Free Printable Day of the Dead Crafts, Lessons and Activities

El Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, commemorates the lives of beloved dead. Day of the Dead is the Latino version of Catholic All Saints Day and All Souls Day, November 1 and 2. Dia de los Muertos traditions include creating family altars to honor the dead, visiting loved ones' graves and having picnics at the cemetery to be near the departed. Human skulls and skeletons are integral Dia de los Muertos symbols. Items are designed to look like skulls: candles, food and sugar skulls. People paint their faces to represent a skull (called a calavera). Some Halloween traditions developed from Day of the Dead but unlike Halloween, Day of the Dead isn't about scaring people. It's a religious holiday, culminating the Catholic holy days with pre-Columbian Aztec, Mixtec, Olmec and Toltec rituals of Mexico. If you need free printable Day of the Dead lesson plans to teach students about this popular cultural holiday, read on. Use the for homeschooled, public and parochial schooled kids.

Tiki Chris at Flickr has designed awesome free printable skull patterns from one basic skull template. Print these in black and white for students to color. Or print the basic skull template and have a calavera skull decorating contest! This would make an excellent art or social studies project. Using one basic pattern, students can exhibit their creativity in design. Kids will love making connections with this beautiful heritage art from Mexico.

QuestConnect.org has free printable Dia de los Muertos lesson plans and activities to thoroughly explore the Day of the Dead. Make papel picado banners, sugar skulls and skeleton crafts. Kids can learn the geography and culture of Mexico with an Oaxaca puzzle. Arty Ness has free printable Day of the Dead coloring pages, art projects, crafts with skeletons and skulls and more. Mr. Donn has a plethora of free printable Dia de Los Muertos lesson plans and activities. Use these for history, culture, geography and social studies lesson plans for middle school age kids.

Enchanted Learning has free Day of the Dead lesson plans to print. A-Z Central has a whole website devoted to Dia de los Muertos activities. Print and make crafts. Listen to music. Learn about the culture of Mexico. Play games. Learn to make recipes and foods from Mexico. National Geographic has vocabulary lessons on Day of the Dead. There's an awesome picture gallery.

Many parents, particularly Christian parents, don't celebrate Halloween. But don't mistake Day of the Dead skull for Halloween and ignore this rich, cultural festival. And don't let the skulls and skeletons freak you out. They show honor to the dead, not ghoulish fascination with death. These are as reverently handled as the nativity scenes at Christmas. And educators, if you teach ESL, please consider hosting a Day of the Dead party for students. It's good to learn about each other's cultures plus it makes Hispanic students feel more at home.

Free Printable Sukkot Lesson Plans for Jewish Kids

Sukkot is the Jewish harvest holiday. It starts in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, four days after Yom Kippur. In the western calendar it begins early fall and lasts for seven days. In 2015, Sukkot begins at sundown on September 27 ends October 4. It's also known as the Festival of Booths or Tabernacles. Based on a Biblical injunction, during Sukkot, Jews build outdoor huts called "sukkahs. They live, eat, pray and perform ceremonies using the "four species"--etrog (citron or lemon), lulav (palm fronds), willow twig (aravot) and myrtle twigs (hadassim). Here are free printable Sukkot lesson plans, Jewish activities to teach children about Hebrew holidays.

Torah Tots is a good place to start for things Jewish for kids. It has free printable Succot activities, crafts, lesson plans, coloring pages, recipes, songs, prayers and Parsha (scripture) readings. Children will enjoy playing online games, too. Look for all Jewish holiday activities here. The fall ones include Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, then Succot (another spelling), Shmini Atzeret, Simchat Torah and Chanukah. DLTK has free printable Jewish crafts for younger children based on general Hebrew themes. The Lookstein Center for Jewish Studies has a comprehensive list of free printable Sukkot lesson plans for older children.

Chabad is another great resource for Jewish families. Here are free printable Sukkot coloring pages, prayers, recipes, games, crafts and activities. Tips for building a sukkah are included, as well as activities to explore Sukkot and other Hebrew holy days. Jewish Homeschool has a plethora of free Hebrew holiday printables, including some for Sukkot. There are homeschool helps, too. Judaism 101 has free printable Sukkot prayers and kaddish (blessings) to observe a proper festival.

