activities for Kids
Published:
May 22, 2019
Contributor:
Sarita Harbour
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Getting out in warmer temperatures gives us so many opportunities to learn about nature, weather, gardening, and foraging in a hands-on environment. And no matter where you live if you’re outdoors through the summer months, chances are you’ll see dandelions – maybe right in your front lawn.
Guess what? Here’s the chance to teach your children an important life skill – weeding! However, take note: dandelions are much more than a common weed.
Learn more about dandelions with these summer free activities, printables, unit studies and books. (Note: some of these resources are included in our Great Big List of Foraging and Wildcrafting Freebies – see link at the bottom of this post.)
Dandelions: Summer Homeschooling Activities for Kids of All Ages
Even preschoolers in the 2 1/2-to-4-years age range can get in on dandelion fun with activities like making dandelion crowns, painting, and sensory bin activities. You’ll find them here: 10 Fun Activities With Dandelions| Teaching Mama
Dandelion Lifecycle Lesson Plan
If you like the idea of turning dandelion-weed-pulling into a full-blown homeschool lesson, try this two-week dandelion lesson plan to teach your first-to-third grade students about the lifecycle of a plant. Your homeschool activities include using research notebooks in your homeschool, learning about scientific observation, recording, measuring, and studying the stages of plant growth.
A Lesson Plan on the Lifecycle of a Dandelion
Make Dandelion Treats and More – Candies, Desserts, Salves and Soaps
Summer is a good time to experiment with using foraging to teach your children and collecting wild greens and edibles to turn into healthy dishes and natural cosmetics and medicines.
As with all foraging activities, please do so safely. Do not gather dandelions from areas where they could be exposed to toxic fumes or pesticides, such as beside busy highways.
Colleen over at Grow Forage Cook Ferment has collected a huge list of dandelion recipes right here: 50+ Dandelion Recipes: Drinks, Sweets, Soap, Remedies + More.
Many of these recipes are very simple to make, and a good family activity with younger children washing dandelions and measuring ingredients. And if you have older children comfortable cooking in the kitchen, they could even tackle baking with dandelions on their own.
Dandelion Art Tutorials
If you have a budding artist or two in your homeschool, this easy-to-follow Easy Dandelion Art Tutorial makes a good rainy day activity.
Your littlest homeschoolers might enjoy this Dandelion Seed Paper Craft with a free template.
Try some fingerpainting dandelion activities – or in this case, thumbprinting with this free Easy Dandelion Thumbprint Kid Craft.
Dandelion Seed Book and Lesson Plan
The Dandelion Seed Book by Joseph Anthony and Chris Arbo (and its sequel, The Dandelion Seed’s Big Dream) is a charming and deceptively simple picture book that includes lessons on mapping and travel, overcoming challenges, and also the science of seed growth. Scholastic has a free downloadable Dandelion Seed Book Lesson Plan here.
