Savor The Days: Summer Study of US Geography using the U.S.A. Activity Bundle {Review}

We aren't doing our regular homeschool work over the summer but I still have the kids doing a few short studies that we can wrap up before the regular school year starts back up. I'd rather keep their brains active a little bit each day than have them get into a summer slump. It is so hard getting back into a routine after their brains have turn to mush.

One of the things we have been doing this summer is going over U.S. Geography. This is new work for Rachel and review for Nicholas but it has been fun. It's been easy on me because I signed up to review the USA Activity Bundle from The Crafty Classroom and it has been the perfect fit. The USA Activity Bundle is a PDF download that includes three products: USA State-by-State Activity Notebook, USA State-by-State 50 Mazes, USA State Birds. I downloaded all three products and then bound the Activity Notebook and Mazes so they had their own workbook for those products. We used the State Birds packet a little differently though.

We start our work by learning about a new state. The USA Activity Bundle includes information about the state birds and flowers but not much else. It is more of a consumable product for children to compile on their own the information they have learned. So I read aloud a brief history from a geography book of my own. While I'm reading to them, the kids work on the maze for that state. It is a rather easy maze but a great way to review the shape of the state.

Once I've taught them about the state, they use that information to fill out their USA State-by-State Activity Notebook.

I just love how all of the information for each state is laid out for them. It will make for a beautiful reference tool for them once we have completed all 50 states.

The USA State Birds packet includes a printable page for each state. The page contains three parts, each of which can be cut out and used on their own. There is a picture of the bird along with lines to write additional information about the bird. Next, there is an outline drawing of the bird to be colored. Finally, there are two small blocks that include a picture of the bird and the name and state for the bird. These can be used as a matching game to test knowledge of the birds and their corresponding states.

We love learning about nature and wildlife so my children have really enjoyed using the State Birds packet. One way we have used it is by having the children color the birds then I laminated the pages and cut out the blocks. They can use these as identification when we are on nature walks but they also use the cards to quiz each other. One of them picks a card (not letting the other child see it) and describes the bird aloud while the other child tries to guess the name of the bird being described.