I have a vivid memory of my daughter is standing on the beach at Coney Island facing the water and belting out the words to Moana’s title track. It was shortly after the first Disney Moana movie was released. Moana 2 came out today and I’m certain little kids all over are soon going to be obsessed with Moana’s songs and characters all over again. 

I am never overly thrilled with the idea of basing our learning around a show or movie, but in the interest of truly following their interests this is sometimes where our learning takes us. My daughter loves music and musicals so her interests often head our projects in that direction (Here’s some unit ideas from when she fell in love with Rapunzel).

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Our Moana Inspired Curriculum actually surprised me with the depth and different directions that we could run with it. This movie inspired learning about the ocean, volcanoes, Hawaii, and of course music. Our favorite activities are below so if your kids are also in love with Moana then these ideas are for you.

Moana Inspired Curriculum Ideas

Moana Unit Picture Booklist

When I start planning the unit I often start with the books. I gather books and look to nonfiction ones to help guide me in brainstorming where our project might go. These were our favorites during the Moana Unit, however we also read many ocean themed books not included below.

Disney Moana : Read Along Storybook and CD

Our kids love audio books and while we do have a whole bunch that we made ourselves, we also buy them or borrow additional ones from the library from time to time. We own this one and it has been a popular one for the past few months. It retells the basics of the first Moana movie.

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For older kids, don’t miss the
Graphic Novel Version of the first Moana story. Find Here!

Moana 2

Here is the Golden Book storybook that tells a brief version of the Moana 2 movie. 

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Moana Finds the Way by RH Disney

As Easy Readers go this is a decent one and my daughter adores it. The simple text also make these an easy one to read aloud to younger children as well. This story focuses on Moana’s bravery and persistence. I love the positive message.

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Moana’s Story Collection

If you want even more for a newer reader, this is a collection of 5 stories about Moana. Like the one above, these also work as read alouds to younger kids. 

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Moana and the Ocean by Heather Knowles

It is the illustrations that we love about this one. They are beautiful and capture the story of Moana and her unique relationship with the ocean perfectly.

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Moana: The Beat of Your Heart by Hal Leonard Corp

If your child loves Moana and music then this is the book for you. Inspired by the movies, this book teaches children about Island drumming. We loved the fun and interactive way this book taught us about rhythms, patterns and different kinds of drums.

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Pig-Boy: A Trickster Tale from Hawai’i by Gerald McDermott

My kids loved this fun colorful book. It is a story about Kamapua’a, a popular figure in Hawaiian mythology. It is full of humor, shape shifting and all kinds of adventure.

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Goodnight Hawaii by Adam Gamble

This is part of a Goodnight series of books about each state. We have several from the different places we have lived and they all give a general overview of the state in a sweet childlike way. It isn’t obvious from the title, but these books all show a whole day. You start in the morning and then at the end say goodnight to the state. Throughout they offer some great vocabulary and I like them as a starting point when we’re talking about somewhere different.

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Froggy Goes to Hawaii by Jonathan London

This is just silly as all Froggy books are but being the Froggy fans we are when I saw it was Hawaii themed I couldn’t resist. If you like Froggy, this is as delightful as ever.

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Everything Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Kathy Furgang

My son was fascinated when he learned about Hawaii’s relationship to volcanoes and had to know more. National Geographic Kids books have become my go-to for non-fiction and they didn’t disappoint. The pictures were awesome and the facts where interesting. We all learned something new from this book.

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Volcanoes by Anne Schreiber

We already owned this one, but it was read many times during this unit. If you have a younger kid, I would recommend reading this one other than the longer, more complex one above. This is a good introduction to volcanoes and still has National Geographic’s trademark amazing photography.

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High Tide in Hawaii by Mary Pope Osborne

This is part of the Magic Treehouse Series and while you certainly can read them in order you shouldn’t feel like you have to. If you haven’t read any, I suggest starting with the first one so you understand the basic premise. This was the first real chapter book series I read with my kids and we started when they were about 3 years old. These are another go-to for me when I’m planning a unit and I often find something related in her huge catelogue of books. My kids love the adventures of Jack and Annie and this Hawaii set tsunami adventure was perfect.

