Dawn Publications
Downloadable Activities by Book

Activities by Book | Activities by Science Standards | Activities by Type

 

All Around Me I See
Classroom Camouflage- Students participate in an activity which demonstrates how camouflage helps keep animals safe from predators.

 

Around One Log: Chipmunks, Spiders and Creepy Insiders
My Log Home- In this activity, students will observe a rotting log and then write a short story from the perspective of an animal residing in or around the log.
Predator vs. Prey- In this activity, students will choose a predator-prey pair and create a poster that describes survival techniques used by both.
What if?- In this activity, students explore the consequences of removing components of a rotting log habitat.

 

Around One Cactus: Owls Bats and Leaping Rats
Desert Erosion- In this activity students study the effects of wind erosion in the desert and how sand dunes are created.
Desert Resource Dictionary- In this activity, students will identify resources from the book, research additional resources and then combine their findings to create a desert resource dictionary.
Desert Terrarium- With this simple desert terrarium, students will be able to experience a close-up look at a “sample” of nature.
Diary of One Desert Night- In this activity, students will explore the creatures in Around One Cactus and create a diary of significant events that may have occurred overnight.
Save Our Desert Home- Students reflect on the different aspects of desert animal home and then create a poster on why their home should be saved.
The Great Saguaro- In this activity, students create a model and discuss how the shape of the cactus supports the ecosystem around it.
The Saguaro Examiner- In this activity, students explore the animals of the Sonoran Desert by creating their own newspaper full of desert events and facts.
US Desert Wall Mural- In this activity, students describe and map out the different desert regions of the United States.
Wanted: Desert Creatures- Students create a “Wanted” poster for some of the more dangerous creatures and learn how different creatures survive in the desert.
Water Babies- Students discover how changes in an animals environment can effect water retention.

 

The BLUES Go Birding Series
The BLUES Clubhouse – Students can find activities, bird song samples, photos and more in The BLUES Go Birding Interactive Clubhouse located at thebluesgobirding.com

 

Drop Around the World
Cloud Maker- Students use imagination and creativity to write a cloud related vertical poem.

 

Eliza and the Dragonfly
Make a Waterscope!- Students construct a waterscope to observe and identify life cycles in a pond, at home, or in the classroom.
Nymphs & Dragonflies Game- In this variation of the popular game of sharks and minnows, students will learn important facts about dragonflies and the insect life cycle.
What Do Dragonflies Eat?- In this activity, students complete a craft project to highlight what dragonflies eat during the three stages of life: egg, nymph, and adult.

 

Forest Bright, Forest Night
Classify It!- Students learn about animal classifications through a guided discussion of the book Forest Night, Forest Bright

 

Gobble, Gobble

(8 MB)
 Nature Exploration Activities- This Activity Kit contains an animal tracks identification game and other nature observation activities for indoors or outdoors.

 

Going Around the Sun: Some Planetary Fun
Act It Out- In this activity, students use reproducible bookmarks for a Charades game about the planets.
Far, Far Away- In this activity, students estimate the approximate distances between the planets.
How Old Are You On Mars?- In this activity, students learn the relationship between the Earth orbiting the Sun and how we measure time.
Line Up- In this activity, students use the reproducible bookmarks to line up in the order of the planets.
Planet Poetry- In this activity, students write a vertical poem describing a planet or other object that goes around the Sun.
Same and Different- In this activity, students describe and compare one of the four inner planets in the book with one of the four outer planets.
Showtime- In this activity, students either perform a Reader’s Theater, or “sing” the story in a movement activity.
Size It!- In this activity, students compare the sizes of planets to different fruits and vegetables.
Who Am I?- In this activity, students use reproducible bookmarks for a guessing game about each planet.
Word Wall Mix-Up- In this activity, students learn sentence structure as they study the planets.
Planetary Fun Activities- Illustrator Janeen Mason shares melted crayon art techniques and author Marianne Berkes offers extended activities.
Going Around the Sun Bookmarks- Featuring the illustrations of Janeen Mason.

 

Going Home: THe Mystery of Animal Migration
Going Home Activities- A collection of activities by Marianne Berkes on animal migration.
Going Home Migration Map- For use with the book and several activities.
Going Home Reader’s Theater- Marianne Berkes has created a delightful readers theater adaptation of Going Home.
Going Home Bookmarks- Featuring the illustrations of Jennifer DiRubbio
NSTA – The Mystery of Migration- A compilation of activities by Emily Morgan and Karen Ansberry. Activities encourage youth grades K-4th to Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate as they learn more about the mysteries of animal migration.

 

Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas
A Resource Guide to Orca Whales
for All Activities
All in the Family Activities- In this activity, students create a classroom totem pole that tells the story of Granny and her family and they make individual totem poles that tell their own family stories. In a second activity students learn how quilts are created and used to tell a story.
Blowholes and Blubber- In this activity, students take on the role of orca scientists to make predictions and conduct an experiment
to learn how blubber helps orcas stay warm in the cold sea. In a second activity, students create life-size dorsal fins for Granny, Ruffles, Suttles and Mako.
Granny’s Clan Bookmarks
More Granny’s Clan Bookmarks!
Can You Speak Orca?- In this activity, students listen to orca calls from Granny’s clan recorded by hydrophones, greet each other in a variety of different languages, and design & publish a Granny’s Clan newspaper
Danger Ahead! – In this activity, students design a spinner that reveals the dangers that threaten Granny’s clan, and then play a game in which they take on the roles of orcas and encounter challenges to their survival.
Explore a Kelp Forest – In this group of activities, students design a travel brochure to tell visitors about the plants and animals that live in a kelp forest, make an orca windsock, and create a miniature kelp forest ecosystem.
Follow That Whale- In this activity, students learn how scientists track an orca pod and follow their activities. They also design a postcard and stamp and write messages about taking a trip to see the orcas of Granny’s clan.
Great Grannies- In this activity, students explore the lives of grandmothers in human and orca families through interviews. They also make scrapbooks to share and record the life stories of orca and human grandmothers, make an orca bookmark and make a birthday card for Granny’s 100th birthday.
Help Wanted- A list of great activities to help protect the marine environment for Granny and the orcas.
Orcas on Stage- In this group of activities, students adapt Granny’s Clan: A Tale of Wild Orcas into a Reader’s Theatre script, create a puppet show performance of Granny’s Clan, write a movie, and make an orca costume
Salmon Journey- In this group of activities, students write and illustrate a picture book that tells the story of a salmon’s life cycle in words and pictures, and explore how salmon use smell to identify their home streams
Seeing With Sounds- In this activity, students learn how to use sounds to find their way and locate objects in a dark environment, and learn how seals recognize the difference between resident orcas that eat only fish and transient orcas who hunt seals.
Staying Warm With Blubber- In this activity, students discover how blubber provides orcas with effective insulation in cold water.
Tell Me a Story- In these activities,students make a Talking Stick and use it to create a story, students work together on a story treasure hunt using a map and clues, and they learn how to write and illustrate a story using a comic strip format.
What’s For Dinner- In this group of activities, students experience how energy flows through an orca food chain, explore how plants and animals interact in an orca food web, and make an orca mobile.
Watch for Whales- In these activities, students experience whale-watching from human and orca viewpoints, experience what it’s like to be an orca trying to communicate a message with loud background noise from boats, and design a poster that explains responsible boater behavior around orcas.
Who’s Who?- In these activities, students learn how to identify individual orcas in Granny’s clan, learn how to create an individual orca ID and make an orca dorsal fin headband with characteristics similar to their individual orca ID

 

How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate
Disappearing Glaciers- Students engage in a group pantomime the life of a glacier, then compare photographs of a glacier over a time span of 88 years.
Life in the Green House- Students create a visual of the greenhouse effect, research the carbon cycle, and then play a game called “Think Dots.”

 

If You Were My Baby
He Looks Nothing Like Mom!- Although many babies look like their parents, some youngsters look nothing at all like their parents! In this activity, children discover the difference between caterpillars and butterflies.
Match Game- In this game, little humans and their adults match the names of animal babies and their parents.

 

In One Tidepool: Crabs, Snails and Salty Tails
Birth Announcement- In this activity, students will discover the differences and similarities between baby tidepool creatures and their parents.
Paper Plate Porthole- Students create a model tidepool and discuss under water exploration inventions.
Sea Star Facts- In this activity, students discover fantastic facts about the sea star.
Tidepool Critters- Students create and maintain a habitat for brine shrimp and then observe them grow over several days.
Wave Action Activity- In this activity, students will explore how tides and waves affect the surface of the earth.

 

In the Trees, Honey Bees
A Time to Dance- In this movement activity, students learn how to communicate like bees – through dance!
Bee Tales- Student’s write a story about a bee’s adventure leaving and returning to the hive.
Beeswax Candle- Students study honeycomb structure by making candles out of beeswax.
Busy as a Bee- Students learn about the different tasks bees attend to in order to help the hive.
Draw a Card- A fast paced card game that teaches students how honey bees interact with their environment.
Flower Power- Students create several bookmarks depicting bees interacting with their environment.
Flying High- Students create a bee mobile and discuss how individual behaviors affect the survival of the entire colony.
Home, Sweet Home- Students create a honey bee hive and discuss how the hive helps the colony survive.
Sunrise, Sunset- Students create a placemat that shows what bees do during the daytime, and what they do at night.
Sweet Treat- Students discover how to make honey butter and discuss how bees make honey and how beekeepers harvest it.

