July Fun Learning Holidays
Looking for ways to supplement your homeschool curriculum? How about short unit studies to explore a variety of topics? These fun holidays are a great way to celebrate and provide engaging learning opportunities for your kids. Here’s my list of July homeschool unit study ideas using fun holidays.
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What to Celebrate in the Month of July
Every month has designated awareness holidays. Take advantage of these holidays to introduce your kids to a new experience or get them to try something new. Also, if your child wants to dig in, use these holidays to spend additional time focused on a particular area of interest.
Let’s look at some of the monthly awareness themes for the month of July that you can use to supplement your homeschool curriculum.
National Blueberry Month
Visit a u-pick blueberry farm, fruit stand, or farmer’s market to taste a variety of blueberry varieties.
Blueberries Unit Study: Geared to elementary age, includes books, video, and cooking suggestions
BC Blueberry Council eLearning: Best for interested middle and high school students. Videos and articles covering planting, pruning, and harvesting blueberries, along with health benefits.
Read: Big List of Blueberry Recipes
National Week Holidays for July
Next up are the national awareness weeks to use as homeschool learning opportunities during the month of July.
National Zookeeper Week: 3rd week
Visit the zoo this week! Even better, take a behind-the-scenes tour with a zookeeper. Many zoos offer tours to learn more about how the animals are cared for and conservation efforts.
So You Want to Be a Zookeeper: St. Louis Zoo article with links and pictures for elementary through college level students
National Day Holidays for July
Now we’re on to the individual day holidays for the month of July. Choose a few to incorporate into your homeschool for a variety of learning and fun.
Canada Day: July 1
Learn about Canadian history. This holiday is always celebrated on July 1st, unless the 1st is a Sunday. Then the holiday moves to July 2nd.
Find a big list of homeschool resources about Canada from The Homeschool Mom.
Canada Day resources on Teachers Pay Teachers
National U.S. Postage Stamp Day: July 1
Learn how postage stamps are made or how they’re designed.
For an interesting look at how an artist uses postage stamps in her art, watch Molly Rausch: Postage Stamp Artist. Then, have your kids try creating their own art using a postage stamp as inspiration. If you don’t have a personal collection of interesting stamps, visit the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum website for hundreds of stamp images.
Independence Day: July 4
Liberty’s Kids (some episodes currently available on YouTube) for kid-friendly American revolutionary history.
See pictures of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
History of the 4th of July (Crash Course History) and What You Might Not Know About the Declaration of Independence (TedEd)
Patriotic writing prompts from WriteShop.
Use the Library of Congress classroom resources for discussion questions and activity ideas related to the Declaration of Independence.
Video Games Day: July 8
Explore a video game history timeline from the National Museum of Play.
Early video game history (YouTube – ColdFusion)
Video Game History (YouTube – Cool School)
Create your own games with MIT’s Scratch program
World Population Day: July 11
World population meter with ability to view live data for the top 20 most populated countries
Work on math and geography skills with activities from the Population Reference Bureau. Downloadable worksheets to calculate rates of growth, fertility and mortality rates, and percentages of population in specific age ranges. Best for middle or high school students.
Bastille Day: July 14
Bastille Day commemorates French democracy by memorializing the uprising against the constitutional monarchy on July 14th, 1789.
History of France’s Bastille Day (YouTube – Newsy)
French Revolution Unit Study from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus
Shark Awareness Day: July 14
Ocearch.org tracker: see the latest pings to track the whereabouts of sharks along with other giant sea creatures. Check out their STEM curriculum for grades K-8 with shark anatomy, shark senses, and physics of shark movement among the many offerings.
Shark Lesson Plans from Sea World Education
Discovery Channel’s Shark Week videos from prior years
World Snake Day: July 16
All About Snakes (Free School – YouTube)
Snake Locomotion (National Science Foundation – YouTube)
Detailed information about snake tracks from Alderleaf Wilderness College
10 most beautiful snakes in the world (ZoneA – YouTube)
TedEd animated video describing interesting facts about a variety of vipers
National Ice Cream Day: 3rd Sunday
How Ice Cream Is Made (Modern Marvels – YouTube)
The History of Ice Cream (Foodservice Snack Solutions – YouTube)
Healthy Homemade Banana Ice Cream (Clean and Delicious – YouTube)
Soft Serve Ice Cream (Chef Steps – YouTube)
Read: 100+ Recommendations for Family Movie Night
Moon Day: July 20
Apollo 11’s Journey to the Moon (Vox – YouTube)
Phases of the Moon (Free School – YouTube)
8 phases of the moon printable worksheets from Saturday Gift
Find plenty of interesting information about the Apollo missions, including fun details about people who worked on the missions and a 3D exploration of Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit, from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Amelia Earhart Day: July 24
Visit ameliaearhart.com for a biography, quotes, and pictures of the pioneering female pilot.
Printable Amelia Earhart activity booklet from NASA includes language arts and math activities.
Amelia Earhart Lesson Plan from PBS Learning Media
International Tiger Day: July 29
Tigers 101 (National Geographic – YouTube)
National Geographic lesson plan resource studying geographic themes related to Bengal and Siberian tigers.
If your kids love to draw, have them check out these tiger drawing tutorials: How to Draw a Tiger (simple) and How to Draw Tiger (advanced)
National Avocado Day: July 31
Learn about the health benefits of avocados and the chemistry that causes the green fruit to turn brown quickly. Enjoy some avocado toast or homemade guacamole today!
Don’t Eat Avocados Until You Do This
If you want to try growing avocado from seed, check out the video link below. Your kids may enjoy doing a similar experiment comparing the toothpick avocado seed in water versus the avocado seed in soil. Obviously, depending on your location, you may only be able to take this so far. I’d love to grow avocados on our property, but they just aren’t hardy enough for the Pacific Northwest.
The BEST way to grow avocado from seed
Read: Simple Project Planning Template for Kids
Visit my homeschool resources page for monthly unit study ideas, projects, and homeschool planning help!
How to Use Fun Holidays for Unit Studies in July
The key to using fun holiday lists like this in your homeschool is to keep it simple. Don’t try to celebrate every single holiday or awareness theme. You and your kids will be overwhelmed.
One way to implement these supplemental learning activities is to keep a list of fun holidays. Then, note down the ones you celebrate with the year and what you did. Next year, come back to the list and pick another one or two to celebrate.
There are, of course, more “national days” you could choose to celebrate that are not included in this list, many of them focused on food. It’s fun to choose a few of these as well to add in treats here and there or as a way to have your kids try new foods.
Find additional July fun holidays that aren’t necessarily learning-related in these two articles.
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July Unit Study Ideas for Homeschool Learning