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BONUS: This Magic Treehouse installment also has a non-fiction companion guide about Tsunamis and other natural disastors that we couldn’t get enough of!

Also Read: 10 Best Books about Aquariums

Moana Themed Field Trip Ideas

Field trips or adventures are a HUGE part of our learning and that was no different with our Moana inspired unit. If you can jet off on a plane to Hawaii obviously go for it! (If you do I cannot recommend the Polynesian Cultural Center enough. Especially for kids who are excited about Moana this teaches you so much about the history with loads of hands on activities. Such a fun place for the whole family!) But that likely isn’t in the cards tomorrow, so here are some field trip ideas more nearby. 

Ocean & Beach

We made several trips to the beach near our house during this unit. We took photos, collected samples and more. You can read more about Beach Field Trips in this post.

Aquarium Field Trips

We went to the New York Aquarium by our house several times during this unit as well. My kids took pictures and observed the animals. Hopefully you have an aquarium near you to visit as well.

Canoe or Kayak or Sail

Moana setting sail is obviously a huge part of both movies. If there is nearby water where you can experience a little of what that adventure might have been like go for it! My kids have been canoeing, kayaking, sailing, and boating. 

At Home or School Learning Activities

Seashell Sorting + Nature Tray

All you need is some sort of tray (this is a Melissa and Doug toy tray) or a bunch of bowls and a variety of sea shells. I laid it out exactly as pictured with the word “SORT” and the word “SEASHELLS” printed on index cards on the table.

Once the shells were sorted, this tray with shells was added to the shelf in our play space so they could continue to explore, pattern, sort, or incorporate the shells into other play.

Skills Area: Math. Science. 

Moana Morning Invitation

I set out morning invitations every day, but on the weekend they tend to be a little more involved. This was a Moana inspired one for a Saturday morning. All I needed for this was a big piece of paper, some markers, the shell tray from above, our Moana figures, some books from above, and letter stickers.

Skill Area: Literacy. Creativity. Math. 

Moana Inspired Building Invitation

This building invitation was another morning invitation. This was super simple and quick to set up.

Materials: Magnetic Tegu Blocks in a basket, Index cards and markers to write related vocabulary, and Moana figures and book.

Activity: To use the blocks to build a boat for Moana and Maui.

Skill Areas: Cognitive. Social. Creative. Math.

Moana Inspired Math + Literacy Printables

I also created several literacy and math printables that we used during our unit. These worked on sight words, writing, simple addition and other skills for preschoolers and early elementary schoolers.

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Skill Areas: Math. Literacy. Creativity. 

Moana Punch from Our Family World

Work on basic math skills while concocting this fun Moana inspired punch together. Find Recipe Here.

Skill Areas: Math. Self Help. 

Exploding Vinegar Free Volcanoes

We did this before as part of a subscription box (that sadly no longer exists) but we did it again with our Moana unit. This is a simple activity that requires only a few materials – check the materials list at the bottom of this post for everything you need. Here’s another version of the No-Vinegar volcano on Preschool Powol Packets as well.

Skill Areas: Math. Science. 

More Volcano Ideas

* Dry Ice Volcano STEM Challenge from Preschool Powol Packets – this looks so cool!

*If you’re enjoying Winter right now – this Snow Volcano from Science Sparks also looks like a blast.

*New Zealand Volcano Experiments from Preschool Powol Packets. I love how colorful this one is.

Volcano Themed Morning Invitation

This was another morning invitation that focused more on my son’s fascination with volcanoes.

Materials: Volcano Book (see above), markers, letter stickers (I accidentally bought the nonadhesive kind so we used glue), Foam Dough, Construction Paper, and Scissors

Activities: Read the volcano book (or look at it), Spell out the word Volcano, Build a volcano with Foam Dough, and Create another picture of one with the construction paper and glue.

Skill Areas: Literacy. Creativity. Cognitive. Fine Motor. 

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