Welcome to Homeschool Holiday of the Day. The site for anyone in education who wants easy, fun curriculum to spice up the mundane. From Fruitcake toss day to Halloween we have you covered! Please visit our START HERE page for ideas on implementing the resources found on this site in your education setting (whatever it may be).
This site is a labor of love and will grow and grow. Is there a Holiday you would like to see featured? Contact us and we will do our best to make it happen! We are glad you are here and hope you enjoy learning and celebrating in your home, classroom, car…wherever you are!
Christy AKA “Mrs. Crabtree” and the Happy Hive Education team
Millions of people visit Zoos each year. The Oldest Zoo in the United States is said to be the Philadelphia Zoo, but New York city had what was called and animal menagerie long before, so the title of “first zoo” can be debated.
If you have the opportunity to visit a Zoo today is a GREAT day to do that. The San Diego Zoo has a variety of “Animal Cams” available for a Virtual Field trip! They also have stories and crafts sure to fill your Zoo Lovers Day with plenty of FUN!
You can also set up your own zoo at home using stuffed animals! Have your learners write facts on index cards and place them in front of each animal exhibit. The facts can vary by age, and be a team effort. For example: Our youngest would write: This is the Giraffe, Giraffe’s have really long necks. The older kids would write that A Giraffe has 7 vertebrae in their 6 foot neck. These facts can be from research or from memory – don’t make it complicated, make it FUN> If you don’t want to use facts – use opinions, or adjectives, or write a sentence describing the animal… the ideas of the indoor zoo are endless. Do you have an idea to add? Please leave a comment and share with the Happy Hive!
The Happy Hive has some favorite books to recommend for Zoo Lovers:
Reading Books about the topic is always a good idea. You can read both fiction and non-fiction books about the Zoo, or animals in general to celebrate today’s Holiday.
The main reason for going to a zoo is to see the animals, at least for our family. So how about celebrating today with researching your favorite animal? Below is an EASY organizer for an Animal report.
Full Project available for purchase on Teachers Pay Teachers
We also have an animated power point presentation (don’t have power point? That’s ok – upload it into Google Slides!) that presents 10 fun statements about Zoos. Learners predict if the statements are True or False. The presentation contains QR codes to verify the facts and to aid in any additional research for curious learners!
We hope you will consider joining our Curriculum club – Its FREE! You get an Exclusive Freebie each month, previews of upcoming holidays and coordinating products, coupons and MORE! Just click the image below to sign up!
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We hope you will consider following our blog and coming back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday because – there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
April 6, 1830 is when The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized. The Prophet Joseph Smith was divinely authorized to reestablish the Church of Christ on this day.
In 1823, Joseph Smith reported he was visited by an angel named Moroni, who told him of an ancient record containing God’s dealings with the former inhabitants of the American continent. In 1827, Joseph was able to obtain this record. It was said to be inscribed on thin golden plates. Mr. Smith was able to translate its words by the “gift of God.” The result was the Book of Mormon. It was published in March of 1830. On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and became its first president.
Learning about World Religions is an important part of a well rounded experience. Today is a great opportunity for sharing what you know about your religion if you happen to be a member of the Latter Day Saints or finding out more if you are not!
Use this organizer to find out more about the Church of the Latter Day Saints
The QR codes for this activity are aimed more for middle school and high school students. The websites are fact based, and not meant to sway you one way or another, but instead to provide you with an opportunity to learn something new.
If you are looking for something for younger kids you might like:
This book tells the story of Joseph Smith, and the beginning of the Church.
In this book, children can learn about the prophets assotiated with the Mormon faith.
Filled with interesting trivia, you are sure to learn a thing or two- hundred!
If you would like to use a day like today to springboard a study on world religions, I have created a set of organizers that have QR codes to help!
You can learn about Christianity, Church of the Latter Day Saints, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, And Judaism. The pack also includes a blank for you to include you own religion if desired.
We hope you were inspired to learn something new today or share your knowledge with others!
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
Road Maps may become a thing of the past. With ever advancing technology the practical use for the “old-fashioned” map is falling by the wayside.
Maps were drawn by hand by cartographers. The first road map is said to have been drawn by John Ogilby in 1675. Here is what one of the pages looked like:
This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author’s life plus 100 years or fewer.
Map skills are important to have as they help us continue to develop our spatial thinking skills – In basic terms that means we visualize where objects, places, cities, and countries are in relation to one another. Maps help us figure out our place in the world.
