Pre-Kindergarten Polar Animals Theme Unit

Polar Animals Unit

[Home] [Teacher's Page] [Themes] [Search] [Email]

~BOOKS~
**If any books are blocked by an Amazon banner, just hit the refresh button.**

~Fairy Tale~
The Snow Queen

Polar Bears:



Penguins:



Reindeer:



More Polar Books:

~CIRCLE TIME~

Flannel Board:

Get Ready Rudolph
There is a neat flannel board activity available from The Virtual Vine. Scroll down to "Get Ready Rudolph flannel board activity".

Music:

Baby Beluga- Baby Beluga CD [Raffi]

Movement/ PE:

Balance
Children make a play dough "egg" and try to balance the egg on top of their feet the way a father emperor penguin does. They can try to walk to a certain destination in the classroom.

~POLAR BEARS~

Math	Polar Bear Tangram Children match tangrams to the shapes on a tangram mat to make a polar bear. [Source: Tangram Animals A to Z, from Learning Resources]
Science/ Literacy	Tasha the Polar Bear We watch a National Geographic video about an animal that lives at the North Pole called "Tasha the Polar Bear". The children listen for facts about polar bears or the arctic. They make a book of polar bear facts: "Polar bears eat ___." "Polar bears live ___." "Polar bears can ___." "Polar bears have ___." Children dictate a statement to a teacher to fill in the blanks, and illustrate the pages. This is always one of the kids' favorite videos every year.
Science	Fur and Ice Polar bears have thick fur to protect them from extreme cold in the arctic. We wrap a piece of fake fur around one hand (or "paw") and touch a bucket of ice with both hands to feel the difference between the covered paw and the uncovered paw.

~PENGUINS~

Math/
Literacy

Penguin Counting Book
Children use penguin mini stickers (I get these from Trend) to make a penguin counting book. The pages are printed on the computer, then stapled and cut in the shape of an iceberg (freehand shape).
Page 1: "One penguin slides on the ice."
Page 2: "Two penguins waddle on the ice."
Page 3: "Three penguins hop on the ice."
Page 4: "Four penguins play on the ice."
Page 5: "Five penguins dive off the ice."

Math

Penguin Grid Game
Children use a grid game card made with penguin clip art or stickers. They roll a die, identify the numeral, and cover up that amount of penguins with snowballs (white craft pom poms). The object of the game is to fill the grid with snowballs. Children can play alone or with other players.
Printables:
Penguin Grid Game 1
Penguin Grid Game 2

~REINDEER~

Literacy

Mrs. Goudie has a cute reindeer book that you can print from her website at Marcia's Lesson Links

~ICE & SNOW~

Literacy/ Fine Motor Skills	Shaving Cream Snow Children practice writing their name or letters with their finger in shaving cream "snow".
Fine Motor Skills	Animal Tracks Place white play dough and small toy polar animals (reindeer, polar bears, penguins, artic wolves, etc.) in the play dough area. Children can make animal tracks in the "snow".
Science	Floating Iceberg Children explore a miniature iceberg to see how it floats. Icebergs can be made by filling disposable cups, milk cartons, and ziplock bags with water and freezing them overnight. The "icebergs" are placed in a tub of water for the children to explore. Children can touch it, try to sink it, and balance penguins on top of it (make penguins with painted lima beans, modeling clay, or polymer clay; or use Oriental Trading erasers for penguins).
Science	Melt an Iceberg Without Heat A day in advance, children fill small paper cups with water and put them in the freezer overnight. The day of the experiment, the children peel the paper off of their "iceberg" and place it in a disposable bowl. We use an eyedropper to place drops of colored water on the "iceberg" to add color, then the children sprinkle on some salt, and observe what happens. When we did this, the salt seemed to "eat away" at the ice, and with the food color added, it looked like crystals.
Science/ Art	Ice Cube Art Each child chooses two colors of powdered tempera paint to spoon onto a paper plate. We use an ice cube on a popsicle stick to swirl around the plate, watching and waiting as it melts, mixing with the paint and blending the colors. Children get to see how long it takes for the ice to melt.
Science	Ramps & Pipes Children use long boards, pieces of cardboard, PVC pipes, and paper towel tubes to make ramps. We drop ice cubes down the ramps and mark how far they slide.
Cooking	Polar Ice Cap Drink Pour blue Koolaid into half of a clear cup. Fill the cup not quite to the top with ginger ale or Sprite. Add one scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drink with a straw. Note: Children can pour the liquids themselves using mini pitchers which are available from Publix or the Dollar Tree. [Recipe from Your Big Backyard magazine]
Cooking	Popsicles Children make popsicles by pouring a fruit juice of their choice (from a mini pitcher) into a paper cup. Add a popsicle stick and freeze.
Social Skills	Polar Prop Box Mittens, Ear muffs, Warm hats, Scarves, Sweaters, Buckets and shovels, Snow (cotton balls, Styrofoam)