The Best Idaho Study: Fun Facts, Activities, and Printables

/ Homeschool / By / / Exploring the Great United States, Homeschool, Idaho

Inside: Idaho Unit Study activity ideas, recipes and worksheets to help kids learn about the State of Idaho.

When you hear the state of Idaho what is the first thing you think of? Can you locate the state on a map? Do you know any fun facts about Idaho?

As part of our homeschool, we are learning about the 50 states, and it has been so much fun. There are so many fun things to learn about each state and to be honest it makes me want to visit each one.

As we learn about the states, we have done a simple unit study complete with videos, worksheets, books, activities and food.

Today I’m sharing our Idaho Study and all the fun things we did as we learned about this state.

As you put together your lesson plan for the State of Idaho, I hope you find these ideas helpful and use as many of them as you can.

In this post, I share all about our Idaho Unit Study all the printable worksheets we used can be found in my shop!

Idaho Unit Study

Our Idaho unit study was so much fun we did it in about 2-3 hours over a couple of days. You can decide if you want to keep the unit simple and do it in a day or you could easily spread it over a week.

We started learning about Idaho by watching an Idaho homeschool pop YouTube video that shares basic Idaho Facts for Kids.

I love this channel’s videos about the states because it shows not only the shape of the state, but where it is located on a map of the USA. It also talks about basic facts like the flag, nickname, bird, flower, and more.

While the kids watched this video they cut out, colored and glued together their Idaho worksheet.

After watching the video, we talk more about Idaho’s basic facts along with some fun facts.

The kids continue to finish the worksheet and little book from Exploring the Great United Sates as we continue talking about the state.

And of course, we included some fun activities, crafts, and yummy food (our favorite!) to finish off our study of the State of Idaho.

Idaho Facts for Kids

For each of the 50 states, we learn about the basic facts including the name and where it came from, the capital, the location of the state, and more. Below are Idaho’s basic facts.

  • Nickname: The Gem State – this nickname is for the abundance of natural resources and scenic areas.
  • Statehood: 43rd state – Idaho became a state in 1890 and has 44 counties.
  • State Capital: Boise
  • Abbreviation: ID
  • State bird: mountain bluebird
  • State flower: syringa

We made these fun Idaho Fact Tellers that included 8 facts about Idaho for the kids to share and practice so they could remember.

Other facts we talked about include:

  • Where did the name Idaho come from?
  • Where is Idaho located?

Interesting and Fun Facts About Idaho

  • The story goes that Idaho is a Native American word meaning Gem of the Mountains. But that’s not true! It’s actually a made-up name!
  • Idaho has 1 National Park (Yellowstone), 2 national monuments, and 7 national forests.
  • Part of Yellowstone National Park is in Idaho.
  • State Vegetable: Potato.
  • City of Rocks National Reservation is known for its numerous granite formations, some 60 stories tall, that attract world-class rock climbers. The Reserve protects 6.2 miles of the California National Historic Trail and features emigrant signatures written in axle grease. Idaho’s only pinyon pine forest is within the 14,407-acre Reserve.
  • Craters of the Moon National Preserve is spread over 1,100 square miles. It has ancient lava flows so big they can be seen from space.
  • It is possible to find over 72 precious stones when mining in Idaho.
  • The Gems found in Idaho are only a portion of why Idaho is nicknamed “The Gem State.” The vast amount of natural resources, along with the beauty of the mountains, waterfalls, rivers, lakes, and canyons also contribute to the name.
  • Idaho Spuds — made by the Idaho Candy Company — are named after potatoes, but are not actually made with real spuds. This regional candy bar is stuffed with marshmallows and coated in dark chocolate and coconut shavings.
  • In July of 1955, Arco, Idaho became the first city lit by atomic energy.
  • Idaho is famous for potatoes, producing about one-third of the potatoes grown in the United States.
  • Idaho has more rivers than any other state in the U.S. totaling 3,100 miles in all.
  • The first alpine chairlift was used at ski resorts in Sun Valley, Idaho.
  • Hells Canyon in western Idaho is the deepest river gorge in North America at 7,993 feet deep. (Grand Canyon of Arizona is only about 6,000 feet deep).
  • Soda Springs has the world’s largest man-made geyser. It is the only captive geyser in the United States.
  • America’s longest main street is in Island Park. It is 33 miles long.
  • On the Snake River is the mighty Shoshone Falls, known as a “Niagara of the West”. Water spills over a 212-foot drop & is 1,000 feet wide.
  • You can see into four states (Washington, Oregon, Montana, and Idaho) from Heaven’s Gate Lookout, atop Seven Devils Peaks.
  • Idaho’s Capitol Building is heated by geothermal water that is pumped from 3,000 feet below the surface of the ground. It is the only capitol building in the U.S. heated this way.
  • The state seal of Idaho is the only one of the 50 state seals that was designed by a woman.
  • Idaho is one of only two places in the world where star garnets can be found in any significant quantity (India is the other).
  • Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument has fossils of early horses, saber-toothed tigers, and giant sloths.
  • Gutzon Borglum the man who created the sculpture on Mount Rushmore was born near Bear Lake, ID in 1867.
  • Huckleberry is the state fruit of Idaho.
  • The state mammal is the Appaloosa Horse.

