Gather Round Homeschool: Africa – Free Resources to Save You Time!
This is our 7th Gather Round Homeschool unit study and we have honestly enjoyed every one so far!
I’m both a dreamer and travel enthusiast, so naturally I thoroughly enjoy learning about countries across the world. We spent two weeks over the summer doing an “It’s a Small World” themed unit that I put together myself and we loved it.
When I saw how this curriculum goes through every continent on the globe, I was in! Asia was our first “Connecting Continents” unit and it was awesome! So many things were covered…flags, language, religion, government, animals, landmarks, trade, food…SO MUCH. Europe was our second continent and it was equally as amazing!
Currently we are getting ready to close out our first year as a Gather Round Homeschool family with the Africa Unit Study and it is looking to be so interesting!
Now I have an 8, 5, and just-turned 4 year old, so they’re on the younger side. Will they remember everything? I doubt it. BUT, it’s in their knowledge base now, and when they hear about these topics again down the road, I believe they’ll be able to recall learning about it and continue to build on it.
I’m seeing it happen already when the curriculum circles back to something we’ve talked about in a previous unit.
My 4 year old surprised me the other day when she asked if a bird might be a black-capped chickadee…something she remembered from our very first unit (and when I thought she mostly wasn’t paying attention! lol). My 8 year old’s vision teacher mentioned things being made in other countries and my kiddo told her that she knows a little about exports! And my very observant 5 year old notices things all the time in books or in shows that we’ve discussed in previous units. It’s truly amazing the wide variety of knowledge they’ve acquired in just one school year!
If you are unfamiliar with this curriculum, be sure to check out this blog post that tells more about it! You can also download samples and purchase the curriculum on their website.
The Resources:
These “extras” are the things that I love about doing unit studies! It helps make the lessons even more immersive!
I’ve also found that our lessons go so much more smoothly when I have everything that I want to introduce to my kids all organized and ready to go. Sometimes we may not get to everything or even go down a different rabbit trail of learning, but it’s so helpful to have what I want readily available.
I understand how time-consuming this is, though! So, I’m sharing with you some of the playlists and resources we are using for the Africa unit study so that you can have what you need without all the planning!
My playlists are mostly geared toward elementary and under because that is where my kids are. There are lots of other videos/books/etc you could add if you have older kids as well.
While I’ve used most of these resources with my kids, I always recommend that you preview them before using with your kiddos to make sure it’s a good fit for your family.
Gather Round Homeschool: Africa – YouTube Playlist
Many of the video sources in this playlist are favorites of my kiddos. They go in order from Lesson 1 – 20 to make your life easier! Use what you like, leave what you don’t, add what you need.
They can be used during the lesson, after the lesson, or anytime really! How they are used is entirely up to you.
Gather Round Homeschool: Africa – Spotify Playlist
This is a playlist I created with traditional music and the national anthems from many of the countries that are discussed in this unit study. I like to use this during writing time and often during dinner.
At dinner, especially, it adds that little extra touch that helps transport you to that country…especially if you’re eating their food, too!
Gather Round Homeschool: Africa – Pinterest Board
I don’t know about you, but I enjoy using Pinterest to gather and organize ideas…and recipes! Sometimes I use the ideas that I find directly and other times scrolling pinterest inspires an idea of my own.
This is yet another thing that takes a little time, so here is your shortcut!
The creator of this curriculum sells a beautiful digital recipe book to go along with the unit if you’d just like to purchase and print that! However, if you choose not to, this board has the recipes that I pinned for every country in the Gather Round Homeschool Africa unit…including ones for the recipes she recommends. I won’t make ALL of them, but I do plan on making many of them.
I’ve also included some extra ideas such as crafts, STEM projects, art, and country study worksheets!
In an attempt to make it as easy to find what you’re looking for as possible, the recipes go in order from Lesson 1-20 with any activity pins being at the very end of the board!