 

Jo MacDonald Had a Garden
Cardinal Adventures- In this activity, children focus on the cardinal and dramatize, draw, and write about its growth cycle and garden experience.
School Garden for Wildlife- IIn this activity, children plant native plants in containers or small school garden and observe their effect on wildlife.
Garden Drama- In this activity and its connections, children do the movements of the song, create pictures of the creatures, and explore seasonal changes.
Garden Treats- IIn this activity, children explore garden fruits and vegetables and make and eat a garden treat.
In a Speck of Soil- In this activity, children use observation and several scientific tools to examine garden soil.
Sunflower Fun- In this activity, children learn about the importance of sunflowers to humans. Native Americans used sunflowers for food, oil, ornamentation, and dye. Children will create their own large sunflowers, sample sunflower seeds, and make a treat for birds.
Toad Tales and Homes- In this activity and its connections, children focus on toads, explore their growth cycle through writing and drawing, and create a toad home.

 

Jo MacDonald Saw a Pond
Dragonfly Tales- In this activity and its related connections, children focus on the Green Darner dragonfly and dramatize, draw and write about its growth cycle and pond experience.
Frog Fun- In this activity and its related connections, children focus on frogs and explore their growth cycle through writing and drawing, and discuss the work of a frog scientist.
In a Drop of Pond Water- In this activity and its related connections, children use observtion and several scientific tools to examine a drop of pond water.
Pond Drama- In this activity and its related connections, children create pictures of the creatures and make their own noises and movements.
Reed Weaving- In this activity and its related connections, children learn about the importance of cattails to humans by finger-weaving their own “reed” mats.

 

Lifetimes
Chimpanzee- Through brainstorm activities, students explore the similarities between chimpanzees and humans.

 

Molly’s Organic Farm
Beneficial Bugs – In this activity students learn about the most prolific of the pollinators the honeybee and make a yummy
treat from honey.
Sense-ational – In this activity, students match sensory words from the story with each of the five senses.
Fruit or Vegetable? – Students play a kinesthetic game of standing up and sitting down as they decide whether a garden plant is
a fruit or a vegetable. This is a good activity to do after students learn about plant parts.
The Seasons – This activity reinforces concepts
about the seasons by having students make watercolor sketches of seasonal vegetables.
Plant Part-y Salad – Students work at stations to prepare vegetables for a big salad as a fun way to review the parts of plants.
Molly’s Organic Farm Bookmarks – Featuring the artwork of Author/Illustrator of Trina Hunner.

 

Nature’s Patchwork Quilt
Creating Nature Play – In this activity children create a three-dimensional diorama of one of the habitats from the book.
I Spy Animals – In this activity, students will identify the names of the plants and animals illustrated in each habitat described in the book.
Nature’s Patchwork Quilt Bookmarks
Where’s the Wilderness Kid? – In this activity, children will find the hidden kids and discuss human activities that can be done in each habitat.
Wonderful Wild Words – In this activity, students match the terms to the correct definitions.
Nature Math Concepts – “Tips from the Author” in the book presents activities based on black and white habitat pages from the book. Downloading this PDF for the black and white images.

 

Noisy Bug Sing-Along
Listening to the Noisy Bugs- Several bug sound activities from Noisy Bug Sing-Along
Listen to Bug Sounds from Noisy Bug Sing-Along!

 

Near One Cattail: Turtles, Logs and Leaping Frogs
A Day in the Life- Students learn about the wide variety of characteristics of wetlands animals through creative writing exercises.
Creature Dominance- In this activity students discuss the different categories of animals and figure out which, if any, dominates the habitat.
Wetlands Collage- In this activity students create a collage from old magazines and discuss what other animals might be found in a wetlands environment.
Wetlands Metaphors- Students compare a wetlands habitat with items in their own homes.

 

On One Flower: Butterflies, Ticks and a Few More Icks
Five Senses- In this activity students discover how the five senses help animals survive in different ways.
Mini-Field Trip- In this activity students will sharpen their powers of observation by closely inspecting a plant.
Not My Habitat- In this activity students explore in a fun way how creatures are adapted to particular habitats.
Picture Perfect- Students are introduced to the book On One Flower through a guided reading session, followed by a discussion of the wide variety of creatures found on a single flower.

 

Over in Australia: Amazing Animals Down Under
Activity Collection- Author Marianne Berkes shares several classroom activities for Over in Australia.
Cut Paper Art- Illustrator Jill Dubin shares tips on creating animals with cut paper art.
Over in Australia Bookmarks- Featuring cut paper art by Jill Dubin.

