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A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day

Learn the history of Valentines day while enjoying some fun activities and art with this hands-on homeschool unit study for Valentines day!

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day: Learn the history of Valentine's day while enjoying some fun activities and art with this hands-on homeschool unit study for Valentine's day! #valentinesday #candyhearts #saintvalentine #valentinesdayart #valentinesdayfun #valentinesdayunitstudy #valentinesdayideas #valentinesdayresources

The History Of Valentines Day


When you think of Valentine’s day, you probably think of chocolate, candy hearts, handmade cards and flowers! This lovely celebration happens every year on February 14th. But the history of Valentine’s day has roots with a Roman priest!

Emperor Claudius II of Rome, who reigned from 268 A.D. to 270 A.D., banned marriage because he thought unmarried men made better soldiers. A Roman priest named Valentine disagreed and conducted marriages in secret. But Valentine was eventually caught and put to death on February 14th in the year 270 A.D. Before he died, as the story goes, he created the first “valentine” and gave it to the jailer’s daughter!

Later, in the 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius I declared the day Valentine died, February 14th, St. Valentine’s Day.

But it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the idea of Valentines day took off. The oldest known Valentine still in existence is from 1415 by Charles Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was held captive in the Tower of London. This Valentine greeting is part of a manuscript collection in the British Library in London, England.

The poet Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to record Valentine’s day as a romantic celebration in 1375 in his poem “Parliament of Foules.”

Did you know that Ester A. Howland is considered the “Mother of Valentine.” In the 1840’s she made elaborate valentine creations out of lace, ribbon, and scrap pictures, and she was also the first to mass-produce them!

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day with teatime ideas

Hands-On Unit Study Valentines Day Activities For The Entire Family


Valentine’s day has definitely evolved over the centuries, but now you know some of the history of St. Valentine, how about some art? If you want, set the table with heart-shaped cookies, or candies, and serve the kid’s favorite beverage. Make your Valentine’s teatime as festive as you want!

Did you know that Nana has some lovely Valentine’s Day art for you and your kiddos to enjoy? All you’ll need is a simple set of chalk pastels and a pack of construction paper!

We started with this heart cookies and mug lesson I found after reading Courtney’s post: Little House On The Prairie Homeschool Ideas You’ll Love.

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day


Then, we continued with the Valentine woodpecker from the Bird Clubhouse Edition.

*Did you know we did a whole bird study using our Clubhouse Membership last year?*

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day


The Heart from the Preschool Spring Clubhouse Edition was our final piece of art, but it wasn’t the end of our Valentine’s teatime.

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day


*There is also this Heart Collage: Mixed Media Acrylic you could do with your kid’s too!*

More Fun Ideas For Your Homeschool Unit Study for Valentines Day


We chose to add a bit of poetry to our chalk pastel teatime. I selected a couple of pieces about love from my Celtic book of poetry, and they were just perfect for our Valentine teatime!

If you are looking for more Valentine’s day resources, consider a stack of children’s picture books about love! Or what about these 25 Inspired Ideas for Valentine’s Day in Your Homeschool?

A Fun Hands-On Homeschool Unit Study For Valentines Day

Additional Hands-On Unit Study Homeschool Art Lessons For Springtime


Springtime is the perfect time for hands-on unit studies in your homeschool! Check out some of these you can do while incorporating art!

If you want to add more creative ways to learn in your homeschool, grab a You ARE An Artist membership. With over 800 art tutorials, you will never run out of exciting ways to add a bit of artistic fun to your homeschool. 

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

Now your kids can create The Lord of the Rings art with chalk pastels! Let Nana take you step-by-step with her video art lessons. All you’ll need is a starter set of chalk pastels and a pack of construction paper. Add in the books, movies, and some snacks, and you’ll have a homeschool art study to rule them all.

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”

The Lord of the Rings
The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy


Our family has had a love affair with The Lord of the Rings for many years. Ever since my son was five years old and bored on a very long car trip, that’s when I snagged the audiobook versions. Years later, he read the printed trilogy himself. We have loved to find any reason to watch the movies or start the audiobooks anew ever since.

See that paper garland hanging on our fireplace? That is the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy!

We also have this incredibly annoying habit of quoting the movies out loud.

It drives my husband crazy!

How about that time with a blanket on shoulders and broom in hand, I declared in a booming voice, “You shall not pass,” for all to hear.

True story.

We even did a Hobbit chalk pastel teatime earlier in the year! It was such fun!

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All


Bring The Lord Of The Rings To Life In Your Homeschool

“Not all those who wander are lost.”

The Lord of the Rings

When I asked my son if he was interested in Nana’s The Lord of the Rings literature art lessons, his eyes got as big as saucers as he said YES!

We got out our copy of the series and queued up The Fellowship of the Ring movie. We talked about our favorite parts and how the films differed from the books.

Like why was Tom Bombadil left out of the movies?

Usually, I’d create a chalk pastel teatime with themed treats, but my son was eager to start, so I served a simple tea with buttered toast. But we pretended it was “Lembas bread.” 

