Keep your kids entertained during summer break with an exciting Summer Around the United States project. The whole family will enjoy fun activities while learning about the states and territories of the US.
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For the past 5 years, I have selected a different project to do with my girls to keep them busy and learning during summer break. This past summer we spent 65 days learning about each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the 14 US territories. I chose a different state or territory each day and we spent a few minutes learning where it is located on the map, what its flag looks like and the name of its capital. I gave the girls a coloring page about each state and then we did some sort of project to learn more about that state or territory. I tried to select a variety of projects to keep it interesting, but their favorites were always the projects that involved food!
I always start planning for my project several months in advance and get a general outline of what I’d like to do on each of the days of summer. This makes it so much easier when summer actually arrives as I don’t have to scramble to come up with things to do. I’m not able to set each day in stone since I don’t always know where we’ll be or what we’ll have going on any particular day. For this reason, there is true randomness to the order in which we learned about each state and territory!
For more summer project ideas check out our Summer of Kindness.
If you would like to plan your own Summer Around the United States project, there are so many resources out there to give you and idea of what you can learn about each day. By far my favorite is the state unit studies from Ben and Me. I was able to get so many fun ideas from the list of activities she provides. These coloring pages from 123 Homeschool 4 Me were a fun addition to teach the girls about different facts from each state. The Lazy Gastronome also provided me with inspiration on which foods we should check out thanks to the “State Food Friday” series she started this year.
Below is a list of the different activities we did each day during our Summer Around the United States project. This summer we were fortunate to take a few different road trips and ended up visiting a total of 14 states. This made it easy to incorporate those states into the project. I’m on a mission to have my girls visit all 50 states before they graduate so the road trips put us closer to that goal, as well. So far they have visited a total of 23 states! You don’t have to leave home to do this project, though! You can take virtual trips using videos and books to learn about the states and territories and use our list as a guide for ideas that will fit within your summer plans.
Summer Around the United States
Day 1 – Nebraska: We kicked off this summer project with a quick trip to see our friends and family in Nebraska. No trip to Nebraska is complete without the quintessential Nebraska food…a Runza!
Day 2 – Connecticut: Watched a YouTube video about the Pez Candy factory in Orange, CT then got to pick out our own Pez dispensers.
Day 3 – Wyoming: Learned about the Wyoming State flower by reading the book “The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush” and coloring Indian Paintbrush pictures.
Day 4 – Washington DC: Learned about the different monuments and visited the traveling Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Grand Island, NE.
Day 5 – Washington: Learned that Washington produces the most apples in the US then made apple crisp.
Day 6 – Alabama: Learned that the Monarch Butterfly is the state insect of Alabama and did a Monarch craft.
Day 7 – Maine: Watched a video about lobster fishing in Maine then ate lobster rolls and lobster tacos at the Cousins Maine Lobster food truck.
Day 8 – Delaware: Did a Delaware word search.
Day 9 – Howland Island: Watched a YouTube video about Amelia Earhart and learned about the 1 square mile US island in the South Pacific that she was flying to when she disappeared during her trip around the world in 1937.
Day 10 – Georgia: Watched a YouTube video about peanut farming then made boiled peanuts.
Day 11 – New Hampshire: Read a book and looked at scenic pictures to compare the White Mountains in New Hampshire to our camping spot in the Arizona White Mountains.
Day 12 – New Mexico: Visited New Mexico and hiked the Catwalk Trail (a bucket list thing for mom)!
Day 13 – Pennsylvania: Read a book about Pennsylvania and made campfire Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches.
Day 14 – Oregon: Learned about the Oregon state animal, the beaver, and made beaver dams and pine cone beavers.
Day 15 – Arkansas: Watched a YouTube video about Crater of Diamonds State Park then dug for our own “diamonds” at our campground.
Day 16 – Kentucky: Watched Secretariat and drank (non-alcoholic) mint juleps.
Day 17 – Massachusetts: Watched a YouTube video about scalloping in New Bedford, MA then made scallops for dinner and finished with the Massachusetts state dessert, Boston Cream Pie.
Day 18 – Alaska: Read a book about Alaska and used a map to compare its size with the rest of the US.
Day 19 – North Carolina: Learned about the Wright Brothers first flight at Kitty Hawk and made clothespin airplanes.
Day 20 – Kingman Reef: Watched a YouTube video about Kingman Reef then made our own coral reefs.
Day 21 – South Carolina: Learned to dance the shag (the state dance of South Carolina) then ate shrimp and grits.
Day 22 – Michigan: Learned that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state in the US then watched a video about them and made our own lighthouses.
Day 23 – Texas: Checked our the scenery in the Texas panhandle and ate steak at The Big Texan Steak Ranch in Amarillo.
Day 24 – Oklahoma: Visited the Stafford Air and Space Museum (a Father’s Day treat for dad), saw the USS Oklahoma anchor (in honor of their great-great-uncle), took a picture in front of the Oklahoma State Capitol and visited a friend in Oklahoma City.
Day 25 – Kansas: Visited the geographical center of the lower 48 states in Lebanon, KS.