Virtual Field Trips Videos and Printables about Idaho

There are a lot of great videos and virtual field trips you can use to learn about the state of Idaho.

A few vides we used include:

Books About Idaho

There are a lot of great books about Idaho both picture books and chapter books.

I found a lot of great options at my library which is a great option if you don’t want to purchase them all.

The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkan

The book I’m using for all the U.S. states and recommend you add to your library is The 50 States by Gabrielle Balkan. This book has a large map of each state and is filled with fun facts and information about each state.  

The kids love looking at this book and pointing to their favorite pictures and then reading the facts about those things.

Picture Books About Idaho

Here are some book ideas to read as you learn about Idaho!

Idaho Crafts for Kids (and other activities)

Arts, crafts and activities (along with the recipes and food!) are our favorite parts of studying each state.

There are a lot of fun activities you can do as you learn about Idaho, we decided to do potato stamps for our activity.

Potato Stamps

We had a lot of fun doing some art with Potato Stamps. This activity was quick and easy to put together and all of my kids from 5 to 11 had fun with it. Get all the details here.

Lego Ski Lift

Another activity we chose to do for Idaho was making Lego Ski Lifts. We used string and painters’ tape from the island to the floor as the lift line. The kids each made a Lego ski chair with a minifig and we tested them out.

A few other Idaho Activity Ideas include:

  • Make French Fries – Making homemade French fries is a fun way to combine food and activity.
  • Soda Geysers – Use mentos and soda to make soda geysers when you learn about Soda Springs (captive geyser).
  • Gem Mining – Get a gemstone dig kit on amazon or at the craft store and let kids have fun mining for gems.

Stack the States

Stack the States 2 is one of the best purchases I have made. It’s an inexpensive game you can put on your phone or tablet and kids can learn all about the 50 states.

The game is put together in a really fun way for kids to learn state capitals, shapes, geographic locations, flags, and more.

Idaho Recipes for Kids

For Idaho, there are a couple of fun food options included in the unit study ideas.

Idaho’s official state vegetable is the potato; the state fruit is huckleberry and there is the Idaho Spud Candy.

Potato

Enjoy eating something made with potato. A few ideas are French fries, tater tots, potato chips or a classic baked potato.

We enjoyed French fries for lunch.

Idaho Spud Cady

This unique candy is something created in Idaho that could be fun to try.

Baked Potato Ice Cream Sundae

Along with eating an actual potato we had the idea to make ice cream potato sundaes like those you can get at the Westside Drive in in Bosie. You can get all the details about making Ice cream Baked Potatoes here.

Printable Idaho Unit Study (Lesson Plan, Worksheet, and Mini Book of Fun Facts)

The Idaho printable unit study includes the cut-and-paste Idaho worksheet, a foldable mini book with facts about Idaho, and a 2-page lesson plan with the basic facts, fun facts, book list, activity ideas, and recipes.

Get the Unit Study

Traveling in Idaho with Kids

Exploring Idaho is a great way to learn even more about the state.

Here are just a few ideas:

  • Idaho Potato Museum
  • Island Park
  • Craters of the Moon National Monument
  • Hells Canyon
  • Museum of Clean