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All


An Adventure through Middle Earth


Nana led us on many adventures:

  • A Visit to the Shire
  • Going on an Adventure through the snowy mountains
  • across the map of Middle Earth
  • an up-close look at The One Ring

My son seemed to be in his dream world of fantasy, and at times he would snap out of it and say, “This is the best teatime ever!” Then, he’d eat another piece of buttered toast and drain another cup of tea. Somehow this simple tea was the perfect second breakfast for my young hobbit.

I think that is part of what I love about our You ARE An Artist Complete Clubhouse membership. I can easily find the lessons that resonate with my children. The lessons that speak to their interests and passions are always the most intriguing, and my kiddos learn and retain so much more with this hands-on artistic component.

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

More Resources For Literature Study In Your Homeschool


With the You ARE An Artist Complete Clubhouse Membership, you’ll have access to 700+ art lessons, including exclusive access to You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Literature Video Art Lessons such as:

It’s the power of adding art to homeschool literature lessons!

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

Chalk Pastel Art Lessons

After all the buttered toast was eaten and all the tea was drunk, my son sat back in his chair and proclaimed he needed to start re-reading the trilogy right away. Instead of The One Ring, this hard-bound version of the trilogy is his treasured “Precious,” although his new The Lord of the Rings chalk pastel paintings are now a close second.

The Lord Of The Rings: A Homeschool Study To Rule Them All

Lord of The Rings Homeschool Resources

We love these resources to go with your Lord of the Rings Homeschool Study!

  • Lord of the Rings book
  • Lord of the Rings ‘Homebody’ mug by A Fine Quotation
  • ‘One Ring’ ring necklace
  • Lord of the Rings bookmark by A Fine Quotation
  • Speak Friend and Enter sign

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

Would your kids like to learn how to draw their own Nutcracker? Let Nana take you step-by-step through The Nutcracker homeschool art lessons with chalk pastels. All you need is a pack of construction paper and a starter set of chalk pastels. 

Throw in a little hot chocolate, some music appreciation, and twinkle lights, and you’ve got the making of a Nutcracker holiday homeschool unit study teatime!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study - Enjoy the holiday season with The Nutcracker, chalk pastels, and SQUILT! Throw in a little hot chocolate and twinkle lights and you've got a Nutcracker chalk pastel teatime! #Nutcracker #Nutcrackerartlessons #Nutcrackerballet #Christmas #chalkpastels #Nutcrackerart #homeschoolart #Nutcrackerstudy #holidayhomeschooling

The Story Of The Nutcracker Ballet


We love starting the holiday season with a Nutcracker chalk pastel teatime! We’ve enjoyed this tradition for many years. It reminds me to slow down and enjoy our little moments of togetherness.

Plus, my kids look forward to it every year!

Did you know The Nutcracker ballet was adapted from E. T. A. Hoffmann’s story “The Nutcracker and the Mouse King” and is enormously popular, especially around the Christmas season because the ballet takes place on Christmas Eve?

There is no better way to enjoy this incredible masterpiece than by watching the ballet itself, learning about the music, and painting some key figures!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study


The Music Of The Nutcracker

“Music is indeed the most beautiful of all Heaven’s gifts to humanity wandering in the darkness. Alone it calms, enlightens, and stills our souls.”

Tchaikovsky

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was a Russian composer best known for Swan Lake and The Nutcracker ballet scores. Christmas time is the perfect time to study this famous composer and his music!

I know what you’re thinking.

“I don’t even know where to begin teaching my kids about Tchaikovsky!”

Or, “I don’t know anything about music.”

Don’t worry! Mary from SQUILT has got you covered when it comes to music appreciation.

SQUILT stands for Super Quiet UnInterrupted Listening Time and is an easy-to-use music education program!

With The SQUILT Nutcracker Unit Studyyour children will learn the story of the ballet, E.T.A. Hoffman, and Tchaikovsky, as well as music and ballet vocabulary, instruments used, and musical concepts.

We’ve used SQUILT for years, and now You ARE AN Artist Clubhouse members can enjoy the replay of a special live event with Mary of SQUILT Live and Nana for an overture of all things Nutcracker! Members will enjoy both a time of music appreciation and a Nutcracker art lesson!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

You can also enjoy a SQUILT Christmas Carol study with many of the Christmas carols you may already be listening to on the radio!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study


Beautiful Homeschool Art For The Nutcracker Study


You ARE An Artist Clubhouse members have access to over 700+ video art lessons, including Nana’s Nutcracker lessons!

  • Nutcracker
  • Clara and the Christmas Tree
  • Sugar Plum Fairy
  • Chinese Tea Dance
  • Mouse King
  • Nutcracker Ballet (new!)
  • New Nutcracker lesson!

Plus, Clubhouse members also enjoy the accompanying I Drew It Then I Knew It The Nutcracker companion curriculum. (There’s even a recipe for sugar plums included!)

You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse members also enjoy the accompanying I Drew It Then I Knew It The Nutcracker companion curriculum.

Let your children have fun with their paintings. Encourage artistic expression and individuality. Be sure to follow your children’s lead and let them create the paintings that they like. As Nana likes to remind them, THEY ARE the ARTISTS.

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study


Additional Resources For Holiday Homeschooling


If you have the opportunity to see a live performance of The Nutcracker ballet in person, then I highly suggest doing so.