 

Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow
Activity Collection- Author Marianne Berkes shares several arctic classroom activities.
Cut Paper Art- Illustrator Jill Dubin shares tips on using cut paper to create beautiful art!
Over in the Arctic Bookmarks- Featuring the cut paper art of Jill Dubin.

 

Over in the Forest: Come and Take a Peek
Activity Collection- Author Marianne Berkes shares several outdoor and indoor forest animal activities.
Moving to the Music Activity- In this activity, children sing the “Over in the Meadow” tune and move to the music.
Where’s My Baby Activity- In this activity, students play a game, matching each parent to each baby.
Be a Wildlife Detective Activity- In this outdoor activity, students look for clues, and write down what they see in their journals.
What’s For Dinner Activity- In this activity, students gather information about ten animals in an attribute chart, to determine what they eat.
Who Am I Activity- In this activity, ten students play a guessing game as they try to guess which animal picture they have taped on their backs.
Forest Scavenger Hunt Activity- In this activity, children go on a forest scavenger hunt and learn more about life in a temperate forest. They use only their eyes for this activity and write down what they see.
Cut Paper Art- Illustrator Jill Dubin shares tips on using cut paper to create beautiful art!
Over in the Forest Bookmarks- Featuring the cut paper art of Jill Dubin.

 

Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme
Activity Collection- Author Marianne Berkes shares several rainforest classroom activities.
Polymer Clay Art- Illustrator Jeanette Canyon shares tips on using polymer clay to sculpt colorful creatures!
Over in the Jungle Bookmarks- Featuring the polymer clay art of Jeanette Canyon.
  Over in the Jungle Audio Files (Reading)
  Over in the Jungle Audio Files (Singing)

 

Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef
Activity Collection- Author Marianne Berkes shares several fun classroom activities to use with her award-winning book.
Polymer Clay Art- Illustrator Jeanette Canyon describes how she creates her colorful sea creatures with polymer clay.
Over in the Ocean Bookmarks- Featuring the polymer clay art of Jeanette Canyon.
  Over in the Ocean Audio Files (Reading)
  Over in the Ocean Audio Files (Singing)

 

Pass the Energy, Please!
A Seedy Activity- Students categorize seeds by identifying similarities and differences.

 

Salmon Stream
Salmon Life Cycle Pantomime- In this activity, students explore and enact the salmon life cycle.

 

Sea Shells by the Seashore
Sort It Out Activity- In a Venn Diagram activity, students describe and compare the shells in the book, determining which are
bi-valves and which are univalves.
Sea Shell Bookmarks- Featuring the art of Robert Noreika.

 

Swim Through the Sea
Balloon Volleyball- Students will identify human defense mechanisms through mind maps and a balloon game.

 

The Tree in the Ancient Forest
Forest Web of Life- Students explore the interactions between the various plants and animals in an ancient forest.

 

Walk in the Rainforest
Fleeting Flyers- Students utilize mind mapping in this dragonfly fact game.

 

Under One Rock: Bugs, Slugs and other Ughs
Insect Field Journal- In this activity, youngsters will create their own “Field Journal” – a simple notebook wildlife biologists frequently use to track the activities of one or more wild animals over the course of an extended period of time.
Observation Ring- In this activity, students will observe a mini-habitat and create field notes about the creatures that inhabit it.
Pet Rock Journal – In this activity, students make observations about a rock in their neighborhood and how effective it is as a habitat for creatures.
Wonder Worms- In this activity, students will observe how earthworms aerate the soil by constructing underground tunnels.

 

What’s in the Garden?
An Apple a Day – In this activity, students focus on apples and learn more about them through various activities and experiments.
Fruit or Vegetable? – In this activity, students use the reproducible bookmarks and decide whether a garden plant is a “fruit” as well as a “vegetable.”
Let’s Get Cookin’ – In this activity, students make a salad using all six plant parts, as indicated in “Accept the Salad Challenge” on page 30 of the book. They also explore various food traditions after reading the book.
Name That Plant – In this activity, students learn about the six parts of a plant and match the twelve fruits and vegetables in the book to a specific plant part.
Pollinator or Pest? – In this activity, students find animals in the book, including the six pollinators: cabbage white butterfl ies, ladybugs, bumblebees, garden spiders, honeybees, and squash bees, and discuss their effects on growing a garden. In a Venn Diagram older students list which creatures are pollinators, and which are pests.
Supermarket Botany – In this activity, students make shopping lists and find the veggies and fruits at a food market, fruit and veggie stand or at the supermarket.
Recipes – Twelve great kid-friendly recipes from What’s in the Garden?
What’s in the Garden BOOKMARKS #1
What’s in the Garden BOOKMARKS #2
What’s in the Garden BOOKMARKS #3