Executive functioning tasks and spatial thinking are also directly correlated. As we navigate around our homes and classrooms organizing the tasks, paperwork, etc. we are thinking spatially. We think about our PHYSICAL SPACE.
Activity Idea: Have your learners draw a map of their room or the inside of your house. Depending on their age, will depend on how detailed the map.
GEOGRAPHY is also important to spatial thinking. Learning about, and recognizing the shapes and structures of the continents, globe, cities, etc., as well as studying agriculture and the world economy. Maps and how they organize the data of these topics help us with the spatial thinking associated with these geographical topics.
Activity Idea: Draw a basic map of your neighborhood. Older learners can map more to include your closest grocery store and favorite place to eat. Do you visit a park or museum often? Include that in the map.
We live in Southern California. As part of our schooling we “Disney school” – our activity for today is to draw a map of Disneyland from memory! Activity Idea: Challenge your older learners to complete this or a similar task.
We also use spatial thinking as we PROBLEM SOLVE. Reading a map is a skill that is definitely going to help with those skills! We also need to communicate the information on the map to others.
There is nothing like the REAL DEAL – get real maps, purchase them or visit your local AAA (if you are a member). Activity Idea: Plan an “field trip” to another town, or another state. Just putting the destination into the GPS is not the same thing for “Read a Map Day” !
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
The rainbow is a universal sign of hope! Finding one in the sky has special meaning in the Christian Religion. Not to mention the awesomeness behind the science of the rainbow.
Hoping to find a pot of gold under the rainbow?
Depending on the weather – the chances of actually FINDING a rainbow today might be hard. You can try to make your own rainbow if it happens to be sunny outside. Here’s how:
Grab a garden hose & be sure you are standing with the sun behind you. Hint: your shadow will be in front of you!
If you have a nozzle on the hose, use the setting MIST or FINE. Otherwise, you can put your thumb over the area where the water comes out. Turn the water on slowly. Your thumb should cause the water to “SPRAY” out.
Pretend to water the area slowly, turning your body. Watch for a rainbow to appear above the water spray.
It might take some practice – so stick with it!
If the weather is not conducive to going outside and making your own rainbow…how about a rainbow scavenger hunt? Find objects in the house for every color of the rainbow. You can use this FREE PRINTABLE to help you keep your items organized.
Use this worksheet to find items for every color of the rainbow.
You can also do a photo scavenger hunt for tweens and teens…challenge them to take pictures of themselves with items for each color of the rainbow!
Teen Rainbow scavenger hunt. The winner did not have to do the dinner dishes! Congratulations Goosie!
Looking for more? Check out our complete activity pack.
Learn how light and water make a rainbow! This science reader has great pictures and easy to read, informative text!
Some believe the path to Heaven is across the Rainbow Bridge. This adorable tale explores the special bod we have with our pets.
Guide kids through a great science experiement!
Use this prism to create your own rainbow by splitting white light into the colors of the rainbow. HOURS of fun! Works best when held in direct sunlight.
May the rainbows you find today bring you hope!
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
The lunchtime staple of school children everywhere – today we celebrate the sandwich that will be eaten by many over 2,000 times before high school graduation – the Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich!
My favorite activity to celebrate today in both my classroom and at home, is to have the children write out the instructions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I do not give them any special instructions – just simply tell them to pretend an alien species has arrived on earth and they need to know how to make this sandwich. Then I proceed to follow their instructions EXACTLY. Watch my video to see the end result:
Following instructions is a skill learners need, but so is GIVING instructions. One of my former students recently mentioned she was complemented on how well she wrote instructions and she told her co-workers it was because of THIS peanut butter and jelly activity from 4th grade!
If you would like to use this activity in your home or classroom, it works at any age, but it’s best if you have several entries so you can have unsuccessful sandwiches, before your successful one. I always did the presentation right before lunch and handed the students their sandwich – in all it’s glory! If you have allergy issues and are not allowed to have peanut butter at your school – making a video and showing it would still be fun!
Making your own peanut butter is crazy easy. As long as you are not looking for the smooth, store bought results of jarred peanut butter, I think today is a GREAT day to give it a try! Here is what you need:
2 cups dry roasted Peanuts – unsalted
1/4 tsp salt
blender ( a high powered one works best)
spatula for scraping sides of blender
jar with lid
bread, celery, apples or other item with which to enjoy your peanut butter!
