Homeschool topic ideas: Homeschool planner printable with 10 themes

Homeschool topic ideas: 10 themes to use with primary students

This free printable planner is the perfect supplement to your regular homeschool curriculum, especially if you’re worried about getting stuck just going through the books and completing all the workbook pages.

I came up with 10 fun and seasonal theme ideas, and compiled a list of hands-on projects, play based activities, read aloud suggestions, arts and crafts, science experiments, music and movement, and field trip ideas.

I had a lot of fun creating these lists and going through them with my kids. I hope you’ll find them just as fun and helpful as we did!

Download the free planner:

The first page you’ll find is a simple printable planning page for you to write out which math, literacy, and other activities you’re planning to do each day for the week.

After that, you’ll find 10 pages with different homeschool topic ideas on each page.

Under each theme, I’ve gathered a list of read-aloud book ideas, links to songs and movement activities, arts and crafts, science experiments, projects, activities, and field trip ideas.

These idea lists are the perfect way to add hands-on learning and play-based activities to your regular homeschool curriculum.

All you have to do is pick one or two activities to do with your kids each day.

Note: As an Amazon and KiwiCo Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Theme 1: Apples

READ ALOUDS

• Turning Apples into Applesauce by Wendy A. Reynolds
• Apple Pie ABC by Alison Murray
• Secrets of the Apple Tree by Carron Brown
• An Apple Tree’s Life Cycle by Mary R. Dunn
• Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Way up High in an Apple Tree
• Farmer Brown had 5 Red Apples
• Once I Climbed the Apple Tree

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Drawing apples: Art for kids hub
• Pointillism apples
• Kandinsky inspired apple art

SCIENCE

• Apple investigation 

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Recipe: Apple chips
• Make apple pie play dough
• Make apple butter, apple pie, applesauce, etc.

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Apple orchard
• A factory where apple butter, apple cider, or apple juice are made

Theme 2: Leaves

READ ALOUDS

• Leaves by David Ezra Stein
• Fall Leaves: Colorful and Crunchy by Martha E. H. Rustad
• There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves! by Lucille Colandro 
• Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert 

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
• Kids Yoga for Autumn 

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Watercolor fall leaf
• Zentangle fall leaf
• Fall leaf spray painting
• Texture and pattern fall leaf
• Chalk fall leaves
• How to draw fall leaves

SCIENCE

• Experiment: Why do leaves change color?
• Leaf scavenger hunt

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Nature smash painting

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Hike at a state or national park
• Explore a new playground
• Take a walk and collect leaves 

Theme 3: Pumpkins

READ ALOUDS

• Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum
• Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell
• The Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Steven Kroll
• Pumpkin Hill by Elizabeth Spurr
• Little Boo by Stephen Wunderli
• How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin? by Margaret McNamara

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• I Picked One Pumpkin
• Pumpkin Man Dance
• The Pumpkin Pie Song
• Yoga: A Halloween Cosmic Kids Yoga Adventure

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Draw and color a pumpkin (oil pastels)
• Glue resist pumpkin art
• Textured pumpkins (crayon rubbings)

SCIENCE

• Grow a pumpkin plant
• Dissolving candy pumpkins

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Make your own pumpkin spice playdough
• Recipe: Roasted pumpkin seeds 
• Recipe: Pumpkin bread 

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Pumpkin patch
• A fall festival 

Theme 4: The Gingerbread Man

READ ALOUDS

• The Gingerbread Boy by Richard Egielski
• Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, and/or Gingerbread Christmas by Jan Brett
• Catch that Cookie! by Hallie Durand
• The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst
• The Library Gingerbread Man by Dotti Enderle

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Children’s Rhyme: Gingerbread Men
• The Gingerbread Cookie Dance

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Art hub: Gingerbread man or gingerbread house
• Gingerbread man headband

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Gingerbread man stick puppets
• Make gingerbread men

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Cooking or baking class
• Take cookies to a neighbor or a local nursing home

Theme 5: The Nutcracker

READ ALOUDS

• The Nutcracker by Susan Jeffers
• Mary Engelbreit’s Nutcracker
• Waltz of the Snowflakes by Elly MacKay
• Jan Brett’s the Nutcracker
• The Nutcracker’s Night Before Christmas by Keith Brockett

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Watch the dance of the sugar plum fairy
• Sugar plum fairy: Scarf dance
• Creative movement activity
• Watch the Russian dance 
• Learn to dance to the dance of the super plum fairy

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Make a sugar plum fairy wand
• Nutcracker paper dolls

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Create Nutcracker puppets. Use puppets to act out the Nutcracker.
• Make a paper plate tambourine. Watch the orchestra, and play along with your tambourine.
• Make paper snowflakes. Listen to the music from the dance of the snowflakes and dance with your snowflake.

