Between national holidays, vacations, and bad weather, does it ever feel like your kid is out of school more than in school? It probably only feels that way, but the reason is because it’s so hard to find constructive activities for them to do—especially when you’re stuck juggling your other responsibilities.
To help make it a little easier, we put together a short list of rainforest-related activities for kids. Some suggestions require adult guidance, while others may give you space to tend to your inbox—or enjoy a rare dose of solitude so you can return recharged and ready for family time.
So, why focus on rainforests? Because we love them (duh!) and all they do for the planet: from making it rain to purifying the air and storing carbon. But kids love rainforests for their own reasons… if they know about them. Colorful animals, crazy nature sounds (like howler monkeys!), stinky corpse flowers—what’s not to love? Learning about these lush landscapes is such a treat for kids that it doesn’t even feel like learning.
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Our hope is that these options will keep your kids busy while helping to foster the next generation of conservationists and forest fanatics. Now that you’re convinced, here are our favorite activities for at-home, rainforest-related fun:
Rainforest facts and activities for the littlest explorers
An animal a day keeps the boredom away! We’ve compiled these kid-friendly fact pages about rainforest species, which happen to be some of the most awe-inspiring on Earth. Did you know, for example, that an African forest elephant has more than 100,000 muscles in its trunk alone? Or that the cries of a Black howler monkey—the loudest mammal in the Amazon—can be heard up to 3km away?
Let your child pick a rainforest species each day. Depending on the level of your availability and your child’s age, you might have children draw a picture of the animal and hang the masterpiece on the fridge; by the end of the week you’ll have a rainforest menagerie brightening your kitchen. Older kids can Google videos to hear the specific roars, squawks, and calls of their chosen species (educational screen time!) and create trivia cards. Making animal masks, shadow puppets, or PlayDoh figures can help kill some time, too. And there’s always coloring! Check out one of our many downloadable wildlife coloring pages.
Nickelodeon offers rainforest fun for middle-grade kids
We teamed up with Nickelodeon and the inspired minds at We are Teachers, who put together these fun educational resources for kindergarten through elementary school. Don’t let your kids be deterred by the word “educational”; the materials are not just for teachers. Our interactive printable flipbook for ages 8 to 10 certainly includes many fascinating facts, but it’s also just plain old fun. Each page visualizes a different layer of the rainforest, from the forest floor to the canopy’s highest treetops—and did we mention that it doubles as a coloring book?
Books: You can’t lock down the imagination
Luckily, there is no lockdown on our imaginations—and, if you ask us, there is nothing quite like a book to set young minds alight. Check out our free Rainforest Short Stories series and introduce your kids to young characters like Clara, whose parents grow coffee in the mountains of Colombia. Our friends at We Are Teachers have put together this amazing list of rainforest-related books, which range from picture books for the very young to research resources to species-specific books. (Goliath beetles, anyone?)
Digital audiobook providers, like Audible, can also be a great option for kids. Just download, press play, and they can bask in the calm of story-time while they color or draw. We especially love some of the nature-themed books like Kevin Kurtz’s “A Day in a Forested Wetland,” which is ideal for the littlest listeners. For older kids, we’re obsessed with Katherine Krull’s magnificent “Giants of Science” series, which includes familiar names like Marie Curie and Leonardo Da Vinci.
Pick and choose: Our environmental curricula for schools
OK, we promised not to pressure you to play teacher, but you’ll have to agree, once you take a look at our free pre-kindergarten through eighth grade environmental curricula (ages 3 to 14), that there’s something here for everyone. Kindergarteners (ages 3-5), can explore the mystical oak forests of Cachalú, high in the Colombian Andes, where they will learn the difference between temperate and tropical forests. Fourth graders (ages 9-10) will discover the sweet science behind the most delicious thing to come from the rainforests of Latin America—chocolate! Meanwhile, older kids in the eighth grade can analyze maps to discover how the forests of Guatemala are changing and learn about the importance of protecting natural resources through sustainability.
Should you be inspired to homeschool, you’ll be happy to know that these lesson plans follow age-appropriate standards for English language, arts, mathematics, and science education. And each unit has been carefully designed to ensure that kids have fun while learning all about these precious ecosystems and the people and wildlife that call them home.
Guilt-free screen-time: Animated environmentalism
When you’re all out of steam or need a moment (or heck, just want a moment), go ahead and fire up the television or iPad. You can feel good about sharing these animated series and movies with your little ones: Dora the Explorer, who runs around the rainforest with a map (sharing a few words of Spanish along the way); The Wild Thornberrys, which charts the adventures of eleven-year-old Eliza Thornberry who can talk to animals; Over the Hedge, which features a silly gang of animal pals fighting suburban sprawl; and Rio, starring a macaw who goes on an adventure to save his species. Don’t forget Frozen II, in which sisters Anna and Elsa learn the importance of living in harmony with nature—a theme near and dear to us here at the Rainforest Alliance.
