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This Squirrel Unit Study has all you need to learn about Squirrels in a fun way with videos, crafts, printables, recipes and even an interactive quiz!
The most enjoyable way to learn about something is to explore it from every angle and in every way possible. With this Squirrel Unit Study, your children AND you will enjoy learning about Squirrels as you watch videos, read books, do crafts and printables and even make food together. Have fun!
In the printables section there is no end to keep everyone busy; find word scrambles, word searches, I spy, how many words can you find, coloring pages, mazes and guess the phrase.
There are also educational videos to watch, new books to check out, jokes to enjoy together and songs to learn.
Maybe you want to learn about Squirrels for a fall project, for Squirrel Appreciation Day or just because you enjoy the fun little critters. For whatever reason, this post will make it easy!
Follow my Squirrels and Chipmunks Pinterest Board for dozens of ideas from all around the web! I am constantly finding new things to add so there will be new things all the time!
When is Squirrel Appreciation Day?
Squirrel Appreciation Day is January 21st.
Isn’t the name of their special day just fun? I have to smile every time I read it! Leave it to squirrels to have an “appreciation” day, not just a plain old national holiday. Haha, we need to appreciate the little rodents!
Other Unit Studies
Seasons and Holidays
Animals
Facts about Squirrels
I will try to give you these facts like a squirrel; in a nutshell. 😊
Squirrels are mammals.
They are also rodents.
They have long, bushy tails, big eyes and short fur.
In Greek, the word squirrel means shadow tail.
Squirrels are omnivores, which means they eat nuts, seeds, fruit, insects and bird eggs; basically anything.
Squirrels can eat up to 1.5 pounds of food per week. That is about 1 ½ times what they weigh so like a 50-pound child eating 75 pound of food in a week!
They live on all of the continents except Australia and Antarctica.
Squirrels live in woodlands, rainforests, grasslands, deserts or urban areas.
There are two types of squirrels; tree squirrels that live in trees and ground squirrels that live in burrows in the ground.
They are prey to birds of prey, wolves, coyotes, foxes and bobcats. Some people also hunt them for their fur or meat.
Squirrels can live up to 12 years in the wild and even longer in captivity because they are protected there.
There are more than 250 species of squirrels.
Groundhogs, prairie dogs and chipmunks are also in the squirrel family.
Squirrels can be only 4 inches long or up to 3 feet long. (This includes their tails).
The smallest squirrel is the African Pygmy Squirrel.
The biggest squirrel is the giant squirrels of Asia.
A squirrel’s fur can be brown, black, gray, white or reddish.
Squirrels are very good at jumping.
Squirrels may fall from a height of 100 feet without hurting themselves.
They can run down a tree head first!
Squirrels have 4 toes on their front feet and 5 toes on their back feet.
Squirrels can run 20 mph.
Some squirrels can even glide very far. They are called Flying Squirrels even though they don’t actually fly but they glide. They have a flap of skin between their front legs and back legs.
Squirrels can find food buried beneath a foot of snow.
They communicate by sounds, scents and by flicking their tails. Here is a video of a squirrel making the chirping and barking sounds.
Squirrels have 4 front teeth that grow their whole life. They use them to gnaw (chew) on things and that keeps them from getting too big.
Mother squirrels can have 1-2 litters a year.
Baby squirrels are born blind and without fur.
A newborn squirrel is about an inch long.
They drink their mother’s milk for about 2 months.
Baby squirrels are called kits.
A group of squirrels is called a Scurry or dray.
They are very territorial and will fight to the death to defend their area. Mother squirrels are the most vicious when defending their babies.
Squirrels bury many nuts and acorns to eat later. About 20% of the time, they forget where they put them and they grow into trees. They are good little tree planters!
They are also considered pests because they carry disease, eat crops or gnaw on parts of homes or power lines. Chewing on wires is a fire hazard and causes power outages.