Apples go nicely with homemade peanut butter! I just love the chunky texture!
Add the peanuts to your blender. Use the low speed until the peanuts begin to cream together. When the nuts begin to cream, turn the blender to a medium speed until the peanut butter is as smooth as desired. Scrape the sides of your blender as needed. Add salt and blend again to mix. Put the peanut butter in a jar and refrigerate it overnight to thicken. (NOTE: You can eat it right away, but it will be very soft.)
Be sure to let us know how your sandwiches turn out in the comments below!
Then, sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
Today we celebrate the history of the penny. Worth just 1 cent, the penny is rich in historical value!
Under the Congress of the Confederation, the first “penny” created was the Fugio coin. It is also known as the Franklin Coin, as it was designed by Ben Franklin. It was worth 1/100 of a Spanish dollar and minted ONLY in 1787. They were created by a private coiner and not widely circulated.
The first coin with a value of 1/100 of a U.S. dollar was minted in 1793. It was a “Large Cent” with a diameter of 11⁄8 inch containing the personification of Liberty with flowing hair on the front, and an interlinked chain on the back. This was our first official coinage minted by the United States, on United States Land, using United States equipment. That’s exciting.
The Large Cent was made of copper by the Philadelphia Mint. They were bulky and bigger than modern day quarters.
The Large Cent was replaced by what we now call the penny in 1857.
Did you know that the casual term, penny comes from a British coin of the same name? The official U.S. mint name is “cent” and the U.S. Treasury refers to what we call the penny as a “one cent piece”.
Coincidentally, the penny costs the government of the US more than 1 cent to produce it, and as such it is worth examining the discussion if the penny should continue to be produced. Perhaps today you can create a list outlining the pros and cons of continuing to produce the penny.
Other activities for today:
Examine your pennies and sort them oldest to most modern. Look at the variations in design.
Roll your pennies and deposit them in the bank, or take them to the “Dollar Store” to spend.
If you are interested in collecting pennies, these are great books to get you started:
Pressed Pennies are another fun item to collect. You can store them in a book like this:
Some other fun books that would make a great Read on a day like today:
Go on a walk and see if you can find a penny – you know the saying: Find a penny pick it up, all day long you’ll have good luck!
Homeschool Holiday put together a collection of penny themed quotes in 3 different styles: Trace, Print and Cursive for your copywork pleasure. There are 7 different quotes in this collection and on the last page of the packet you can research the famous people in history credited with their wisdom by scanning the QR codes. The packet is available in both my Teachers Pay Teachers store as well as Amped Up Learning store for just $1.25.
Another EASY activity to do is to gather all the pennies you can find.
1 – 12 inch square of aluminum foil
a large bowl, or bin for water.
12 inch square of foil
sample foil boat
foil boat floating in water
slowly add pennies
boat with a few pennies
more pennies
slowly keep adding pennies
Sample of boat with pennies… keep adding until boat sinks (not shown)
How many pennies will sink a foil boat?
Use the 12 inch foil to make a tin foil boat. Float the boat in the water. Predict how many pennies you can put in the boat before it will sink… add pennies until your boat sinks!
You can build different boats to see if the style makes a difference!
I hope celebrating One Cent Day was fun for you! Feel free to let us know what you did to celebrate in the comments below!
We would also love to have you sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
THANK YOU TO THOSE OF YOU WHO SUPPORTED THIS PROMOTION, THIS PROMOTION ENDED AT 11:59 PM ON APRIL 1, 2020
Happy April Fools day… but this special is NOT for fools. I promise when you get to Amped Up Learning everything in the Homeschool Holiday Store will be FREE. (The discount will apply at checkout, you might see actual prices listed in the store but WOW – do I have value priced curriculum!) Sale starts at 12AM CST !
This is your opportunity to see the quality and variety of what we offer at Homeschool Holiday as well as to begin adding to your curriculum for next year perhaps.
My official “grand opening” and completion of a full year of holiday curriculum is set for July 2020 – Will you be an original member of the Curriculum Club?
The Homeschool Holiday Curriculum Club will contain exclusive FREEBIES, Member’s only curriculum advances and MORE, It’s perfect for homeschoolers, preschools, co-ops, parents and classroom teachers. There is something for everyone!
SIGN UP NOW – IT’S FREE! (You are signing up for the Homeschool Holiday newsletter/Curriculum Club. As a THANK YOU. you will receive exclusive access to our Coaching Content : Reluctant Readers. Video, Handouts and plenty of tips and tricks. Even if you have a confident reader, this is good stuff! Sign up today and become part of the Happy Hive Curriculum Club!
