Wonders of the USA Activities

It’s nonfiction book time! And time for some United States learning activities!

Most parents – me included – do not tend to pick non-fiction books to read to our children. Honestly, before I became a teacher, I did not realize the variety of non-fiction books that are out there for younger children!

I chose this book for this challenge for a few reasons.

1. I love the United States. Yes, I know I live here. (What an amazing blessing that is!) And the United States has so much to see! Our topography is unlike any other country in the world. We have almost every climate and geographical feature within our borders.
2. Our country has some pretty amazing monuments and geographical features. Books can take you places and this book will take you all across the United States – to places you know and some you may know nothing about!
3. I’m proud to be an American. (Just saying that has me wanting to sing Lee Greenwood’s song.) I think this book is a small stepping stone to teaching children to be proud of their country.
4. This book is a part of the “A Shine-a-Light Book” series. Children shine a flashlight on the back of each page to discover something they would not otherwise see. And, each page also has a question so the child can guess what they might see. I like that kind of higher-level thinking!

If you don’t have access to the book, you can watch the read aloud here. But I highly encourage you to find a copy so that your child can interact and use their flashlight as they read along!

Where Is It?

When I moved to Montana, I noticed that everyone seems to speak the location of places using actual cardinal directions. “I live on the North side of town.” “Just keep going east and you’ll see it.” For the longest time I had no idea which way was which. However, the day I found out that Target (which is on the edge of town) was due North, I suddenly had my bearings straight!

Long gone are the days where someone gives me directions by saying “Go past the old Walmart and then take a right just past the Barbecue Hut.”

And, while Wonders of the USA never mentions the locations of the places throughout the United States, I feel knowing where they are located in our great nation is important.

Here’s a map to help with that!

If you want to get really into learning about their locations, check this activity out!

Roll, Think and Talk

Reading nonfiction books can often be very overwhelming. It seems that fact after fact is being shared and it can be so hard to remember what all is being said.

My oldest has an amazing memory. This often gets me in trouble when he reminds me of things I have promised him that I have forgotten! But, it makes him so smart! He can hear something one time and it sticks.

Me, not so much. I get it honestly from my mom (sorry Mom!). She was just here for two weeks and I think we both spent the majority of our time looking for our phones (much to the irritation of both of our husbands).

But, to get a discussion going with your little one, and see how much they learned from one reading (or two or three), download this free dice game. Also, if like me you can never find a die, there are a lot of free dice apps for your phone!

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Watch and Learn

I am a firm believe in all the different learning styles. Reading all about a place is amazing. But actually visiting a place is amazing too! However, there are very few children (and adults!) who are able to visit each of the places mentioned in Wonders of the USA. So, here are some great videos to learn just a little bit more.

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Virtual Tours

Even cooler than watching a movie about a place is seeing it at your own pace. And unless you have lots of extra money or plane tickets laying around (or a pilots license!), then check out these really neat virtual tours.

The White House – This is SO COOL! You can walk around the White House!

Mount Rushmore – Go on a walk around the bottom and top of Mount Rushmore.

Golden Gate Bridge – Take a walk on this iconic orange bridge in San Francisco, California.

Grand Canyon – Take a hike on the Bright Angel Trailhead in the Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Denali National Park – Start at the Eielson Visitor Center and check out the views. Then you can visit several other places in the park.

Carlsbad Cavern – Come check out this cave and walk around!

Statue of Liberty – Stand at the foot of Lady Liberty and take a look around.

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Game Time

I said it before and I’ll say it again: reading nonfiction books is hard. Even remembering the word “nonfiction” is hard! Almost every child wants to say that NONfiction is NOT real. However, the better way to remember it is that NONfiction is NOT fake.

Side note, here’s a free game to help practice that. It goes with the book Chicken Little so just ignore that part! 🙂

Anyway, remembering all the facts that are included in a nonfiction book can be hard…Wonders of the USA included.

Have you ever played the game Headbandz? This game takes the same concept of putting a card on your head and giving clues but turns it into a learning activity. Fun family learning without the kids even knowing!

There’s also the tried and true games of matching and memory. Hands down Liam has a better memory than me!

Become an Artist

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Sing

One of my all time favorite songs is Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA. I’m not a terribly emotional person but something about that song really hits home.

But, I also love America the Beautiful and thought it was a little more fitting with our story Wonders of the USA. I highly suggest watching the video with your child and challenging them to look for any of the places that they learned about in the book.

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Crafting our American Flag

I love our flag. There’s just something to seeing the Stars and Stripes flying in the air. Liam still yells “Mom, there’s an American flag!” almost every time we pass one driving down the road.

For anyone who knows the history of our country, it is a true reminder of the freedoms we are blessed with and the sacrifices that were made to get it so many years ago.

Here are a two flag crafts that I really liked:

This last one is less crafty and more learn-y. 🙂 But it’s a free, easy activity and helps your young one learn to count!

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More Crafts

Ok. I couldn’t just leave it at that. Check out these other super cute crafts I found as well to go along with other places that were discussed in Wonders of the USA.

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Go Time

I hope you enjoy sharing this book with your little this week. And maybe some of the Wonders of the USA activities as well.

If you have not heard about my Reading is a Treasure Book Challenge, you must! Check out all the details here or sign up below to receive your very own Summer Reading Challenge Map!

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