One of my favorite units when I was teaching kindergarten was to investigate Arctic animals during the winter months. After Christmas we checked out several books from the library; my 3 and 5 year olds now know where the Arctic is located, animals found in the Arctic, and how animals stay warm living in such cold conditions.
Learning about Polar Bears was especially fun! Here are a couple of VERY easy art projects we did.
We found a fantastic hands-on experience to learn how blubber keeps polar bears and seals warm in the icy water!
First we filled bowls with icy water, predicting how long we could keep our hands in with just gloves. My 5 year old lasted 30 seconds.
Next, we put shortening all over the gloved hands, wrapping the shortening tight with plastic wrap. The shortening is the “blubber” in our experiment. We predicted that we could keep our hands in longer because the layer of fat would protect us against the icy cold water. My 5 year old kept his hands in the water for 1 minute and 30 seconds this time!
Here are a few of our favorite books we checked out at the library while we learned about the Arctic! (affiliate links)
Ice Bear – by Nicola Davies
Over in the Arctic – by Marianne Berkes
Polar Bears – by Gail Gibbons
Way Up in the Arctic – by Jennifer Ward
If it’s Snowy and You Know It, Clap Your Paws! – by Kim Norman (We are adding this book to our library; my youngest loves this book so much he doesn’t want to return it to the library!)
Ten on the Sled – by Kim Norman – another fun song book!
Kristen's Korner 