Pioneer Day is celebrated July 24 in Utah, which is where a lot of my husband's family lives. It celebrates the first arrival of pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley. Although we aren't living there, we thought it would be a good time to slip in a study about covered wagon pioneers. After our covered wagon craft, my preschooler was excited to read books about covered wagons. What better way to learn about pioneers than by reading a bunch of living books? My elementary-aged kiddo also learned a lot from these picture books. Scroll down for book ideas as well as a list of possible covered wagon pioneer activities.
Books about Pioneers and the Oregon Trail
I love to turn to engaging informational picture books for learning about all subjects! Here are some history books to help introduce the Declaration of Independence to children.
Please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate and will receive a small compensation if you purchase via this site. Click the images to be taken to an Amazon shopping page to purchase each book.
Picture Books about the Pioneers
Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails by Verla Kay is my favorite picture book about covered wagon pioneers. With natural rhymes, it was a historical fiction account well suited to reading aloud to both of my children: not too babyish for my oldest and not too long for my youngest.
Wagons Ho! by George Hallowell and Joan Holub (picture book) compares and contrasts two families moving to Oregon, one in 1846 and one today. It was my preschooler's favorite book we read this week!
Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Brought Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes, and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains by Deborah Hopkinson. I think the subtitle describes this book quite well! It's an entertaining story.
Dandelions by Eve Bunting is a sweet picture book story about a girl moving to the Nebraska territory in the 1800s. The somewhat lengthy text is broken up with gorgeous canvas artwork.
Pioneer Girl: The Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder by William Anderson is a nonfiction picture book biography of the pioneer girl so well known for her later novels based on her childhood moving and settling in various places on the prairie.
Roughing it On the Oregon Trails by Diane Stanley is a picture book in the "Time Traveling Twins" series.
Books for Older Students about Covered Wagon Pioneers
Pioneer Cat by William H. Hooks is a 64-page early chapter book about a girl who finds a cat while on her pioneer adventure.
Based on a true story, Wagon Wheels by Barbara Brenner is a 64-page early chapter book about a Black family traveling to Kansas to claim land under the Homestead Act. The young children must follow a map to meet up with their father, who has gone ahead to begin farming.
Voices from the Oregon Trail by Kay Winters is a collection of fictionalized poetic stories, each told from the perspective of a different traveler on the Oregon Trail.
If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon by Ellen Levine is an information-packed nonfiction picture book for ages 8+. My son referenced this one the most as we learned about the pioneers (see next section).
Just like the other books in the "If You ...." series, If You Were a Pioneer on the Prairie by Anne Kamma is an information-packed nonfiction picture book for ages 8+.
You Wouldn't Want to Be An American Pioneer: A Wilderness You'd Rather Not Tame by Jacqueline Morley is a nonfiction informational book for ages 8+ that speaks directly to the reader.
Learning about Covered Wagon Pioneers with a Nonfiction "Scavenger Hunt"
One thing I realized is that, given the abundance of information about the pioneers and the many different books available, we would not be able to cover it all. I decided it would most beneficial to encourage my son to find answers to questions that he may have. I can’t always predict his questions, so I must help him learn how to find his own answers.
To do this, I created a “scavenger hunt” in a book, which requires my son to use the Table of Contents and Index to gather information from If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon! Not only did my elementary child get practice in writing complete sentences, he learned about the Oregon Trail and he learned how to use a Table of Contents and Index to find answers. These basic skills are essential for learning how to research. This simple activity was great for beginning a pioneer research project. We've done half of the worksheet I made, and we will finish next week. I let my children answer orally as they found the answers. A teacher could also give a student the questions and require them to write the answers.
Get the Scavenger Hunt Worksheet (b/w & color)
Get the sample "scavenger hunt" project by downloading this free covered wagon worksheet. It is free for Line upon Line Learning VIPs. Join by subscribing to the email list below.
Searching for answers in an otherwise text-heavy book helps student learn how to find information in the book, as well as learning a little bit about the subject. This activity could be replicated for any book you have that has front and back navigation, such as a Table of Contents and Index. I typed up these questions so anyone who has the book If You Traveled West in a Covered Wagon (that has an index) could use it too. But, you could provide prompts for any book! For an entire group of children, post on a board,. For a small group, or juut one child, you could write up your own questions.
Sometimes these books do not have an index. In that case, these questions could be a part of an interesting lesson in reading pictures, skimming, or assigning various people to read sections in order to find the answers.
Covered Wagon and Oregon Trail Activities
Obviously, as we have been learning about the Oregon Trail into our homeschool this week, we wanted to do some fun hands-on activities too. I have fond memories of playing the computerized Oregon Trail game as a young preteen. Or maybe I was (embarrassingly) older than that when I enjoyed it. Let's not think about it. It was fun to play in a simulation, and at the same time I was learning a little about history.
Here are some great free resources I've found that relate to the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and general westward migration.
- Make a preschooler-sized covered wagon using your little red wagon, pool tubes, and an old sheet.
- Make a milk carton sized covered wagon.
- Learn from Little House in the Big Woods, one of the definitive chapter books about pioneers: .
- Learn about other types of pioneers from your family history.
- Do some pioneer crafts from the Crafty Classroom.
- Find lots of trivia about pioneers from Kids Konnect.
- Learn about the Mormon Trail. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (historically called the "Mormon church," which was one group who regularly traveled west, they via the "Mormon" Trail. This park service page is a nice addition for our studies.
- Play the Oregon Trail Card Game, based on the 1990s computer game (affiliate link to Amazon).
I'm always on the lookout for more activities, so I'll add to the list as I find more.