We would also love if you would follow our blog and come back for each FUN Homeschool Holiday – because there is always something to learn!
Check out the other AWESOME sellers offering curriculum on Amped Up Learning. Other sellers are offering discounts today, and you can always find great FREEBIES. Our goal is to provide quality educational materials into the home and classroom!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
On this day in 1858 a patent was granted for attaching an eraser to the end of the pencil. What an amazing update to an already incredible invention!
The yellow pencil is one of the most recognized school supplies of all time. It is indeed one of our earliest writing tools.
If you would like to find out how pencils are made I can recommend this great book: How is a Pencil Made? It outlines production from start to finish and just happens to be aligned with learning standards if that is your thing!
Pencils can be not only a tool for writing, but a tool for art.
The gradual change from light to dark is created by shading. You can create a unique piece of art of your own by creating light and dark areas with just a pencil. Download this FREE worksheet!
TIP: this activity works best with a #2 pencil and not mechanical pencils.
If you would like to learn more about how Pencils are made and create this awesome mini book,
head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store where you can get my Pencil Activity Pack . It contains easy to use QR codes to three different videos about how pencils are made as well as the mini book pattern shown in the picture in both color and black and white.
Here are a few sample pages from the packet:
The packet also contains Fun Pencil flags that are ready to print and share or you can design your own!
Cute pencil flag I create of the Happy Hive School House and a bee.
At the very least I hope you will do all your work today in PENCIL. And don’t worry about those mistakes… I’m thinking that’s why the eraser was invented! We’ll have to see on National Eraser day! It’s on April 15th!
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
International Scribble Day is based on the book “I’m Not just a Scribble…” by Diane Alber. The book not only teaches kindness and acceptance, It shows us that “Great art starts with a Scribble!”
The author has created FREE lesson plans to go with her amazing book. You can download them from Teachers Pay Teachers.
When I was a little girl, my mom would keep me busy by putting a “Scribble” on a piece of paper and it was up to me to make a picture out of the scribble. I LOVED this activity and it kept me busy for hours. Something as simple as this:
Even if you don’t have the book, celebrating today is easy… just put some scribbles on paper and GO! You can use this FREE worksheet to organize your scribbles if you’d like.
Think Scribble art is only for little kids? Teens and adults can do it too. Check out this blogger who takes the scribbles created by their 3 year old and turns them into GENUINE works of art. It’s called: Finish the Scribble Game.
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
Have you ever read the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings trilogy? They are wonderful classics that have delighted readers for years.
Some may find reading them a bit challenging. In that case there are audio versions available!
March 25th is set aside as Tolkien reading day by the Tolkien Society. It is designed to encourage reading Tolkein’s works in homes and classrooms.
According to the Tolkien Society website, March 25th was chosen because The 25th of March was the downfall of the Lord of the Rings (Sauron) and the fall of Barad-dûr.
In case you are not familiar, Tolkien wrote more than just the Lord of the Rings…
Some of our favorites at the Happy Hive are:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – A modern translation of the Middle English romance from the stories of King Arthur. I would say this is a High School Level book or beyond
Beowulf was challenging for my 9th grader, but he stuck with it and ended up loving it by the end.
Letters From Father Christmas is a book I believe every house should have, just as special as the Night Before Christmas. These letters are written in Tolkien’s own writing – to his children from Father Christmas and tell tales of the adventures of the North pole.
Tolkien was also know for making his own languages. The most famous of those being Elvish. These are the languages spoken by the tribes of Elves that are in the Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Perhaps to celebrate today you can read, or listen to the writing of Tolkien.
If you would like to take a stab at language invention there are some books that will help. It’s a great goal !
On a basic level, language invention begins with the invention of an alphabet, so I have this FREE download for you to create your own alphabet! That should bring the celebrating into more households 🙂
If you would like the full activity packet for Read J.R.R. Tolkien Day it is available for purchase in our Teachers Pay Teachers store as well as on Amped Up Learning. Check it out along with the other curriculum available!
Be sure to sign up for our newsletter, follow our blog and come back again for another fun Homeschool Holiday to explore- because there is always something to learn!
With Love,
“Mrs. Crabtree”
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and as such the links I post are affiliate links.
Pressed Pennies are another fun item to collect. You can store them in a book like this: 
