Once upon a time we were just a regular family who enjoyed a Disney movie here and there. That was before we went to Disney World last November. Ever since then, we’ve immersed ourselves in all things Disney, including the very man behind the dream himself, Walt Disney. That’s how this Walt Disney Unit Study worked its way into our homeschool plans.
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Luckily for us there were lots of great resources out there to support our efforts to learn more about Walt Disney. Here’s a look at the resources that helped us explore the fascinating life of Walt Disney.
Walt Disney Unit Study Resources
As always, we started our Walt Disney unit study by digging into some great books. We primarily used I Am Walt Disney for our study, but also loved adding Disney’s Dream from Stacia Deutsch’s Blast to the Past Series.
In this book, the Blast to the Past kids visit Walt to encourage him when some difficulties occur early on during his career. My oldest kiddo espescially loved this book!
Our Favorite Walt Disney Books
Looking for more Walt Disney reading options? Here are some other kid-friendly biographies to consider:
- Who Was Walt Disney?
- I Am Walt Disney (This book is from the Ordinary People Change the World series and ideal for young readers.)
- Walt Disney: Young Movie Maker (Childhood of Famous Americans)
- National Geographic Readers: Walt Disney (This one’s great for a kiddo who engages best with lots of visuals.)
- Walt Disney for Kids
- Walt Disney: Drawn from Imagination
- The Story of Walt Disney: Maker of Magical Worlds
- Meet the Disney Brothers: A Unique Biography About Walt Disney
Favorite Walt Disney Videos
As for what we watched, we took advantage of You Tube and watched several clips from the recent PBS documentary American Experience: Walt Disney. (Be sure to stop by the documentary’s page on PBS.org… there’s a whole slew of Walt Disney resources there, including some American Experience clips that aren’t available legitimately through YouTube!)
- An American Experience YouTube Playlist
- An American Experience: Walt Disney Full Documentary on DVD
- An American Experience: Walt Disney on Amazon Prime Video
We also enjoyed watching As Dreamers Do: The Amazing Life of Walt Disney through Amazon Prime. We all loved snuggling up on the couch and watching this one, but The Boy loved it so much that he’s watched it several times since then. (If you’re not a Prime member, you don’t have to miss out. Amazon offers a 30-Day Free Trial!)
Additional Walt Disney Unit Study Resources
For notebooking and more:
My free printable pack – I looked everywhere, but never quite found what I was looking for in the way of notebooking pages or anything similar. Because of that, I ended up creating my own four-page unit study packet.
Never fear, you don’t have to create your own, though, unless you’re just into that kind of thing. Instead, you can access my Walt Disney printable pack in the Subscriber Resource Library using the password in your most recent email from Table Life Blog.
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Walt Disney
Printable Pack
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In addition to my notebooking pages, consider checking out BrainyQuote for Walt Disney quotes for copywork and Making Art Fun’s Walt Disney Overview.
Art ideas
- How to Draw Mickey Mouse – This simple graphic makes it look incredibly easy to draw everyone’s favorite mouse.
- Art for Kids Hub is a great place to visit when looking for art ideas for your study. Rob and the gang have several videos with instructions for how to draw popular Disney characters.
- How cute are these Mickey Mouse Sun Catchers? These would be such an easy and fun activity for younger kids. The original suggestions are just fine, but I’d personally skip the glue mixture and use clear contact paper on front and back. (PIN it here)
- The mere thought of footprint art kind of terrifies me, but you may be able to make it happen with your kids. If so, these Disney footprints are super cute and would be perfectly pleasing for your princess. Not feeling the footprint art? This fingerprint option is probably a little more manageable and just as cute.
Looking for more Disney-inspired fun?
Don’t miss these must-dos for homeschooling at EPCOT!
These Unit Study resources can help you plan your entire Walt Disney Unit Study or can just be your starting point if you’re like us and can’t seem to get enough of all things Disney! Either way, we know you’ll enjoy learning about the life and legacy of Walt Disney as much as we did.
Did you know that Walt Disney’s birthday was December 5, 1901? That’s why you’ll find him listed in iHomeschool Network’s December Birthdays linkup along with lots of other fascinating people.