If not, there are several versions of The Nutcracker ballet you can watch on Amazon Prime and other streaming services. We watch a different one every year, but our favorite thus far is Baryshnikov’s Nutcracker.

We also enjoy pulling out one of our many copies of The Nutcracker books as part of our holiday homeschool unit study!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

Did you know that the Chalk Pastels You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership has loads more Winter and Holiday themed art lessons?

  • Artist Express
  • Hot Chocolate
  • Mittens and a Mug
  • Frost
  • Icicles
  • Frozen Lake
  • Winter Forest Scene with Deer
  • Bird in Snow
The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

You will also have access to all the Christmas and Holiday Lessons including:

  • Christmas Star
  • Away in a Manger
  • Christmas Tree
  • Winter Fun
  • Gingerbread Man and Holly Leaf
  • Christmas Angel
  • What’s Under Your Christmas Tree?
  • Christmas Ornaments
  • Christmas Lights

Plus, so much more! View ALL that Nana has for Christmas School in the Ultimate List of Christmas Art Lessons!

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

The Nutcracker ballet is synonymous with Christmas time. It is a beautiful performance with music as iconic as the Nutcracker himself. My children and I look forward to this special teatime each year, along with watching a rendition of the famous ballet. The Nutcracker video art lessons are perfect for all ages, and when you add a Merry Christmas Hymns Study, you’ll create a memorable holiday teatime the whole family will love.

The Nutcracker: A Holiday Homeschool Unit Study

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

These Ox-Cart Man activities are sure to bring this great book to life! Take a trip back to the 1800s with a New England farmer in the Ox-Cart Man. In a time when you wove your own clothes, whittled your own broom, and split your own shingles, this lyrical story takes you on a journey through the changing seasons.

Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall is in picture book format. The story is beautifully illustrated by Barabara Cooney, winner of the Caldecott Medal.

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool: Take a trip back to the 1800s with a New England farmer in the Ox-Cart Man. In a time when you wove your own clothes, whittled your own broom, and split your own shingles, this lyrical story takes you on a journey through the changing seasons. These activities are sure to bring the Ox-Cart Man to life! #chalkpastels #YouAREAnArtist #OxCartMan #OxCartManActivities #videoartlessons #homeschool #changingseasons #chalkpastelteatime

Ox-Cart Man Is A Wonderful Read Aloud

After a year of harvesting cabbages, turnips, honey, maple sugar, wool, and various other goods a farmer’s family has grown, gathered, or made, the ox-cart man loads up his cart to go and sell it for his family. He walks for ten days through the countryside before he reaches Portsmouth Market.

Ten days!

My children and I couldn’t imagine going to town once per year to buy all the things we needed. Let alone walk ten days to get there and then ten days back!

And yet, the only things the farmer bought and returned home with were:

  • A Barlow knife for his son.
  • An embroidery needle for his daughter.
  • An iron kettle for his wife.
  • Two pounds of peppermint candies for the whole family to enjoy.
Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

What better way to celebrate autumn than with a chalk pastel teatime with Nana’s new lesson and Ox-Cart Man activities? In her lesson, Nana took us step by step in creating our own carts loaded with homegrown and homemade commodities.

We added in a few of Nana’s other lessons to round out our Ox-Cart Man teatime, including:

  • Garden Honey Bees – to represent the honey the family collected
  • Baby Lamb – to represent the wool that was sheered in the spring and spun into yarn for weaving and knitting
  • Goose – to represent the goose feathers collected in the barnyard
  • Forest Path – to represent the ten days the man walked each way through forests and farmland
Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

With Nana’s seasonal tree art, you could also use this book as a springboard for chalk pastels all about changing seasons!

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

We are not a self-sufficient family like the one in the book, except for honey. We do keep honey bees, and they provide us with enough honey to last all year as well as a little to spare. Harvesting honey is a family affair and pretty tasty too.

So, I brought up a jar of honey from the basement to add to our teatime treats.

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

More Homeschool Lessons For Our Favorite Books

We also enjoyed the I Drew It Then I Knew It Companion Workbook exclusive to the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Literature Video Art Lessons. It contained facts about author Donald Hall as well as writing prompts and prompts for additional research!

Did you know the Ox-Cart Man was initially written as a poem?

More Homeschool Lessons For Our Favorite Books

With the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership, you’ll have exclusive access to the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Literature Video Art Lessons and IDITIKI Companion Workbook. These literature chalk pastel lessons include:

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

Chalk Pastels and Literature

The Ox-Cart Man is rich with imagery of days gone by, and Nana has a beautiful way of bringing all the vibrance and color straight into your home with her chalk pastel lessons. Her lessons pair perfectly with some of our favorite literature! How grand to enjoy the richness and depth of the written word AND the vibrant color of art.

Ox-Cart Man Activities For Your Homeschool

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

Here are some super simple ideas on ways to create a fall hygge homeschool art lesson with items you may already have on hand or within easy reach.

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons:Here are some super simple ideas on ways to create a fall hygge homeschool art lesson with items you may already have on hand or within easy reach. #fall #fallhygge #chalkpastels #homeschool #homeschoolartlessons

Hygge has been a hot word in recent years. You can find it all across the internet as a defining characteristic of Danish culture. It essentially means coziness and comfortable with a feeling of contentment or well-being. I love the idea of hygge. Everyone, especially me, craves calm and cozy.

I find my mental health and overall well-being improve when I introduce a bit of hygge into my life. That makes me a better mom because I’m calmer and more patient.

I typically think of hygge as a space of cozy blankets, pillows, and my favorite candle. But last week I realized that our art lessons are also a place for hygge.

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

Autumn was upon us, and I planned our weekly chalk pastel art lesson with a fall theme. It had been a highly stressful week of work, taekwondo lessons for the kids, and unexpected health complications. Mentally, I was fried. I don’t think I realized just how exhausted I was until I sat down at the table with my hot cup of tea.

It felt so cozy and perfect in my hand. I held it up to my lips and breathed in the aroma of honey, spearmint, lemongrass, orange blossoms, and rosebuds. I felt such comfort. Then I looked around at our table. It was covered in chalk pastels, acrylic paints, second-hand teacups, apple crumble, and construction paper. It wasn’t the perfect hygge photo on a cottage magazine, but THIS was hygge because it was that feeling of comfort, contentment, and well-being.

The kids dove right into their lesson with excitement, but I lingered on this feeling for a bit longer. Savoring the sweetness and joy it brought. Once I’d finished my cup of tea, I pushed up my sleeves and got to work on my chalk pastel drawing feeling renewed and energized.

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

Cozy Fall Homeschool Resources

You can create your own fall hygge homeschool lessons with a few easy steps.

  • Gather your chalk pastels and Nana’s video art lessons. You don’t need an expensive chalk pastel set; just a starter set is okay.
  • You’ll want a pack of construction paper in assorted colors.
  • Serve your children’s favorite beverage. It could be tea, apple cider, hot chocolate, or even juice. Whatever they love. Be sure to have your favorite beverage nearby too.
  • Serve treats. You don’t have to bake anything by hand if that’s not your thing. Pick a delicious treat at the bakery or even a pack of Little Debbie Snack Cakes.
  • Light a candle or two if you like; just keep them out of the way of little ones.
  • Keep some damp paper towels handy to clean up chalk hands and any spills.

Art is also a great way to strengthen the parent-child relationship and have a little one-on-one time with your kiddo.

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

Additional Homeschool Resources For Fall With The You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership

Did you know that with the You ARE AN Artist Clubhouse Membership, you get a bank of 700+ art lessons to choose from for ALL ages! Here is a sampling of the fall-themed art that we had access to:

  • Blue Jay
  • Look Up! Fall Aspen Trees
  • Pumpkin Acrylic
  • Hayride
  • Fall Acrylic Tree Reflection
  • Candy Corn
  • Pumpkin
  • Caramel Apple
  • Turkey
  • Acorn
  • Wind in the Tree
  • Fall Trees
  • Roasting Marshmallows around the Campfire
  • Apple Pie and Ice Cream
  • Warm Mittens, Scarf and Hot Chocolate
  • Johnny Appleseed
  • Plus many more!

But the Fall Art Lessons are lovely too if you’re not interested in the Clubhouse membership, but you are interested in trying some fall art.

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

My kids always enjoy the treat of an acrylic lesson from Nana. Her new acrylic pumpkin was perfect for our fall-themed teatime!

Fall Hygge Homeschool Art Lessons

Fall Hygge Chalk Pastel Teatime

Hygge is easy to create with just a few simple steps. Let comfort and the feeling of well-being be your guide as you create a lovely chalk pastel teatime. My kids certainly enjoyed having a patient mom sitting at the table alongside them as they created whimsical works of fall art, and I enjoyed that fall hygge sense of contentment and coziness.

Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family

Experience how a delight-directed family uses the power of art to enhance their child-led learning adventure! You don’t have to be artistic or worry about a vast supply list. A simple starter set of chalk pastels, a pack of construction paper, and the You ARE An Artist chalk pastel video art lessons are all you need to get started.

Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family: Experience how a delight-directed family uses the power of art to enhance their child-led learning adventure! You don't have to be artistic or worry about a vast supply list. A simple starter set of chalk pastels, a pack of construction paper, and the You ARE An Artist chalk pastel video art lessons are all you need to get started. #YouAREAnArtist #chalkpastels #homeschoolart #delightdirected #delightdirectedhomeschoolart #delightdirectedfamily #childlededucation #unschooling #strewing #delight-directedhomeschooling

We have been homeschooling for over a decade, and what an adventure it has been. While we do use some curriculum, it usually isn’t in the traditional linear sense. It just doesn’t work for our family. We tend to skip around finding joy in the things that interest us as a delight-directed family. Rabbit trails of discovery have zig-zagged across our educational journey. We dive deep into passions, be they dinosaurs, backyard birds, forest animals, moon cycles, the universe, ancient Egypt, World War II, or more recently, everything magical and mythical.

Thus, this week we found ourselves at the table, chalk pastels strewn about, with iced cakes, hot tea, and Nana’s video art lesson of the mythical Phoenix!

Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family
Find Nana’s Mythical Phoenix lesson in the Fairy Tales and Mythical Creatures section of the You ARE an ARTiST Complete Clubhouse. Find the You ARE an ARTiST mugs and t-shirts in our shop!

Delight-Directed Homeschool Art

We follow our interests. And I learn right alongside my kids. My goal is to provide loads of great literature, intriguing documentaries, plenty of fun games, and tons of learning and creative opportunities that coincide with my children’s interests. As part of our child-led education, I’ve been strewing to keep my kids exploring, engaged, and full of ideas. That means our tables are covered in books, games, modeling clay, maps, and hands-on activities. I want to foster a love of learning in my children, and following my kiddo’s interests makes learning more relevant and meaningful.

Delight-directed homeschool art has been super easy with our You ARE An Artist Complete Membership. We like to pair the video art lessons with current read alouds, picture books, or current interests. When my son was obsessed with WWII for two years, Nana consistently added history art lessons to thrill my son. 

Both children have been obsessed with Harry Potter, and lucky for us, creating an enchanting Hogwarts chalk pastel teatime was easy to pull together with Nana’s clubhouse.

When the children were enamored with sharks, chalk pastels came to the rescue again! There were easy-to-follow tutorials on some of the weirdest and most beautiful sharks of the deep!

Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family

Chalk Pastel Teatime For Art In Your Homeschool

Every week, I set the table with treats, tea or hot chocolate, and all of our chalk pastels. Sometimes we light our beeswax candles and pull out our musical wind-up teapot. Our delight-directed family enjoys this weekly ritual of art and treats.

Sometimes the treats are based on current interests. Like the week my daughter finally watched all of the Star Wars movies and then wanted to do Nana’s Star Wars chalk pastel art! We enjoyed plates of Wookie brownies and a Sarlacc bunt cake!

You can make homemade treats or open a box of Little Debbie’s. Serve your children’s favorite beverage. It doesn’t have to be tea. The point is to make it inviting and tap into your child’s natural joy of learning.

Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family

You can easily add art to your interest-led learning adventure! The You ARE AN Artist Chalk Pastel Membership has +700 lessons on everything from:

  • Holidays and Seasonal: Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter Lessons
  • Science
  • Nature
  • History
  • Literature
  • Music
  • Favorite Movies
  • and everything in between!
  • Be sure to check out the entire You ARE An Artist Course Listing to see all that’s offered within the membership.

    There’s even a FREE Homeschool Curriculum Match-Up Checklist you can download to help you pair up history and science interests such as: Ancient History, Middle Ages, early American History, and Modern History art lessons, as well as inventors, space, and more science lessons!

    Then there are the Companion Workbooks for the I Drew It Then I Knew It Series that is perfect if your kiddos want to dive deeper into one of Nana’s chalk pastel lessons. These workbooks offer:

    • Fast Fact Sheets
    • Writing Prompts
    • Biographies and Overviews
    • Research Ideas
    • Nature Observation
    • Planners
    • and more!
    Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family

    Homeschool Art for the Delight Directed Family

    As a delight-directed family homeschooling is all about following interests!

    There are oodles of opportunities for strewing these lovely art resources for my children to discover. And it works!

    Here are just a few of our favorite interest-led art lessons through the years with Nana’s chalk pastel lessons:

    Homeschool Art for the Delight-Directed Family

    Art Together As A Family In Your Homeschool

    Interest-led homeschooling, also known as child-led learning or unschooling, is a great way to nurture your unique child’s interests and passions. You can make it look however you want and in whatever way works best for your family.

    Delight-directed family art doesn’t have to be intimidating, but it can be a powerful learning tool. That’s because art can help solidify subjects your children are already learning about! By following your kiddo’s interests you are making learning more meaningful and intriguing. Plus, you don’t have to be creative or artistic to cultivate creativity in your children. Just present them with the delights of chalk pastel video art lessons. Let them choose what interests them, and let Nana do the rest.

    You ARE an ARTiST t-shirts and mugs

    An Amazing Delight Directed Family Homeschool Bundle

    This collection of resources will help you and your kids on your delight-directed homeschool journey! This bundle includes:

    • 48 Count Prismacolor Chalk Pastels
    • The Brave Learner: Finding Everyday Magic in Homeschool, Learning, and Life
    • Call of the Wild + Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child’s Education
    • Story Cubes Fantasia
    • DK: An Anthology of Intriguing Animals
    • DK: The Mysteries of the Universe
    • DK: The Wonders of Nature
    • Pack of Construction Paper
    Homeschool Books and Supplies for the Delight-Directed Family

    Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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    A Shark Week Homeschool Unit Study for Kids

    Do your kids love sharks? Are you getting ready for shark week? Then let Nana take you under the sea with chalk pastels shark art for kids! These easy-to-follow video homeschool lessons will teach you and your child how to draw some of the most exciting sharks using chalk pastels.

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids: Do your kids love sharks? Are you getting ready for shark week? Then let Nana take you under the sea with chalk pastels shark art for kids! These easy lessons will teach you and your child how to draw some of the most interesting sharks using chalk pastels. #YouAREAnArtist #chalkpastels #sharkweek #chalkpastelssharkart #sharkart #sharkartforkids #chalkpastelssharkartforkids #sharkweek #sharks

    Folks, my children have been obsessed with sharks for years. We’ve read favorite shark books, watched documentaries, and played games with a shark theme. Did you know we even tracked a Great White shark named Lydia for nearly two years with Ocearch Shark Tracker? She was over 16 feet long and traversed all around the Atlantic ocean!

