S’mores Unit Study for Preschool & Kindergarten Homeschoolers

S’Mores Unit Study with Activities for Homeschooling Families with young children; Plus bonus activities for your older kids

In this S’mores Unit Study for preschoolers, your kids will learn about the process of making s’mores, the science of marshmallows, the history of our national parks, and planning a campfire cookout for the family as well as reading cute camping stories and pretend play going camping and making s’mores.

There are several activities in this S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers & Kinders for your older kiddos too, so be sure to read through and find the activities that will work best for your family.

My Granny (my kids’ great-Granny) gave my kids a tiny 2-person pop-up tent to play with while they were at her house way back when my oldest was only 9 or so. It was the absolute favorite thing to play with the cousins at Granny’s house! Despite all odds, that little tent is still intact and now 15 years later, my little ones love to play camping in it too.

And since one of their favorite things to play is camping, naturally, they also have to have a pretend campfire and pretend s’mores that my sister made for them out of felt, like these from Homemade Heather. Or order this one made from fabric and real wood from Amazon.

I also wanted to expand on their natural interest in s’mores and camping so I created and gathered a few s’mores and camping themed activities to make up this sweet s’mores unit study for preschoolers and kinders.

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S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers: Language Arts

S’Mores Literature

Read Aloud Picture Books

These sweet picture book are a great base for your S’mores unit study for preschoolers

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen One of my kids’ all-time favorites!

Fred and Ted Go Camping by Peter Eastman

Just Me and My Dad by Mercer Mayer

Wordless Picture Book: Flashlight by Lizi Boyd I love wordless books as a speech-language pathologist because it gives children a chance to tell a story in their own words, using their imagination.

Read Aloud Chapter Book

The Camp-out Mystery: Box Car Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

Learning about campfires and campfire cooking

S is for S’Mores: A Camping Alphabet by Helen Foster James

Gathered Around the Campfire: S’Mores & Stories Under the Stars by Melody A. Carlson

Highly recommend this next 3-book set of Camping books for kid-friendly recipes and ideas for your S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers and Kindergartners!

Cooking on a Stick: Campfire Recipes for Kids by Linda White

Cooking in a Can: More Campfire Recipes for Kids by Kate White

Sleeping in a Sack: Camping Activities for Kids by Linda White

S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers & Kinders Writing

Sequencing

In order to be able to write a story, first we need to be able to put all of the parts of the story in the proper order.

Let your kiddos practice their language sequencing skills with this real-life, hands-on sequencing activity. There are eight difficulty levels for the sequencing activity. (Sequencing is often considered a math skill also, so this activity does double duty!)

Select the appropriate level for your child in the S’Mores Sequencing Skills Packet to print out. Have your child complete the worksheet by cutting and gluing the pictures into the correct order.

Once they’ve got the pictures in the correct order, let them copy down the directions to create their own s’mores recipe.

Then have them follow the directions to make their own s’mores. (Adult supervision required for roasting marshmallows, of course).

Get your copy of the S’mores Sequencing Skills Packet from the Whole Child Homeschool Resource Store.

S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers: Science with Marshmallows

These s’mores unit study for preschoolers science activities should all be done by an adult, with your children observing.

Did you know that marshmallow is actually a plant? It’s true! The Althaea officinalis plant has roots that have been used since ancient times to create sweet, sticky substances. Today, however, most marshmallows use gelatin as a thickening agent.

Burn a regular-sized marshmallow over your campfire, let it cool off a bit, and then cut it in half with a knife. Cut a plain (raw?) marshmallow in half also. Let your kids compare the insides of the two marshmallows. How are they different?

Can they guess why? It’s because marshmallows are foam with air suspended inside the sugar. It’s the same reason marshmallows puff up when they get hot–hot air expands.

Have you ever made homemade marshmallows? If you have an electric mixer, it’s not difficult and oh. my. goodness. they are so much yummier than store-bought! Try this recipe from A Modern Homestead.

National Parks and Camping History

Read The Camping Trip that Changed America by Barb Rosenstock to learn about Teddy Roosevelt’s trip with naturalist John Muir in 1903 that led to the establishment of the National Park System.

First Lady Laura Bush and her daughter Jenna Bush Hagar wrote a picture book to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the National Park System called Our Great Big Backyard. It’s about a family who takes a vacation to all of the National Parks in the country one summer.

Be sure to check out these 40 tips and hacks for camping with kids before you pack your tent.

S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers: Practical Arts

Campfire

Don’t have a place to build a campfire? Make a solar oven from a pizza box using these instructions from the Department of Energy. Your older kids will gladly pitch in to help their younger siblings with this STEM project!!

Weather too yucky? Can’t have a fire outside right now due to weather conditions? Make this s’mores dip in your oven. It’s the next best thing!

S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers & Kinders: Math

Cook-out with Math

One of the items on our Summer Bucket List of educational activities is to have a campfire cook-out and tell campfire stories.

So, for your older kids (who can multiply & divide) I made a handy dandy Summer Time Campfire Cookout Grocery List that you can get from our Free Resource Library to help your kiddos create a shopping list for your campfire cookout.

Younger kids can help estimate or guess how many packages of each item you’ll need.

First, have your child determine how many people will be at your cookout. Then divide the number of servings for each item by the number of people to figure out how many packages of each item you’ll need.

Next, let them guesstimate how much it will cost. After they go to the store (where you let them pay for it–in cash if you can) have them use the receipt to write down the actual cost of the items. How close were their guesses to the actual cost of the food?

S’mores Unit Study for Preschoolers & Kinders: Sensory Play

Find out how easy it is to create s’mores and camping themed sensory bin for your preschoolers and kinders with these instructions from our Summertime Sensory Activities post.

If you are into yoga, check out this camping themed yoga to stretch those bodies into shape.

Summertime Lessons and Activities for Homeschool Families

Frugal Summer Entertainment Ideas for Families	Summer Math Fact Game	American Flag Mini Unit Study
S’mores and Camping Unit Study for Early Learners	How To Pack The Perfect Backpack For Autism Summer Adventures	Cheap Summer Activities for Kids
40+ Fun Summer Camp Ideas You Can Do At Home with Kids	Hands On Activities for Upper Grades Homeschoolers	Summer I Spy Free Printables

More S’mores Lessons and Activities for Homeschool Families

Let your older kids learn more about building a campfire in our Lewis & Clark Unit Study

Learn how chocolate is made in this Hershey’s Chocolate Unit Study from our sister site, Homeschool Helper Online.

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