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Attend a performance of The Nutcracker
• Symphony or orchestra 

Theme 6: Snow

READ ALOUDS

• Snowmen at Night by Caralyn Buehner
• A Loud Winter’s Nap by Katy Hudson
• The Thing about Yetis by Vin Vogel
• Got to Get to Bear’s! by Brian Lies
• The Mitten by Jan Brett
• The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• I’m a Little Snowman
• 5 Little Snowmen
• Chubby Little Snowman
• Hot Chocolate
• Brrrrrrrrrr

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Build your own snowman
• Magic salt and watercolor snowflake art
• Bleeding tissue paper art
• Northern Lights art project

SCIENCE

• Nature walk: Winter forest scavenger hunt
• Snowstorm in a jar

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Snowflakes with marshmallows and toothpicks
• 2 ingredient fake snow

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Ice skating
• Ice festival

Theme 7: Penguins

READ ALOUDS

• National Geographic Readers: Penguins!
• Penguin Problems by Jory John
• A Penguin Story by Antoinette Portis
• Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Peter Penguin
• Waddle Waddle
• Penguin dance
• Yoga: Cosmic kids: Penguin adventure

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Shape penguin craft
• Paint a penguin tutorial
• P is for penguin craft

SCIENCE

• Experiment: How do penguins stay dry?

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Roll-a-Penguin playdough activity mat

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Zoo
• Aquarium
• Ice skating

Theme 8: Plants & Seeds

READ ALOUDS

• My Garden by Kevin Henkes
• The Bad Seed by Jory John
• National Geographic Readers: Seed to Plant by Kristin Baird Rattini
• A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston
• Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Can you plant a bean?
• Parts of a plant song
• Way up high in the apple tree

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Name bean collage
• Magical blooming paper flowers 
• Thumbprint dandelion craft

SCIENCE

• Baggie greenhouses
• Grow a window garden
• Kitchen scrap planter
• Nature walk: Collect different kinds of seeds

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Local farm
• Orchard 
• Community garden
• Greenhouse 
• Botanical garden
• Garden or farm show 

Theme 9: Bugs & Insects

READ ALOUDS

• Bob and Otto by Robert O. Bruel
• I love bugs! by Philemon Sturges
• An ant’s day off by Bonny Becker
• Some bugs by Angela DiTerlizzi
• Buzz by Eileen Spinelli 

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• Roly Poly Caterpillar
• Bug-n-Roll
• Wiggle it
• Bugs & crawly things
• Here is the beehive

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Bandaid fireflies
• Shaving cream butterfly art

SCIENCE

• Nature walk: Bug scavenger hunt
• Watch caterpillars turn into butterflies
• Grow an ant farm

OTHER ACTIVITIES 

• Buzzing bee snack bags
• Snacktivity: Yummy bugs
• Butterfly life cycle snack
• Ants on a log variations
• Churro honeycomb snack mix

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Butterfly or pollinator garden
• Butterfly exhibit at a zoo or game preserve 
• Hike at a state or national park 
• Beehive tour 

Theme 10: Ocean animals

READ ALOUDS

• Sophie’s Fish by A.E. Cannon
• The Octopuppy by Martin McKenna
• Shark Kiss, Octopus Hug by Lynn Rowe Reed
• A Whale in the Bathtub by Kylie Westaway
• Don’t Worry, Little Crab by Chris Haughton

SONGS/MOVEMENT

• The goldfish
• Baby Beluga (book with  song)
• Sharks in the water!
• Jellyfish song
• Yoga: Under the Sea

ARTS & CRAFTS

• Whale suncatchers
• Seashell painting 
• Seahorse art project
• Whale art project

SCIENCE

• Blubber gloves

FIELD TRIP IDEAS

• Aquarium
• Beach
• Swimming at a local pool or lake

More theme ideas

Little chemists

The basis of this unit is the Chemistry play lab, by KiwiCo.

This kit is the perfect way to get kids used to working with chemistry equipment such as flasks, beakers, and test tubes, in a safe and playful way.

It includes a full color, easy-to-read instruction manual, with 11 different experiments to try.

Famous artists

This is an incredible free resource, available from The Crafty Classroom.

Here you’ll find a series of tutorials for kids to create artwork in the styles of famous artists.

Thanksgiving & Christmas

This bundle, available for sale from The Crafty Classroom, would make a fun holiday theme during the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Both sets include tons of hands-on activities, including math games, art projects and science experiments.

Cooking around the world

This book is not just a cookbook. It is bursting with interesting facts and colorful tidbits about each country.

It even includes a fun food passport, language flashcards, and flag stickers to go along with each recipe.

The recipes are kid-friendly as well: easy to make and delicious!

The Bible

The Beginner’s Bible is a great Bible storybook for young kids, and pairs perfectly with The Beginner’s Bible Sticker and Activity books to make learning more hands-on for little ones.

These short and sweet activity books are full of color, and provide opportunities to discuss each Bible story in more depth after it’s been read. 

• Wild about creation
• A Christmas celebration
• Amazing miracles of the Bible
• All about Jesus
• Come celebrate Easter
• Animals of the Bible

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