    A Shark Week Unit Study: Perfect For Your Homeschool!

    Discovery Channels Shark Week is an exciting time for us. It’s the perfect time to do a week-long unit study on the science of sharks!

    Shark Week Teatime Fun for Homeschool

    Art is a fabulous addition to your shark science lessons! All you need is a pack of construction paper, chalk pastels, and Nana’s shark art videos to add a bit of artistic fun to your shark week studies. Nana is fantastic at taking you step-by-step in drawing these fierce and sometimes adorable apex predators!

    To make your shark week even more memorable, make it a chalk pastel teatime! We added our favorite pot of tea, strawberry shortcake with whipped cream, and iced cakes for our shark week teatime!

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids

    That strawberry shortcake was so delicious. I don’t think it lasted 10 minutes! Luckily there was plenty of tea and iced cakes to keep us going.

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids

    Online Shark Lessons for Kids

    These shark art videos are perfect whether your kiddo is doing a shark unit study or is obsessed with sharks. Add them to your next oceanography unit, or make a collage of your child’s favorites onto the fridge!

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids
    Bull Shark

    We love tumbling down rabbit holes of learning, and each of these sharks provided just that! So we looked up facts on habitats, food preferences, and danger levels to humans from our shark encyclopedias. Our favorite sharks included the nurse shark, hammerhead, black-tip reef shark, and zebra shark. My daughter adored the cuteness of the catshark so named for its cat-shaped eyes and gentle demeanor.

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids
    Nurse Shark

    Shark Homeschool Lessons with You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership

    With the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership, you’ll have access to 14 super easy to follow Sharks Video Art Lessons, including:

    • Great White Shark
    • Bull Shark
    • Spinner Shark
    • Hammerhead Shark
    • Zebra Shark
    • Night Shark
    • Black Tip Reef Shark
    • Flying Shark
    • Shark Fin
    • School of Sharks
    • Nurse Shark
    • Megaladon
    • Catshark
    • Thresher Shark
    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids

    If video art lessons don’t work for you, then be sure to check out the Shark Art E-book Tutorials! You can view these lessons on your iPad, Kindle, and desktop. With the Shark E-books, you’ll have access to the following E-book lessons:

    • School of Sharks
    • Great White Shark
    • Bull Shark
    • Nurse Shark
    • Catshark
    • Angel Shark
    • Shark Close Up
    • Megaladon
    • Basking Shark
    • Sharks at Night
    • Hammerhead
    • Zebra Shark
    • Black Tip Reef Shark
    • Night Shark
    • Flying Shark
    • Shark Fin
    • Cookiecutter shark
    • Goblin shark
    • Whale shark
    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids
    Hammerhead Shark

    Shark Homeschool Unit Study With Chalk Pastels

    There is so much to love about sharks! These fantastic fish are genuinely remarkable and are so crucial to the health of our oceans. With Nana’s lessons, there is a shark for everyone, be it the docile whale shark, the famous great white, or everything in between! Just remember to keep loads of blue, green, and gray chalk pastels on hand! With all of the blue ocean water we’ve created this week, along with the awesome sharks, our blue and gray pastels are nothing more than nubs! But we don’t mind! Now we have fantastic shark art in their place! And what’s not to love about that?

    Chalk Pastels Shark Art for Kids

    You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members not only have access to all of these amazing sharks but will also enjoy a special, live event in July! Nana will share a new shark lesson in honor of Shark Week. Complete Clubhouse members also enjoy a companion I Drew It Then I Knew It Sharks Workbook!

    Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

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    Fun Harry Potter Homeschool Teatime Lessons

    Check out this fun Harry Potter homeschooll teatime that even muggles will love! You’ll find magical art lessons that everyone in the family will enjoy. You don’t have to have a magic wand or spellbook. All you need is a simple set of chalk pastels, a pack of construction paper, and the teatime treats of your choice to bring the magic of art and Harry Potter into your home!

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime: Check out this fun Harry Potter chalk pastel teatime that even muggles will love! You'll find magical art lessons that everyone in the family will enjoy. You don't have to have a magic wand or spellbook. All you need is a simple set of chalk pastels, a pack of construction paper, and the teatime treats of your choice to bring the magic of art and Harry Potter into your home! #HarryPotter #HarryPotterart #HarryPotterartforkids #HarryPotterchalkpastels #HarryPotterchalkpastelteatime #chalkpastelteatime #chalkpastelatthemovies #videoartlessons #YouAREAnArtistClubhouseMembership #YouAREAnArtist

    We are HUGE Harry Potter fans, folks! This is the series that made my son a prolific reader. Seriously, it will always have a special place in our hearts.

    Why yes, we do own Hogwarts robes and two Sorting Hats.

    I knitted a scarf for my son years ago in his favorite Gryffindor colors because he was so obsessed. I love that the kiddos pulled out ALL their themed garb for our Harry Potter chalk pastels with Nana! They had been looking forward to this teatime for weeks!

