All About Antarctica for Kids

Antarctica is technically a continent, not a country, but I couldn’t resist throwing it in here (especially since it’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere). On average it’s the coldest, driest and windiest continent, and of course the least inhabited, with only a few thousand people living there at any given time.

Antarctica Basics

Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent and is 40 percent larger than Europe. The land area is around 14,200,000 square kilometers, or 5,500,000 square miles, and most of the land is covered with an ice sheet that’s 1.2 miles/1.9 km deep.

The Antarctic Treaty of 1957 established the continent as a scientific preserve, and nations that do significant research there have a collective say in decision making. Seven different countries claim sovereignty over parts of Antarctica, including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, Great Britain, New Zealand and Norway.

The land surrounds the South Pole and is almost all below the Antarctic Circle. It’s divided into eastern and western sections separated by the Transantarctic Mountains. Most of the land is a polar desert and it only receives about 6 inches/150 mm or precipitation (mostly as snow) every year.

Antarctica Symbols

Because Antarctica isn’t actually a country it doesn’t have an official flag or national anthem or anything. The emblem of the Antarctic Treaty is sometimes used as a flag (and is shown above).

So how about some fun facts instead? Antarctica is home to penguins and seals, as well a mites, nematodes and tardigrades. What vegetation occurs is mostly lichen and moss.

About 70 percent of the world’s fresh water is frozen in Antarctica, and if it melted would raise sea levels by almost 60 meters/200 feet (thanks Wikipedia!).

The lowest natural air temperature ever recorded was at the Russian Vostok Station on July 21, 1983, and was −89.2 °C (−128.6 °F).

Antarctica Activities for Kids

NASA has a good article about Antarctica for kids and what NASA learns about the earth and about space from studying the continent.

Antarctica Day is apparently December 1 (it celebrates the signing of the treaty in 1959 mentioned above), and you can read more about its importance and the kind of work being done there in this article from the National Science Foundation.

Trillium Montessori has a great set of printable cards on the physical features of Antarctica, including icebergs, glaciers and the South Pole.

Homeschooling My Kinetic Kids has printable cards on different animals that live in and around Antarctica, based on the Antarctic animals Toob toys. You can also make an Antarctica shelf for kids to explore with these ideas from Pinay Homeschooler.

Make fun origami penguins with this craft from Artsy Craftsy Mom.

Antarctica Books for Kids

Learn more about Antarctica with books like these:

Where is Antarctica?
A Kids Guide to Antarctica
Antarctica: A Continent of Wonder
The Frozen Worlds: The Astonishing Nature of the Arctic and the Antarctic

Fall is a great time to learn about and observe the birds in your area, but you can do this any time of year. Whether you’re watching from a backyard or a playground, you’re sure to find a few birds and can learn about the birds that are native to your region in any case.

If you do see birds at home or where your classroom is, the Merlin app is a great one (if your school allows phones). If you don’t already know it, it listens to the sounds around you and can identify birds based on their calls. Very cool and a reason for kids to be quiet while you’re observing nature. Having an old fashioned paper guidebook to the birds where you live is also a great idea because kids can use it to look up birds and it’s just fun to have in the science center.

The specific birds involved in your learning will vary depending on where you live, but here are some bird activities you can do with your kids at home or in the classroom.

Natural Beach Living set up a simple bird nature study center that includes bird books and feathers in front of a big window. There are also some printables you’ll find links to in this post including three part cards and bird observation charts for birds local to them and a bird unit study with lots of great printables (this is a paid resource).

Adventure in a Box has a printable birds of the world bingo game, which might inspire you to learn more about some of the 48 different birds included, from emu to snowy owl, grackle to Atlantic puffin.

If you’re American you’ll enjoy these state bird coloring pages from Flanders Family Home Life. If I can count, only 48 states are listed (which I wouldn’t have noticed except Arkansas isn’t there; it’s one of many whose state bird is the mockingbird). Print out all of them or just your home state, or give each child a bird to research and color to do a presentation in the classroom.

And you can learn more about the different types of bird nests and see if you can observe any of them on a nature walk with this guide to bird nests from Fun Mom Printables on Etsy. It includes information about eight types of nests with drawings and three part cards.

Antarctica Basics

Antarctica Symbols

Antarctica Activities for Kids

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