Day 26 – Jarvis Island: Learned about the birds that make their home on the island by playing a matching game.
Day 27 – West Virginia: Made West Virginia pepperoni rolls.
Day 28 – South Dakota: Had lunch with friends in Yankton then spent time at Falls Park in Sioux Falls.
Day 29 – North Dakota: Went bison “hunting” in Fargo.
Day 30 – Minnesota: Had fun at Mall of America, saw the Minnesota State Capitol and ate a Juicy Lucy.
Day 31 – Palmyra Atoll: Learned about some of the 400 species of fish that are found near Palmyra Atoll.
Day 32 – Wisconsin: Had fun at Wisconsin Dells, learned how to make cheese, and visited the Wisconsin State Capitol.
Day 33 – Illinois: Checked out the scenery in northwest Illinois and ate Chicago deep-dish pizza.
Day 34 – Iowa: Visited The Amana Colonies, ate a Maid-Rite and saw the Iowa State Capitol.
Day 35 – Navassa Island: Took a photographic tour of Navassa Island.
Day 36 – Missouri: Made Gooey Butter Cake from St Louis.
Day 37 – Indiana: Learned that the cardinal is the state bird of Indiana then made our own cardinal craft and went looking for cardinals in our pasture in Nebraska.
Day 38 – Tennessee: Watched a video about the Grand ‘Ole Opry and listened to classic country music.
Day 39 – Mississippi: Learned that Barq’s Root Beer was invented in Mississippi in 1898 then made root beer floats.
Day 40 – Nevada: Learned why Nevada is called The Silver State then made a silverware wind chime.
Day 41 – Virginia: Made a historical document using a quill like our forefathers did.
Day 42 – Ohio: Watched a YouTube video about how sparklers are made by a company in Ohio and then lit our own sparklers on the 4th of July.
Day 43 – Wake Island: Learned about the Battle of Wake Island which occurred in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor (this was done on the same day that we had a memorial service in our home-town cemetery for our great-uncle who died aboard the USS Oklahoma and whose remains were identified in 2018.)
Day 44 – Baker Island: Learned about the guano mining that used to take place on the island.
Day 45 – Florida: Looked at pictures of some of the seashell beaches in Florida then looked for seashells in our own “beach” in our pasture in Nebraska.
Day 46 – Colorado: Checked out the scenery in northwest Colorado and Learned about the Pony Express route in that area.
Day 47 – The US Virgin Islands: Drank “rum punch” and listened to island music.
Day 48 – Utah: Enjoyed just some of the beauty around Moab, UT.
Day 49 – Idaho: Watched a YouTube video about growing and harvesting potatoes in Idaho then started the process of making potato beads for jewelry we’ll make in a couple of weeks.
Day 50 – Northern Mariana Islands: Made Chamorro shrimp patties (these were so delicious!!)
Day 51 – Montana: Learned about Lewis & Clark’s and Sacajawea’s expedition through Montana then made our own canoe.
Day 52 – Vermont: Watched a YouTube video about where maple syrup comes from then bought a bottle of real maple syrup.
Day 53 – Louisiana: Ate chicken & sausage gumbo, crawfish etouffee, shrimp remoulade, and Lulu wings with dad at Baby Kay’s Cajun Kitchen in Mesa, AZ.
Day 54 – Rhode Island: Learned about the history of the Hasbro toy company based in Rhode Island then played with some of our favorite Hasbro toys.
Day 55 – Maryland: Watched a video about crabbing in Maryland then ate crab cakes (delicious!)
Day 56 – Midway Atoll: Watched some documentaries about the Battle of Midway.
Day 57 – New York: Read a book about the Statue of Liberty then ate New York-style pizza at Brooklyn V’s in Chandler, AZ.
Day 58 – Guam: Made Kadon Pika with Red Rice (also very delicious!)
Day 59 – Samoa: Made Keke Fa’i (banana cake…super yummy!)
Day 60 – Johnston Atoll: Learned about the endangered Hawaiian Monk Seal that inhabits Johnston Atoll.
Day 61 – Arizona: Made cactus ice pops.
Day 62 – California: Learned about the California state flower then painted our own poppies.
Day 63 – New Jersey: Learned about the history of salt water taffy made on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City then made our own salt water taffy.
Day 64 – Puerto Rico: Ate at Millie’s Puerto Rican Cafe in Mesa, AZ. We had Arroz blanco habichuelas y muslos de pollo al horno (white rice beans and chicken), Mofongo con ceros al horno (fried, mashed green plantains & pork), Jibarito (pork sandwich with fried plantains as the bread). Appetizers were Pasteles, Alcapurrias, Pastelillo de carne, and Pastelillo de queso and for dessert, we had fried sweet plantains. It was a YUMMY dinner!!
Day 65, the final day – Hawaii: Had a Hawaiian luau!
This was such a fun project to do and we all learned so much. It helped us understand and appreciate the diversity that exists throughout the United States and made us excited to visit the remaining states in the coming years.
Do you do any special fun projects with your kids during summer break? I’d love to hear aboutit in the comments below!
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