Learn about the States with These Unit Studies for (Almost) Every State

I came across this on Pinterest the other day and it made me tired just thinking about it, but what an amazing resource for homeschoolers or anyone else who wants to teach their kids about the different states.

Ben and Me has an almost complete set of unit studies for the 50 states called Notebooking Across America. The graphic says it was supposed to be done in July but I’m not finding links for the last few states yet.

Each state’s page includes basic information about where the state is located, features, state “things,” famous people from that state, flora and fauna, history, places to visit and more. There’s even a book basket section that includes different fiction and nonfiction books to read with your kids.

You could use this whole unit study and cover one state a week for a year or more, or just pick out your home state and other states that are important to your family if you like. However you use it, there’s a ton of great information here to get you started learning about the states and what makes each one special.

[Photo: Ben and Me.]

When my daughter was younger she had a ton of LEGO bricks, and I’m honestly a little sad we got rid of most of them because there are so many fun things to do with LEGOs outside of the kits you bought them in.

I love seeing all the ideas people have for LEGO building challenges, and I have shared some ideas for LEGO games before, but I saw one on Pinterest the other day that I felt was worth a mention.

This one is for those ’80s and ’90s kids who spent sick days home from school watching “The Price is Right”: LEGO Plinko!

For those who don’t know about Plinko, the original was a giant peg board set up at an angle and the contestant would drop a flat disc at the top of the board. As it moved down the board it would hit the pegs and change the way it moved, and there would be different prizes in the slots at the bottom where the piece would land.

This version from Play Party Game works on the same principle, using LEGO bricks to make the game board and marbles in place of the Plinko disc since your game board isn’t flat.

You can really use whatever bricks you have for this build, and while it shows all the pegs the same size and evenly spaced, you can play with different configurations and see what happens. It’s engineering and a game!

And while you’re playing with your LEGOs, make sure to check out this post from Kids Craft Room that includes minute to win it style games you can do with LEGO. From speed sorting to tower building as fast as you can, these ideas are sure to get you thinking about different ways to play with LEGO.

And if you need even more ideas, check out my post with LEGO building challenges you can print out for kids (and adults!) to try.

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