    Did you know you can also print out your own Sorting Hat Fortune Teller and sort your kiddos into their Hogwarts houses before starting your Harry Potter teatime art?

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Harry Potter Homeschool Teatime Treats

    My kiddos know that chalk pastel teatime means yummy treats! The biggest hit of our Hogwarts teatime was the homemade Butterbeer. You can scroll down to the very bottom of this post to see my recipe.

    I ordered chocolate frogs, gummy slugs, and Bertie Botts every flavor beans off the internet.

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    My daughter said she got an ear wax flavored jellybean during our teatime, ha!

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    We made Hagrid’s “Happee Brthdae Harry” cake the night before our teatime. It was just a plain yellow cake with pink frosting and green lettering.

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    We made brownies and then decorated them with frosting and edible googly eyes to look like mini “Monster Book of Monsters.” A piece of red twizzle made a great tongue.

    Green Twizzlers pulled apart and then knotted back together made excellent “Gillyweed!”

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    We also made “Acid Pops” which were really Dum Dum’s dipped in honey and then rolled in crushed Dum Dum’s. Pop rocks would have been even better, but we couldn’t find any.

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Easy Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Art Lessons for Your Homeschool

    No chalk pastel teatime is complete without amazing video art lessons! Nana did not disappoint with this Chalk Pastels at The Movies Harry Potter art marathon. Nana also has a companion Fairy Tales and Mythical Creatures course for You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members!

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Nana did a fabulous job of showing us how to easily create our own:

    • Harry Potter’s Lightning Scar
    • Wizard’s Wand
    • Sorting Hat
    • Golden Snitch
    • Hogwarts Great Hall
    • Harry Potter Firebolt Broom

    My daughter’s favorite lesson was the Sorting Hat, which she made into a Lady Hat. She also enjoyed turning the Firebolt Broom lesson into Hermione and Crookshanks flying on a broom. Why did she take creative liberties with Nana’s lesson?

    Because Nana always reminds her that SHE IS THE ARTIST!

    I just love how sweet and encouraging Nana is throughout all the art lessons.

    My son’s favorite lesson was Harry Potter’s Lightning Scar and the Golden Snitch.

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Harry Potter Homeschool Study in You ARE an Artist Clubhouse Membership

    Did you know that with the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Membership you’ll have exclusive access to Nana’s NEW Fairy Tales and Mythical Creatures course plus the You ARE An Artist Clubhouse Literature Video Art Lessons?

    Fairy Tales and Mythical Creatures Art Lessons for Your Homeschool

    A growing series of new lessons to complement your Harry Potter studies, including:

    • Centaur
    • Phoenix
    • Hippogriff
    • Giant’s Hut
    • Dragon’s egg
    • Fairy Tale Castle

    I Drew It Then I Knew It Literature Art Lessons for Your Homeschool

    You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse members also enjoy a new I Drew It Then I Knew It Literature Companion workbook to match these lessons including Harry Potter. The Literature Workbook includes writing prompts, fun facts, and more!

    These literature chalk pastel lessons include:

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Fun Family Harry Potter Art For Your Homeschool

    This was an EPIC Harry Potter themed chalk pastel teatime! A seriously fun collection of art lessons that the children had been looking forward to for weeks.

    We are talking about an amazing chalk pastel teatime fit for wizards young and old alike! It will not be soon forgotten. I think this may be a teatime they will remember Always.

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Tasty Harry Potter Butterbeer Recipe

    Want to try our Butterbeer recipe? There are loads of Butterbeer recipes all across the internet. However, I’ve found that most of them are far too sweet and rich to be enjoyable. So, I came up with our own version that my kiddos love! This recipe made 2 HUGE frosty mugs full of “Butterbeer!”

    Ingredients:

    • 4 cups vanilla ice cream
    • 2 cups cream soda ice cubes
    • 3 teaspoons imitation butter extract
    • 1 teaspoon rum extract
    • 6 tablespoons butterscotch topping
    • 2 cups cream soda
    • 2 pinches of salt
    • whipped cream

    Instructions:

    1. Pour cream soda into ice cube trays and freeze.
    2. Once the cream soda is frozen, place the ice cubes in the blender.
    3. Add ice cream, imitation butter extract, rum extract, 2 cups of cream soda, butterscotch topping, salt, and blend until smooth.
    4. Pour into your favorite frosted mug.
    5. Add whipped cream and drizzle with butterscotch topping.

    ENJOY!

    Fun Harry Potter Chalk Pastel Teatime

    Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.

    Posted on

    Spring Homeschool Nature Study With Art

    Perfect for commemorating spring, Nana’s spring homeschool nature study with art explores all creatures great and small and all things bright and beautiful! These nature-inspired art lessons are easy and fun for the whole family!

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels: Perfect for commemorating spring, Nana's spring art celebration with chalk pastels explores all creatures great and small and all things bright and beautiful! These nature-inspired art lessons are easy and fun for the whole family! #springartcelebration #springartwithchalkpastels #chalkpastelartforkids #chalkpastelspringart #springart #springartforkids #springchalkpastels
#springchalkpastelsforkids

    Spring is in the air, folks! We are starting to see the first crocus pushing up through the cold earth and the first jonquils are starting to bud. Isn’t it exciting to witness the first peeks of spring?

