10am—5pm Tuesday—Saturday | Noon—5pm Sunday | Closed Monday

Learning Resources for Kids

Learning Resources for Kids

Our learning resources let you bring the WOW moments home after a visit to The Bishop. Here, you can use these printable PDFs and watch videos with simple activities that families and classrooms can do together. These activities can be adapted using a variety of materials and age groups, so use the materials you have on hand to make them your own!

Activities for Early Learners through Grade 2

Woodland Animal Play

Use your imagination to become two of our favorite fluffy animals, a red fox and a raccoon. These animals like to live in the woods, places with lots of trees, but are often found near humans too.

Matter Bingo

Solid, liquid or gas? Matter or non matter? In this bingo game, players look at what is around them as they explore states of matter.

Scratch-and-Sniff Paint

Add a sensory twist to your art with home-made scratch-and-sniff paint. This fun craft will bring your art to a whole new level!

Fun With Constellations

Create star patterns from the night sky right inside your own home! You can also use your imagination to create your own unique constellations! 

Squirrels!

Backyard Butterflies

Tales Under the Tree

Gather the kiddos and settle in for a story to spark their curiosity about science and nature! Join us at The Bishop at 3pm every Saturday and Sunday for a special story time.

Tales Under the Tree takes place under the Ralph S. French Charitable Foundation Mighty Oak in the Mosaic Backyard Universe and features a different science or nature-themed book each month, followed by a craft, game, or fun facts related to the story. At the end of each month, a video of the book reading will also be featured on The Bishop’s Facebook page.

 

Activities for Grades 3 through 5 

Bottle Octopus Craft

Build an octopus out of a recycled water bottle. This craft makes a great washable string puppet or an ornament to hang. 

Pollinator Poetry

A flower’s size, shape, color, scent and even how it attaches to the stem are all adaptations to attract pollinators. Say a pollinator poem, then match the pollinator to its favorite kind of flower!

Fruit Taste Test

Use your senses to carefully compare any fruits you have on hand. You can choose different varieties of the same kind of fruit (like apples!) or pick all different fruits.

Archaeology Cookie Dig

Discover how archaeologists excavate to uncover mysteries about people who lived in the past. The best part? You get to eat the results!

Florida Food Webs

All living things — even you! — must take in energy to survive and thrive. In this activity, learn how energy flows among Florida plants and animals.

For 4th Graders

Companion activities for 4th Grade Core:

Science Experiment: Vinegar
& Baking Soda, Part 1

Science Experiment: Vinegar
& Baking Soda, Part 2

Will it Flush?

Howard’s Chicks

Activities for Middle Schoolers

Wegener’s Puzzling Evidence

Plate Tectonics is a theory about the movement of continental plates across the earth. It states that the earth’s crust is divided into several plates which slowly move over time as they glide over the hotter rock of the mantle. Alfred Wegener’s evidence led to the acceptance of these gradual but inevitable changes to our earth. In this activity, you will study evidence and come up with your own conclusions about plate tectonics.

 Save the Cube!

Learn how heat energy transfers using materials found inside your home to create an insulation layer to prevent an ice cube from melting outside.

Mythical Mysteries

Cultures around the world tell stories of fantastic creatures with otherworldly powers. One of these mythical creatures, the mermaid, is said to have been inspired by one of our favorite animals, the manatee! Using information you have about the world today, try to guess what these people from long ago may have actually seen.

What’s Your Bird Name?

What’s in a name? The common names of animals often tell us key information about them. Using bits of real bird names and information about yourself, create a brand-new bird name unique to you. Use this name to inspire a scientific illustration of your imaginary bird species.

Where Are We? 

Let’s explore our solar system and the components within. Use resources — books, interviews of other people, and internet websites like NASA’s — to answer questions about space and learn something new. Then, use the activity guide and the information provided to replicate your own solar system to scale.

Scott’s Marshy Backyard

Tiffany and Sultana

Activities for High Schoolers

Plate Tectonics Tennis Ball Globe

Envisioning continental movements occurring in the theory of plate tectonics can be difficult, especially if it is portrayed only in two dimensions. In this activity, you will create a model to visualize the continental plates in their true orientation, on a 3-dimensional globe.

Dissolving Shells

As our oceans absorb more carbon dioxide, they become more acidic. In this experiment, you will explore how extended exposure to acid affects calcium carbonate shells. 

Deciphering Diets

As we look into our planet’s past, we piece together whatever evidence we can find to create a picture of lands and living things lost to time. Use clues from Columbian mammoth and American mastodon fossils and preserved dung to recreate the diets of these animals tens of thousands of years in the past.

Microphotography with Scott

Pine Island Sound with Kevin & Nadine

Howard’s Backyard

Florida’s Fantastic Fossils

Family Fun: Learning and Games

Earth Day Scavenger Hunt

Solve Earth-related challenges as you learn how to keep our planet healthy on Earth Day.

Sound Bingo

Car horn, dog barking or water dripping? What kinds of sounds do you hear around your house and yard? In this bingo game, players listen for what is around them.

Fractions Hopscotch

Grab some sidewalk chalk and practice fractions with family and friends!

Manatee Migration Game

During this game, players pretend they’re manatees migrating to their warm-water refuges.

Museum Display Case

Learn how to be a museum exhibitor by designing and building your own museum display case to showcase your favorite rock, shell, toy, or other  treasure!

Additional Recommended Resources

For earth science, physics and space:

For animals and the outdoors: