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Each UNIT STUDY includes suggestions of books to READ, ideas to WRITE, crafts to CREATE, more to EXPLORE, snacks to ENJOY and other ways to LEARN about a specific topic!
This is part of a series, THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER UNIT STUDIES. For a thorough explanation of UNIT STUDIES {what they are and what they include} check out THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER UNIT STUDIES. You’ll also find a schedule of when each new UNIT PACK will go live!
Day Nine: POINSETTIAS
A few years ago our Homeschool Co-op had a Christmas-themed day where we swapped rooms and the kids did a series of different crafts with different teachers. I was assigned POINSETTIAS, which seemed like a fun idea but when I went to find a book to read to go with my craft, I was sorely disappointed to find a very small selection. “Very small” meaning one. There was one book about POINSETTIAS. One. On all of Amazon, there was one book. So, I bought that book, chose a craft and managed to put together a fun and festive lesson for the kids but it never felt quite complete. So, when I chose the topics for this series, I decided to give POINSETTIAS another chance. I just knew there had to be more out there about the plant that rivals the Christmas tree as themed-foliage!
READ: So, Zetta the Poinsettia by Alama Hammond is NOT the one book mentioned above. Turns out a new POINSETTIA has finally come on the scene! Zetta! This is a sweet, little book written in the same spirit as many of the EVERGREEN TREE books…she just wants to be loved and appreciated by somebody this Christmas season. But, the book also imparts some factual information about POINSETTIAS along the way. You’ll also find a list of POINSETTIA facts in the very back. And if you grab the FREE mini BOOK COMPANION PACK, you can be sure your kids retained some of the information they read.
The Legend of the Poinsettia by Tomie dePaola is the ONE BOOK mentioned above. As the name suggests, the book is all about the Mexican legend associated with the POINSETTIA. If you use this book, be sure to grab the FREE mini BOOK COMPANION PACK too.
WRITE: The FREE WINTER-THEMED WRITING ACTIVITIES PACK offers two simple yet fun ways to write about POINSETTIAS.
Apparently, as this series, THE 12 DAYS OF WINTER UNIT STUDIES, progresses, my art skills are declining….and they were already in trouble to begin with! But, hopefully, Maisy the Daisy gives you enough of an idea of what your kiddos can do with this WRITING ACTIVITY.
And if you have a more developed writer on your hands, there is an option for him too! This WRITING ACTIVITY asks the student to create a legend for a different plant or flower.
CREATE: I made this PAPER POINSETTIA craft with my co-op kids do. It’s supposed to be garland but I just had each kid make them as individual pieces. They are super-duper easy, inexpensive and rather classy looking. It’s been three {or four!!!} years, and we still put some of these up on our shelves during the holidays. Another cute craft is this POINSETTIA PAINT PROJECT which obviously involves paint, which has never been my best friend. But, if you are braver than me, it really does look cute. It uses sponges so fairly simple…but still messy!
EXPLORE: I was surprised to come across so many POINSETTIA videos/documentaries:
A Look Inside a Poinsettia Farm {3 minutes}
Poinsettia Care Tips {6 minutes}
Virtual Tour 2020 {17 minutes}
ENJOY: These Poinsettia Pretzel Bites look super yummy and festive but I’m not sold on them being too POINSETTIA-like. But, they are certainly Christmassy-looking and they seem very easy to make! They require pretzels, M&Ms and white candy melts.
Another option that looks more like POINSETTIAS, in my opinion, are these POINSETTIA CHEESECAKE SQUARES. Cheesecake is literally my favorite dessert in the world but I admit that this snack doesn’t need the cheesecake in order to keep its POINSETTIA-ness. You could just serve up the strawberries and mint garnish as a healthy and themed snack and call it good!
LEARN: For the quickest way to teach about POINSETTIAS, grab the applicable pages found in the WINTER-THEMED INFORMATIONAL TEXT AND WRITING PACK. It’s not listed as free in my store, but if you use code FREEWinterWOLFe, it will ring up as totally free!
READ MORE: See below for the very small list of POINSETTIA books available…and one of those is a coloring book! I’m telling ya…there’s a real market opportunity here for somebody!
Check out the entire series,
12 Days of Winter Unit Studies!
READ~WRITE~CREATE~EXPLORE~ENJOY~LEARN!
I hope this POINSETTIAS UNIT STUDY gave you at least a few ideas about how to teach this subject {which was probably not on your list of “things I wish I knew how to teach about” before now!}
Be sure to check out the other UNIT STUDIES as they go live. You can find the full schedule, along with the rest of the Homeschooling Fun Through the Holidays Series, HERE!
Next up: SLEIGHS
Much appreciation goes out to my good friend, Jamie Spear! She helped me find these fun books, crafts, snacks and more! Without her, these UNIT STUDIES would have nothing but “read this, print that, and write something!” You can find her on FaceBook, Instagram and Pinterest.