    All things bright and beautiful,
    All creatures great and small,
    All things wise and wonderful,
    The Lord God made them all.

    Each little flower that opens,
    Each little bird that sings,
    He made their glowing colours,
    He made their tiny wings.

    Cecil Frances Alexander
    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    Spring Nature Study For Your Homeschool

    These two stanzas of Cecil Frances Alexander’s hymn inspired our spring art celebration last week. Our winter has been so cold and grey, that we just couldn’t help diving into rich colors of pinks, purples, yellows, blues, and red! Does anyone else feel more invigorated when exploring worlds of color? My kids and I sure do!

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    We started by setting the table with a pot of hot tea and our teacups. I didn’t have it in me to bake this week and that’s where premade snack cakes come to the rescue!

    We scattered our chalk pastels across the table and pulled up our Chalk Pastel Clubhouse Membership to see what Spring-themed lessons were available and holy cow were there a load of lessons to choose from!

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    Online Homeschool Art Lessons For Spring

    With the You ARE AN Artist Clubhouse Membership you’ll have access to ALL of these Spring inspired art lessons for your own spring art celebration:

    • Garden bunny
    • Rabbit in the Forest (Green Ember Gala)
    • Shamrock
    • Rainbow
    • Jonquil in a glass of water
    • Vivaldi’s Spring Tree
    • Spring tree reflection
    • Rain
    • Bird’s Nest
    • dandelion
    • green anole
    • ant
    • chipmunk
    • hummingbirds at the feeder
    • lightning bug (or firefly)
    • snail
    • forest path
    • red-eyed tree frog
    • eagle’s nest with eagle family
    • rat snake
    • deer in the forest
    • bear 
    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    That’s not all! Here were even more wonders of nature to explore with your chalk pastel lessons:

    • honey bees on sunflower
    • bunny
    • ladybug
    • caterpillar
    • the pond
    • turtle
    • bullfrog
    • dragonfly
    • water strider
    • beaver
    • rainbow trout
    • goose
    • owl
    • cardinal
    • goldfinch
    • hummingbird
    • chickadee
    • robin
    • sandpiper
    • bluebird
    • lamb
    • piglet
    • kitten
    • puppy
    • seal pup
    • baby bluebird
    • cow
    • baby owl
    • dinosaur
    • Plus, so much more!
    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    Spring Art Teatime

    We started our spring art celebration with a garden bunny because we often see a bunny in our front yard. My daughter loves to observe the little guy and now she has her own cottontail to hang on her bedroom wall. She even gave her bunny a garden with growing carrots and cabbages to enjoy! I love that Nana always reminds us that WE ARE the ARTISTS.

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    Creativity And Storytelling In Your Homeschool

    Let your kiddos explore their creativity as much as they want with chalk pastels! Instead of a single jonquil in a vase, my daughter created a whole pitcher full of flowers! When we were drawing our long neck dinosaur, she was creating a whole Cretaceous time period scene in which there were Pteranodons and cliffs! Or how she painted a lovely firefly fairy queen instead of a plain firefly. Even her spring tree had the added bonus of a bird’s nest with a father and mother bird anxiously awaiting the hatching of their baby chicks. She told me these elaborate stories as she drew each unique painting, and I listened in wonder.

    Through her art, she is also a storyteller!

    Chalk Pastel Art for Kids

    Chalk Pastels are so easy to use! All you need is a simple set of chalk pastels, a pack of construction paper, and Nana’s video art lessons. Make it a chalk pastel teatime treat if you like by setting the table with flowers and your favorite tea set. Keep a roll of paper towels handy as spills do happen. But the memories made will outlast any spill or smudge.

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    A Spring Homeschool Nature Study

    Cecil Frances Alexander’s hymn reminded us of the wonders of nature, and all the beauty there is to be found. My children reminded me that art is a glorious way to celebrate any occasion including spring. Now, our refrigerator and bedroom walls are bursting with color and new life as we eagerly await the season of rebirth.

    Spring Art Celebration with Chalk Pastels

    Nature Observation Homeschool Printable

    A bonus for members to accompany all of Nana’s nature art lessons, perfect for your spring homeschool nature study.

    Here is an educational resource and companion to our I Drew It Then I Knew It Series and nature art lessons. Our All Things Bright and Beautiful nature observation and investigation printable is a handy resource to accompany Nana’s nature art lessons and is a complement to your nature curriculum.

    The Nature Observation Printable includes:

    • Observation and Investigation
    • Research Ideas
    • Observation Recording Area
    • Notes Section

    Only available with You ARE an ARTiST Clubhouse membership, it is downloadable and printable.

    More Spring Homeschool Ideas

    You might also like these spring homeschool ideas with art and nature!

    Erin is a writer, blogger, and homeschooler to two intense kids. Her blog is filled with information to help you explore a child led education while making meaningful connections with your children. Discover favorite read alouds, seasonal books, games, art projects, hands-on activities, and learn to just breathe through the ups and downs of life. She loves nature, farm life, good books, knitting, new pens, and hot coffee. Erin is a contributing writer for Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Her work has also been featured on Simple Homeschool and Book Shark.