Free Printable Columbus Day Activities, medieval maritime, navigation lesson plans

Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12. In school, kids study the voyages and exploration of Christopher Columbus. But you can study American history on any U.S. holiday--Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July or Labor day. Re-discover American history--or discover it anew if you've never paid attention before. 

The best place to start is at the beginning, which usually assumed to be with the discovery of the "New World" by Christopher Columbus. The land now called "America" didn't start when the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus stumbled upon it. Christopher Columbus wasn't even the first European to find it and he certainly wasn't the first world traveler to. 

St. Brendan and the Vikings beat him to it. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovery of the New World because he brought attention to it as no one had before. Here are free printable Christopher Columbus lessons on world explorers, colonial expansion, early mapmaking and navigation.

Garden of Praise says that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa in Italy. He was part of the massive push by world explorers to discover unknown regions. Columbus's real skills lay in mapmaking and marine navigation. Check out these awesome free printable medieval navigation tools like the ones Columbus would have used. 

Experiment with the sextant, astrolabe, kamal, cross-staff and quadrant. Bear in mind, these tools were the keys to unlocking the secrets of the unknown world. Many world explorers were looking for a new trade route to the West Indies. And the only way to get the spices, silk, opium and trade goods was to sail east. This was a long, hard trip and 99 percent died trying. So Columbus decided to do something new and (most agreed) crazy.

As navigation and mapmaking expert, Columbus studied geography inside and out. He would try going west to get to the east. He would avoid the whole Straits of Magellan mess and try getting to the West Indies through the back door. But people believed that the world was flat. No one knew what was in the west sea. People thought Columbus had gone berserk. "You'll fall off from the earth!" they said. (Students, if you like to be different, like Columbus, check out those earlier links for free printable navigation and mapmaking his way.)

Ocean voyages also cost a lot of money, so Columbus needed a royal patron to sponsor the trip. But no one wanted to invest in his nutty scheme and he had a hard time convincing anyone to lend him the money. Finally, Columbus asked Queen Isabella I of Spain. That good lady wanted more land for her empire so even though everyone thought Columbus was wrong to sail west, the queen agreed to help. Columbus assembled three ships with crew and supplies. He named them Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria after the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus. He hoped they would bless his journey.

The three ships set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492. On October 11, Columbus got a major surprise when he bumped smack dab into a chunk of land he hadn't expected to be there. Where his navigation predicted the West Indies, was a previously unknown land which today is called the Bahamas. Still thinking he was somewhere in India, he decided this must be the East Indies. He called the native people "indios" or Indians. The myth persisted and the name stuck. That's why native American peoples are referred to and still refer to themselves sometimes as American Indians.

But not finding the West Indies and finding this New World instead wasn't all bad for Columbus Part of the agreement with Queen Isabella was that Columbus would get 10% of everything he discovered. Imagine owning 10% of North, South and Central America?! Of course as the magnitude of his find reached European ears, his piece of the pie was drastically reduced. But Columbus was made governor of Hispaniola, the name for the New World. That was a better deal that most world explorers got!

However some complained that Christopher Columbus was cruel to the local people whom he ruled. Columbus returned in chains to Spain and was put on trial. He was acquitted and allowed to return, but was not allowed to govern Hispaniola again. Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all. He died on May 20, 1506, believing he had found and should own "East India." The U.S. celebrates Columbus's voyages on October 12. For free printable Christopher Columbus lessons and world explorers, mapmaking and navigation activities, click the links in this article.

For more free printable social studies lesson plans, including a whole unit on American history activities, scroll around this blog Free Printable Lesson Plans or Free Lesson Plans 4U.

Free Printable Columbus Day Activities, medieval maritime, navigation lesson plans

Columbus Day is celebrated on October 12. In school, kids study the voyages and exploration of Christopher Columbus. But you can study American history on any U.S. holiday--Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July or Labor day. Re-discover American history--or discover it anew if you've never paid attention before. 

The best place to start is at the beginning, which usually assumed to be with the discovery of the "New World" by Christopher Columbus. The land now called "America" didn't start when the Italian navigator Christopher Columbus stumbled upon it. Christopher Columbus wasn't even the first European to find it and he certainly wasn't the first world traveler to. 

St. Brendan and the Vikings beat him to it. Christopher Columbus is credited with discovery of the New World because he brought attention to it as no one had before. Here are free printable Christopher Columbus lessons on world explorers, colonial expansion, early mapmaking and navigation.

Garden of Praise says that Christopher Columbus was from Genoa in Italy. He was part of the massive push by world explorers to discover unknown regions. Columbus's real skills lay in mapmaking and marine navigation. Check out these awesome free printable medieval navigation tools like the ones Columbus would have used. 

Experiment with the sextant, astrolabe, kamal, cross-staff and quadrant. Bear in mind, these tools were the keys to unlocking the secrets of the unknown world. Many world explorers were looking for a new trade route to the West Indies. And the only way to get the spices, silk, opium and trade goods was to sail east. This was a long, hard trip and 99 percent died trying. So Columbus decided to do something new and (most agreed) crazy.

As navigation and mapmaking expert, Columbus studied geography inside and out. He would try going west to get to the east. He would avoid the whole Straits of Magellan mess and try getting to the West Indies through the back door. But people believed that the world was flat. No one knew what was in the west sea. People thought Columbus had gone berserk. "You'll fall off from the earth!" they said. (Students, if you like to be different, like Columbus, check out those earlier links for free printable navigation and mapmaking his way.)

Ocean voyages also cost a lot of money, so Columbus needed a royal patron to sponsor the trip. But no one wanted to invest in his nutty scheme and he had a hard time convincing anyone to lend him the money. Finally, Columbus asked Queen Isabella I of Spain. That good lady wanted more land for her empire so even though everyone thought Columbus was wrong to sail west, the queen agreed to help. Columbus assembled three ships with crew and supplies. He named them Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria after the Blessed Virgin and Child Jesus. He hoped they would bless his journey.

The three ships set sail from Palos, Spain on August 3, 1492. On October 11, Columbus got a major surprise when he bumped smack dab into a chunk of land he hadn't expected to be there. Where his navigation predicted the West Indies, was a previously unknown land which today is called the Bahamas. Still thinking he was somewhere in India, he decided this must be the East Indies. He called the native people "indios" or Indians. The myth persisted and the name stuck. That's why native American peoples are referred to and still refer to themselves sometimes as American Indians.

But not finding the West Indies and finding this New World instead wasn't all bad for Columbus Part of the agreement with Queen Isabella was that Columbus would get 10% of everything he discovered. Imagine owning 10% of North, South and Central America?! Of course as the magnitude of his find reached European ears, his piece of the pie was drastically reduced. But Columbus was made governor of Hispaniola, the name for the New World. That was a better deal that most world explorers got!

However some complained that Christopher Columbus was cruel to the local people whom he ruled. Columbus returned in chains to Spain and was put on trial. He was acquitted and allowed to return, but was not allowed to govern Hispaniola again. Christopher Columbus made four voyages in all. He died on May 20, 1506, believing he had found and should own "East India." The U.S. celebrates Columbus's voyages on October 12. For free printable Christopher Columbus lessons and world explorers, mapmaking and navigation activities, click the links in this article.

For more free printable social studies lesson plans, including a whole unit on American history activities, scroll around this blog Free Printable Lesson Plans or Free Lesson Plans 4U.

Free Printable Yom Kippur Activities

Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, takes place in the month of Tishrei on the Hebrew calendar, ten days after Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year. Here are free printable Yom Kippur activities for kids. Yom Kippur is part of the Days of Awe. It's the highest of the high holy days.

Torah Tots. Jewish families should definitely bookmark Torah Tots as it is loaded with free printable Jewish activities for kids, games, lessons, crafts, recipes, coloring pages, cut and paste, puzzles and online activities for kids. This link takes you to the free printable Yom Kippur activities for kids pages. And don't let the name Torah "tots" throw you. Older kids will be better able to use the site because many of the activities require reading skills. Please be sure to visit all the holiday and holy day activities for kids on Torah Tots. Explore Jewish holidays, traditions, symbols and general knowledge of the Torah.

You can find a weekly Parsha activities for kids. The Parsha is a scripture text from the Torah, explained for kids. There is a link to the Midrash Maven (Midrash is a commentary on parts of the Torah). Parsha is similar to a Christian sermon or homily. Chabad has a gajillion free printable Hebrew activities for kids, including games, coloring pages, puzzles and lessons plans for holy days like the Day of Atonement. Help kids explore the Jewish Day of Atonement. These activities are geared for children over seven or eight.

A Kids' Heart has fifteen free printable Day of Atonement activities for kids, geared for younger children. There are free printable Yom Kippur coloring pages, word search, fill-in-the-blank and some cut and paste diorama activities. This site is useful for Jewish and non-Jewish people who wish to learn more about the Hebrew faith.

Teacher Vision is a subscriber site. You can access some free printable activities for kids without a subscription. This link will take you to a lesson page about Yom Kippur. This activity is geared toward non-Jews, to help them understand the Hebrew faith. Jewish Homeschool Resources has tons offree printable Hebrew holy day activities for kids, including Yom Kippur. First School Resources has more free printable Yom Kippur and Day of Atonement activities for kids.

For more information on Judaism, Jewish holidays, the Jewish calendar and all things Hebrew, visitJew FAQ otherwise known as Judaism 101. For more world holiday activities visit Free Printable Holiday and Free Printable Lesson Plans. Gmar Hatima Tova.

Free Printable Apple, Plant Science

Autumn in Michigan means apples. Apples are a common theme for preschool and elementary school students. Teachers and homeschoolers, are you teaching a fall apple unit? Here's a sweet treat for you: 166 pages of free printable apple themed worksheets and lesson plans.

Northville Cider Mill in Northville, Michigan offers a free printable apple-themed activities booklet, There are printable coloring pages, worksheets, puzzles, games, word searches and crossword puzzles on apples. There are apple-themed cross-curricular science experiments, social studies connections, economics lessons, Michigan history activities, apple math problems and more.

Each lesson has a printable student copy and teacher answer key. Use this book for all ages from preschool to grade 8. It can easily be used with special education students, too.

Now scoot over to A to Z Teacher Stuff for more links to dozens of free printable apple lesson plans, crafts, mini booklets, games and worksheets. Most are geared to ages pre-K to grades 4.

Kinderplans has cute free printable apple themed reading and phonics lessons for preschool and kindergarten. There are other printables based on apples, too. Print apple math lessons on counting, addition and subtraction. Print reading activities and games for emergent and reluctant readers. Special education will love the bright, cheery apple activities geared no-fail fun.

For more worksheets and printables visit my blogs Free Printable Lesson Plans, DIY Homeschooland Free Lesson Plans 4U.

Free Printable September 11 Lesson Plans, Memorial Activities

As Britain commemorates Guy Fawkes Day on November 5, Americans "remember, remember the 11th of September." On the 14th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, how can we commemorate in a proactive way? A nonprofit called My Good Deed, suggests making it a National Day of Service and Remembrance reports the International Business Times. But how do you teach children why September 11 is so important? How do you explain what happened to the World Trade Center, Flight 93 and Pentagon? How can you help them understand war, violence and terrorism? Here are free printable September 11 lesson plans to help.

Scholastic has a free printable September 11 unit filled with activities, titled "9/11/2011: The Day that Changed America." There are dozens of social studies, history, government and civics lessons. Resources include primary sources (original pictures and documents), timelines, graphs, charts and maps. There are critical thinking and writing prompts, memorial activities, movie and book connections. There are September 11 units for preschool up to grade 8.

Education World presents a compendium of 9/11 printables and activities for teaching about tragedy, terrorism and tolerance. There are resources on Islam and its perspective, too. Lessons cover not just the who, what, when, where and how of the September 11 attacks, but the why, as well. Children learn why the U.S. was attacked, what we can do about it, what's been done, and why we must not forget.

PBS has a collection of free September 11 lesson plans geared primarily at students in middle school and high school. These lessons explore 9/11 in the larger world context and how the September 11 attacks affected the world. ABC Teach has a package of printable 9/11 lesson plans for younger children. There are coloring pages, writing prompts and vocabulary puzzles. These activities help kids who didn't experience September 11 understand why it's so important to those who did. Children see destruction and violence on television and video games all the time. 9/11 can seem unreal.

9/11 Memorial is museum, archive, repository and exhibition built at the site of the World Trade Center. This website offers virtual tours, photo walls, and features twin pools at ground zero, inscribed with the names of the victims. If children can't visit the 9/11 Memorial, a virtual classroom tour will help them explore. Here is the page with free printable 9/11 Memorial lesson plans .

