For October, I wanted to do something a little Halloween-themed without going overboard. I decided to focus on the human skeleton and created this skeleton unit study! We had so much fun with Skelly, our friendly Dollar Store skeleton that came to help teach us all about bones! This skeleton unit study was designed for my 7-year-old twin boys that love unit studies and hands-on learning. It lasted the whole month but they were completely engaged and wanted to work on it almost every day!
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Books for Our Skeleton Unit Study
As always I like to hit up my local library for the majority of our books! We have a great relationship with our librarian and she can always find the best books to add to our latest unit study. At this age, I usually pick one to two chapter books to use for read-aloud time and lots and lots of picture books. We’ll read a chapter or two from our read-aloud and then read two or three picture books of their choice toward the end of our unit study time.
Skeleton Unit Study Resources
Here's what we used for our skeleton unit study!
Chapter Books
I love using a good chapter book as a read aloud!
The Search for the Missing Bones (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book, No. 2)
The boys loved this one! It's just enough fun with a lot of good information!
Picture Books
I love picture books that offer a fun story along with some great facts!
If You Ever Meet a Skeleton
A very cute skeleton picture book perfect for this unit study and Halloween!
Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body (Cat in the Hat's Learning Library)
Dr. Suess's books are my favorite around here!
You Can’t See Your Bones with Binoculars!: A Book About Your 206 Bones
A great book with lots of facts!
Skeleton Hiccups
My kids both loved this book! It may not be heavy on facts but it's always fun to have stories just for fun!
The Skeleton Book: Get to Know Your Bones, Inside Out
We used this more as a reference book than a picture book!
Skeleton Meets the Mummy
This one is slightly spooky but a fun one for the unit study and Halloween!
Hands On Activities
I like to have individual hands-on activities available to keep their little hands busy while reading our chapter book and to add a little extra to our unit study. This helps keep them focused and not jumping around like crazy. Hands-on activities also strengthen our gross and fine motor skills, logic and help cement concepts we are learning about.
Puzzled 3D Puzzle Human Skeleton Wood Craft Construction Model Kit
The boys love these 3D wooden puzzles!
Learning Resources Skeleton Floor Puzzle
They also loved putting together this fun puzzle and naming the bones as we went!
Know Yourself - The Skeletal System: Adventure 2
this was a little advanced for us so I'll hang on to it for a few years for when we come back around to this subject but it looks amazing!
DIY Skeleton Halloween Costume for Kids & Adults
This was so fun to make! The boys had a great time trying to name the bones as we taped them on! It was a great fun craft and handy as it was nearly Halloween!
Games
Skeleton games are seriously hard to find but I managed to find a couple!
Bag O' Bones Human Body Anatomy Educational Board Game
This one was a little complicated for them but never be afraid to modify a game to make it work for the ages of the children.
I hope you enjoy this list of things to include in your skeleton unit study! The twins came away from it knowing most of the major bones and a few of the smaller ones (and so did I!).
If you like Unit Studies as much as we do be sure to check out the rest of our Unit Study posts here or my Unit Study Idea Board on Pinterest! What are you working on in your homeschool this month? Tell me in the comments!
