Family and Homeschool Activities for Teaching Living and Nonliving Things

Grade Levels: K-2

These family and homeschool activities are designed to complement the Living and Nonliving Things on BrainPOP Jr.

Nature Walk

Take a walk with your child and observe what’s around you. Ask your child what they see that’s living and nonliving. Encourage them to draw pictures of what they see and explain why each thing is living or nonliving. As a challenge, have your child find and describe nonliving items that are made from living things. For example, they might see a bench and explain that while the bench is nonliving, it’s made out of wood, which comes from trees, which are living.   

Living and Nonliving Things Scavenger Hunt

Have your child find living and nonliving things around your home. You can give hints such as, “Find a living thing that’s green” or “Find a nonliving thing made out of wood.” This is also a good opportunity to practice counting and adding skills. You can challenge your child to collect three living things and two nonliving things and ask them to count up the total. Have them challenge you to find living and nonliving things and you can “accidentally” pick out incorrect items and have your child explain what you did incorrectly.

Watch it Grow!

A great way to learn about living things is to take care of one! Grow a plant together with your child. Research what the plant needs to grow and have your child track the plant’s growth and changes over time. Invite them to draw pictures to record their observations. Have your child be responsible for the plant, making sure it gets what it needs to thrive. Prompt them to think about why a plant is a living thing. Ask, ‘What do living things need to survive?”