Kids might make a memorial drawing quilt. Ask children to draw or color a picture reflecting the 9/11 attacks. Don't set boundaries. Let kids express feelings in any way that they need to. Collect the drawings and tape them together to form a September 11 "quilt." The quilt may be a thank-you for National Guard or public safety officers, too. Send it to a victim, rescue worker or veteran memorial group or display in your school.

Coloring may seem like a superficial way to commemorate a disaster. For children, it's therapeutic. It's like journaling for an adult. Drawing helps children access and express emotions. When a child hears sad news, drawing is a first response because he hasn't learned how to share feelings in words, written or spoken, Children show empathy for suffering people, making cards for them. There is so little anyone, let alone a kid, can do about tragedy. Simple acts of kindness, like drawing a picture, help heal.

Free Printable Weather Activities, Coloring Pages

Spring means severe weather and increased concern for natural disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires and earthquakes. Here are free printable weather science lesson plans on natural disasters, fire safety, emergency preparedness and other severe weather issues.

NOAA, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, has free printable severe weather science lesson plans. Print materials from the NWS (National Weather Service) and the Red Cross. There is a series of free printable severe weather science booklets from the Red Cross on Owlie Skywarn, an owl who teaches children about different kinds of weather. Owlie covers thunder storms, tornadoes, lightning, floods, hurricanes and winter storms. The booklet is 44 pages long and contains free printable coloring pages. Learn about severe weather with Billy and Maria. These children explore storms, lightning, hurricanes, fire safety and emergency preparedness in free printablesevere weather coloring pages, puzzles, word searches and weather experiments.

NOAA has a free printable booklet about the tsunamis and earthquakes with Tommy Tsunami and Ernie Earthquake. It explores the relationship between the two phenomena. This booklet is 15 pages long and has several activities for weather science units. There is a free printable guide to make a weather satellite, too.

Ready.gov is the homepage for free printable emergency safety kids activities from FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Children can follow Herman the hermit crab as he teaches children about emergency preparedness, weather science, natural disasters, This site helps children create emergency safety response plans.

Spring severe weather science is also concerned with wildfires which are sparked by droughts. October is offical Fire Prevention month. You could follow up weather science units with science lessons on wildfires and fire safety. Visit Sparky.for free printable fire safety and emergency safety games, coloring pages and activities about fire prevention. Over 75 years ago, a little bear was discovered wandering alone after wildfires, then called a forest fires, took his home. He was namedSmokey Bear and he became the voice for forest rangers and fire prevention. Get free printable fire emergency safety help there too.

Ready.gov is a natural disasters emergency preparedness website maintained by FEMA with free printable severe weather resources, lesson plans, emergency planning kits and lots of resources. Ready.gov teaches students about natural disasters and weather-related emergency safety. You'll find lesson plans and activities for wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, storm safety, floods, blizzards, droughts and more. The focus of the website is two-pronged: Make an Emergency Plan and Get a Kit. Ready.gov provides printable checklists to prepare for disaster.

Children might read The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck to learn more about tidal waves (now called tsunamis). The Big Wave is a 1948 story of a Japanese family's experiences following a tsunami. After the 2004 tsunami, Scholastic Books made copies of this book available at reduced rates, to help children understand the event.This books explains floods and hurricane storm surges like the one that drowned New Orleans and much of the gulf coast in Hurricane Katrina of 2005.

Free Printable Labor Day Coloring Pages and Lesson Plans

Spring is a poignant time in labor history. March 25, 1911 remembers 146 workers, mostly women, lost in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. April 16 mourns Ireland's Easter Rising of slain Feinians. April 28 marks Workers' Memorial Day, on which the organized labor movement pays tribute to the fallen in workplace accidents or in organized labor struggles. May 1 is May Day, honoring International Workers' Day. May 4 commemorates casualties at Chicago's Haymarket riot at a 1886 labor rally. May 19, 1920 is a day when the organized labor movement grieves the Matewan and Mingo County massacre of coal miners. On May 26, 1937 those who would from unions were assaulted at Ford's River Rouge plant "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

Organized labor history is taught as part of American history, but there is no American (or world) history without labor history. Unions, collective bargaining--the fight for workers' rights impact every industry, occupation and person. Teachers and homeschoolers, you can educate students about unions with these free printable May Day and labor history lesson plans. These links include websites, activities, worksheets, movies and books on the organized labor movement.

The American Labor Studies Center offers a gamut of free printable organized labor movement lesson plans. It covers history, events, strikes, lockouts, workplace injuries, child labor, working conditions, collective bargaining, 8-hour workday, sweatshops, slavery, organizing, indentured servitude, socialism and labor, women's rights, African American labor issues, minority discrimination concerns, ULP (unfair labor practices). Lessons cover the Triangle fire (the worst workplace accident in history), West Virginia labor, Pullman Strike (1894), Lawrence Textile Strike (1913), Lowell Strike, Paterson Silk Strike, agriculture strikes and other events. Get free printable union labor worksheets, fill-ins, puzzles and study guides. There are links to films and books.

Modern Heroes of the American Labor Movement explores famous labor leaders: Noam Chomsky, Joe Hill, "Big Bill" Haywood, Pete Seeger, Jimmy Hoffa, Caesar Chavez, the Wisconsin 14 and others from the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), AFL-CIO, Teamsters and more. Here's another list ofbiographies of union organizers. This site has biographies of women labor leaders including Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Mary Harris "Mother" Jones and more. To use in lessons, print the list of names on one side and short bios on the other side (mixed up). Students match person with details. Print photos and pin to a map at places they are associated with. Or make a time line along the wall. Plot images in history.

The National Endowment for the Humanities offers two companion lessons in its series The Industrial Age in America. "Sweatshops, Steel Mills and Factories" and "Robber Barons and Captains of Industry" define the problems faced by workers in labor history and the reasons for the organized labor movement. Use the worksheets and activities with middle school and high school students.

The Walter P. Reuther Library of Labor and Urban Affairs at Wayne State University in Detroit maintains the largest organized labor history archive in the U.S. It has an impressive collection of images in physical exhibits and digital archives on The Labor Movement and Organizations. It also maintains a labor history document base. The library is named for the leaders of UAW (United Auto Workers) and CIO (Congress of Industrial Organizations) unions Walter Reuther who was one of several injured at Ford's Rouge factory "Battle of the Overpass" in Detroit.

The United Farm Workers is the union begun by Cesar Chavez that tends to itinerant and agricultural labor issues. Along with labor movement, the UFW educates people about food safety, immigration, deportation, earth and green initiatives, pesticides and more. An important piece is the youth activism page. UFW seeks to take union and agricultural awareness beyond the classroom walls and into real life.

The Wobblies is a documentary about the IWW (the Industrial Workers of the World). The IWW is a world-wide union that seeks to organize all workers regardless of occupation. This authoritative video is engaging and covers a broad labor perspective. It helps students understand the differences between business, trade and collective unions. The IWW honors May Day as the real Labor Day.

In honor of May Day, here's a quote from the Albert Shanker Institute. "Imagine opening a high school U.S. history textbook and finding no mention of-or at most a passing sentence about-Valley Forge, the Missouri Compromise...Benjamin Franklin, Lewis and Clark. Imagine if these key events and people just disappeared as if they'd never existed...That is what has happened in history textbooks when it comes to labor's part in the American story." Use these lesson plans to keep the May Day stories and message alive.

Free Printable Severe Weather Activities, Coloring Pages

NOAA, the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration, has free printable severe weather science lesson plans. Print materials from the NWS (National Weather Service) and the Red Cross. There is a series of free printable severe weather science booklets from the Red Cross on Owlie Skywarn, an owl who teaches children about different kinds of weather. Owlie covers thunder storms, tornadoes, lightning, floods, hurricanes and winter storms. The booklet is 44 pages long and contains free printable coloring pages. Learn about severe weather with Billy and Maria. These children explore storms, lightning, hurricanes, fire safety and emergency preparedness in free printablesevere weather coloring pages, puzzles, word searches and weather experiments.

NOAA has a free printable booklet about the tsunamis and earthquakes with Tommy Tsunami and Ernie Earthquake. It explores the relationship between the two phenomena. This booklet is 15 pages long and has several activities for weather science units. There is a free printable guide to make a weather satellite, too.

