Arctic and Antarctica

This week at preschool we have been learning about the animals that live in the Arctic and Antarctic circles. The Arctic is north and one of the coldest places on earth; because of the way that the earth tilts, there are days in the winter with no sunlight and days in the summer when the sun doesn’t go down. The animals that live in the Arctic have thick fur or feathers, they also have blubber under their skin which helps them to keep warmer in the freezing temperatures.

In the tuff tray we had a scene from the Arctic with an igloo for the people to stay warm and dry in, made of blocks of snow placed on top of each other, often in the shape of a dome like a half hollow ball. These were used for temporary shelters by native hunters when they were away from their regular homes. We talked about all the different animals that can be found in the arctic, Husky, Arctic Fox, Reindeer, Orca, Arctic Hare, Seal, Snowy Owl, Walrus, Arctic Wolf and Polar Bears.

The children then learnt about Antarctica and the different animals that can be found there. We have a Killer Whale, Penguin, Antarctic Octopus, Colossal Squid, Kelp Gull, Seal, Albatross and even Emperor Penguins. We have watched videos of the Arctic and Antarctic circles where they have seen what it is like for the animals in the cold weather, how they find food and what they like to eat. We have listened to the story “Be Brave Little Penguin”; the children really enjoyed this story and told me about how they all could swim, and they weren’t afraid of the water.

We have made some lovely penguin crafts to take home and even learnt how to draw a penguin by doing it in simple stages, with some great creations by the children. They have been learning their numbers by counting the fish and feeding the penguin by putting the fish into the penguins mouth. When we did our sticky kids dancing activity I even got the children to show me their best penguin walks.

To make things extra special and to make it authentic for the children I even made sure that it snowed and that the freezing temperatures would show them what it felt like to live in the Arctic and Antarctic circles.

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