Gather Round Homeschool: Africa – Book Lists and More!
Book Lists
Rebecca Spooner, the creator of Gather Round Homeschool, has an amazing book list in the front of every unit’s teacher’s guide. It’s even divided up by levels to make it easy! I was able to get most of the ones I wanted from our local library and then used Amazon and Thrift Books to get any that were remaining.
I also used a few additional books not on that list:
- Magic Tree House: Mummies in the Morning, by Mary Pope Osborne (Egypt)
- Magic Tree House: Lions at Lunchtime, by Mary Pope Osborne
- The Big Book of Beasts, by Yuval Zommer
- The Travel Book, by Lonely Planet Kids
- If You Lived Here, by Giles Laroche
- On Safari Sticker Activity Book, by National Geographic Kids
- A Child’s Introduction to Egyptology, by Heather Alexander
- Across the Savannah, by Kane Miller
Shows and Movies
Here’s a list of shows and movies for added entertainment that can further reinforce the theme!
- The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That
- “A Plan for Sand” – Season 1, Episode 4 (Camels)
- “Slow Down for Sloths” – Season 1, Episode 15
- “Elephant Walk” – Season 1, Episode 27
- “Treetop Tom” – Season 1, Episode 30 (Giraffes)
- “Stripy Safari” – Season 1, Episode 32
- “Big Cats” – Season 1, Episode 36
- “Minnie the Meerkat”, Season 1, Episode 37
- The Lion Guard
- Wild Kratts
- “Mom of a Croc”, Season 1 (Nile River Crocodiles)
- “Aardvark Town”, Season 1 (Mozambique)
- “Honey Seekers”, Season 1 (Kalahari Desert)
- “Elephant in the Room”, Season 1 (Serengeti)
- “Let the Rhinos Roll!”, Season 1 (Serengeti)
- “Cheetah Racer”, Season 1 (Tanzania)
- “Mimic”, Season 1 (Tanzania)
- “Caracal-Minton”, Season 1 (Namibia)
- “The Food Chain Game”, Season 1 (Tanzania)
- “Bad Hair Day”, Season 2 (East Africa, Lions)
- “Race for the Hippo Disc”, Season 2 (Hippos)
- “Creature Power Challenge”, Season 2 (East Africa)
- “Neck and Neck”, Season 2 (East Africa, Giraffes)
- “Fossa-Palooza” Season 2 (Madagascar)
- “Mini Madagascar”, Season 2
- “Lemur Legs” and “Lemur Stink Fight”, Season 2 (Madagascar, Lemurs)
- “Golden Bamboo Lemur”, Season 2 (Madagascar, Lemurs)
- “Cheetah Adopted”, Season 2
- “Uh-Oh Ostrick”, Season 6
- The Magic School Bus
- “All Dried Up” – Season 1 (Desert Adaptation)
- “Cold Feet” – Season 2 (Warm/Cold Blooded)
- “Shows and Tells” Season 3 (Archeology)
- Sahara (Netflix)
- Curious George 3: Back to the Jungle
- The Lion King
- The Lion King 1 1/2
- The Lion King 2
- Madagascar 1,2&3
- The Penguins of Madagascar
- Zambezia
- Tarzan
- The Prince of Egypt
- Gorillas in the Mist: The Adventure of Dian Fossey
- The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
- Born Free
- Queen of Katwe
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (older kids and adults)
- Hotel Rwanda (older kids and adults)
- Disney Nature: Growing Wild
- Disney Nature: African Cats
- True Life Adventures: The African Lion (Disney +)
- True Life Adventures: Living Desert (Disney +)
I hope that these pre-planned resources help save you time in your unit study planning! Enjoy!
Make sure to check out my resource pages for Gather Round Homeschool North American Birds, Asia, Space, Europe, and Oceans too!
What are some of the activities you’ve done or are planning to do with this unit? I’d love to know! Share in the comments below!