Free Printable Rango Coloring Pages, Desert Craft Activities

Archaeology is one of the most fascinating branches of science and caves are one of nature's most alluring geological landforms to explore. Caves are a separate biome all their own. They've been used as habitats by animals and people. Bats are cave dwellers and dinosaurs dwelt in caves. Mystics have sought divine enlightenment living as hermits in caves. Ancient people left hieroglyphics on walls of caves, like those at Lascaux, France. Caves yield up a treasure trove of fossils and teach valuable lessons in archaeology and paleontology. Teachers and homeschool families, if you're planning a unit on caves (and you really should) here are free printable lesson plans on cave-related subjects of fossils, bats, archaeology, paleontology, habitats, geology, spelunking and earth science.

The National Parks Service has free printable lessons on the U.S. national park at Carlsbad Cavernsin New Mexico. There's curriculum for elementary school in the free printable booklet About Bats, Caves and Deserts. For middle school students, the NPS Carlsbad Caverns website features free printable archaeology lessons on Caves, Canyons, Cactus and Critters. High school students explore geology, spelunking, Global Positioning Systems and orienteering in the Chihuahuan Desert Lab school. Materials are designed to be used with interpretive visits but some may be used as stand-alone lessons in class. Check out the cool activities on fossils, bats, paleontology and other cave phenomena.

Also from the NPS, are free printable materials on Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. There are free coloring pages, word games, puzzles and lesson plans in the Junior Ranger section. Kids will love the printable Trog Tour booklet (trog is short for super cool fossils called troglodytes) The Making Connections series from Mammoth Cave National Park features books for grades K-3, 4-5 and 6-8. There are 83 pages of free printable paleontology lesson plans for teachers and homeschool parents. And be sure not to let young archaeology students miss the free printable Fossil Identification Guide with coloring pages of fossils to label.

Lascaux Culture has interactive lesson plans on Lascaux cave drawings. Explore paleontology and archaeology with the prehistoric paintings, There are cave maps, images, videos and timelines. The website has interpretive information detailing the images, their purpose and their significance. You can access the site in several languages including English, but the educational "resources" link is available only in French.

Easy Fun School has free cave diorama lesson plan. The diorama is easy to make and uses cheap, household materials.has free printable animal habitat coloring pages. Students can research which animals live or hibernate in caves. This site has other free printable habitats dioramas. Crayola offers a free craft template to show interior cave rock formations.

Cave stalactites grow downward from the ceiling. The word comes from the Greek "to drip" (stalactites resemble icicles). Stalagmites grow up from the cave floor and look like upside down icicles. In Greek, the word means "trickling." Use these activities to demonstrate how stalactites and stalagmites grow. Crystal Cave in Wisconsin offers tours and family activities to explore this famous cave. Here are free printable geology lesson plans on archaeology, paleontology, bats, and fossils.

Free Printable Patriotic Activities for Memorial Day

Several US national holidays center on patriotic events in American history--Memorial Day, Flag Day, 4th of July, Columbus Day, Veterans Day and Presidents Day. So here are free printable patriotic crafts and red white and blue crafts and art projects. These free printable activities might easily be used as lesson plans for school or homeschool to teach American history, government, civics, social studies, geography, current events, US history and other similar classes.

All Crafts has a blowout of red white and blue crafts projects to use for major US national holidays. Use these free printable patriotic crafts for US national holidays like Memorial Day and 4th of July but also for lesson plans on Presidents Day, Constitution Day or even Election Day. Pecuniarities has a cute free printable toy soldiers crafts, perfect for Presidents Day and military holidays and US national holidays. Print toy soldiers, cut them out, wrap around toilet paper tubes and glue. Free Kids Crafts offers free printable patriotic crafts, games, activities, puzzles, paper dolls and paper airplanes. Use these for American history or Presidents Day activities!

The Toymaker has free printable patriotic crafts, red white and blue crafts and American history art projects. Making Friends always has lots of great crafts, including free printable patriotic crafts and RWB activities. You'll like the games,puzzles and mazes for US national holidays too. Teacher Vision has a bunch of educational free printable patriotic crafts. DL-TK has a loads of free printable red white and blue crafts and art projects and patriotic crafts for American history and US national holidays. Activity Village has free printable red white and blue crafts and art projects for all US national holidays. Here's the Presidents Day page but check the side menu and home page for season by season holiday activities.