Rainforest Lesson Activities

We are learning about various animal habitats this month, and how the community of animals and plants interact to make each habitat unique. This week we are focusing on the rainforest. Here are lesson activities that include reading, writing, art, and cooking:

Language Arts & Science:

Our literature includes:

Secrets of the Rainforest: A Shine-A-Light Book is an amazing book because of the beautiful illustrations of the various creatures. It gives an accurate representation of this habitat. The BEST part of this book, along with the other books of the “Shine-A-Light Book” series is the magic of the hidden pictures. Each page has hidden images that can only be seen when a light is shone on the page. This makes the book very interactive and engaging.
The Great Kapok Tree teaches a valuable lesson about the importance of trees and the dependence of living things on one another. It shows many types of animals living in the rainforest. Overall, the kids got a good sense of the importance of the rainforest habitat in our world.

A Rainforest Habitat is a very informative book that teaches about the aspects of the rainforest, including the animals, plants, weather, and food.

Writing

After reading about the rainforest, my first grader and transitional kindergartener composed a journal entry about what they learned. The structure of the writing can be modified depending on the grade level of the student. My first grader wrote a composed paragraph. We talked about main idea and supporting details. We brainstormed four important facts they learned. My transitional kindergartener was responsible for illustrating a picture and filling in the writing prompt blanks I set up for her.

Media

We watched The Magic School Bus Season 1 Episode 37: “Explores the Rainforest.” They learned how everything depends on one another in the rainforest. When removing one part of the web, the rest of the habitat falls apart.

Art

While listening to sounds of the rainforest on Spotify, my children used soft pastels to illustrate the colorful rainforest scene. They included lots of trees and multiple animals of their choice. Some of the animals they included were the blue morpho butterfly, snakes, lizards, toucans, howler monkeys, and sloths.

 

Social Studies

Living in North America, my kids do not have quick access to this type of habitat.  Therefore, we looked at a map to locate the major rainforests in the world. Although they have not been to these specific locations, looking at a map helps them to know where they can find rainforests in relation to where we live. They pinpointed rainforests on the areas with lime green color.

Cooking

Rainforests are diverse types of habitats and include so many resources that humans utilize. The materials and food that is extracted is a major part of our daily lives. With that said, we were able to incorporate cooking with ingredients found in rainforests. Here is a healthy “Rainforest Cookie” recipe we found, by the Artful Parent.

 

Endless lesson ideas

I listed just a few ideas to teach about the rainforest, and there are so many more lesson activities that can be implemented. It is a beautiful habitat to teach children.

What are some lesson activities you have seen about the rainforest or other habitats? Feel free to share below.