Squirrels are equally frustrating and entertaining at home bird feeders. On one hand, they steal the seeds meant for the birds and even chew on the feeders. On the other hand, it is funny to watch them climb poles, jump where you can’t believe they would try, slip and slide, hang by their toes to get a few seeds among other things. See the video clips below to watch what Mark Rober did to make the best of his local squirrels. Often if you can’t beat them (or keep them away), the best thing is to just give them some seeds or nuts. They are pretty cute, after all.
**When you think you know the facts, take the interactive quiz at the bottom of the post! 😊
Videos about Squirrels
16 Facts About Squirrels – Learn All About Squirrels – Animals for Kids – Educational Video 2:56 Short video clips with facts to read and music in background
The Cute Life of The Squirrel! – 12 Facts about Squirrels For Kids! 7:40 Video clips with words to read and narration (Warning; if you have children that are sensitive to seeing dead animals, this does show that squirrels are prey and they are in other animal’s mouths.)
How Do Squirrels Find Their Nuts? | How Do Animals Do That? 7:29 but only the first 5 minutes is about squirrels Video clips and narration
The following clips are longer and mostly added for fun. They do have engineering and physics components too. Mark Rober is very entertaining and clever in his narration. He uses and couple of words that I don’t use but they are only mildly offensive and not used often. The story is that he put up birdfeeders at the beginning of the pandemic but squirrels moved in to take over. He tried to keep them out and failed so built a huge obstacle course to test their physical and mental abilities. He was impressed and we get to watch them figure it out. He had so much fun with one that he did 2 more so I will add them too if you would like to watch. We enjoyed them all.
Backyard Squirrel Maze 1.0- Ninja Warrior Course by Mark Rober 20:20
Songs
Grey Squirrel Song – Autumn Songs for Children – Kids Songs by The Learning Station 3:55
A Squirrel’s Day (Sesame Studios) 1:51
Animal Songs for Kids | Squirrel Song 1:37
The Squirrel Song (Let Us Chase the Squirrel) – Music Milkshake 2:54
Hey Little Squirrel | Nature song for Kids | 4K | Appu Series 2:12
Books
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A Little Squirrel – An Animal-Shaped Children’s Board Book
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Squirrels Leap, Squirrels Sleep
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Squirrels; engaging readers level 1
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Buy Now → Some Jokes
Kids love jokes so I had to include some good ones here for them!
Printables
Squirrel I Spy Printables (2 levels plus 1 I Spy and Color)
Squirrel Word Search Printables (2 levels)
Free Squirrel How Many Words can you Guess?
Squirrel Word Scramble Printables (2 levels)
Crafts and Activities
Recipes
Chocolate and Peanut Butter Acorns
How to Draw Squirrels
Here is some instruction on how to draw squirrels. They are both a little bit different and the outcome of what the squirrel looks like is a bit different so you can choose which you like.
How to Draw a Squirrel (Words and pictures; no video)
How to draw a Squirrel for kids 2:36 video and music showing slow lines how to draw it
How To Draw A Cute Fall Squirrel Cartoon 6:42 video step by step man showing a boy how to draw a cartoon squirrel
I found the facts for this post from the following sources
It is always good to cite your sources and if you would like to read more details, there is much more information at the links.
Kids.britannica.com (There is a good video clip here too.)
Squirrel Quiz
Some more fun!
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Squirrel Feeder Picnic Table with Umbrella
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White Bench Chair Chipmunk & Squirrel Feeder
Buy Now →Are you following me on Pinterest? I have been working very hard making new boards I think you will love and am adding dozens of new pins from all of the popular homeschooling websites!
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Cindy
Welcome! I am a wife, mother, mother-in-law, Grammy, daughter, sister and retired homeschooler. I enjoy writing about things I have learned over the years, sharing recipes and tips with others and making free printables for parents and teachers.
Visit my other website for all kinds of recipes and tips at MyProductiveBackyard.com. Enjoy! 🙂
