Use hands-on activities to help kindergartners learn about landforms.
Kindergartners need hands-on activities to enhance their learning. Landforms give teachers the opportunity to let students get their hands dirty. Using a variety of landform lesson extensions will help students make connections in literature, writing, social studies and science. Enlist parent help for center learning on landforms for setup, student supervision and cleanup.
Molding Landforms
After introducing landforms to the students, have them use modeling clay to represent a landform of their choice. Use this as a center activity by setting up tables with different models of landforms, mountains, valleys, plateaus, deserts, etc. Supply each table with some of the items you might find there, such as trees, cacti and rocks and let students decorate their landforms. Have students rotate to each table so that all students have a chance to duplicate each model.
Dirt Cake
Kindergartners can create their own snack by representing the earth's crust layers with food. Have parent volunteers set up several dirt cake stations with the following items: crushed chocolate cookies, crushed graham crackers, raisins for rocks, chocolate pudding for mud and gummy worms as a fun decoration. At each station, have students add a layer and talk about what it represents. When all students are done, give them spoons so they can enjoy their earth creation. If you are a nut-free or nut-restricted school, modify the items for the dirt cake with nut-free choices.
Whipped Cream Mountains
Whipped cream is a fun and easy way to create landforms for kindergartners. This is quick activity that can be used after reading a story to the group about each type of landform you are studying. Stick to the ones easily formed with whipped cream, such as mountains, plateaus, rivers and valleys. After each story, use a can of whipped cream to make the landform you read about on a table near the story circle. Students will enjoy watching you create each form and talking about what you need to do to make it look more like a mountain, plateau, etc.
Map Making
This landform project encourages kindergartners think about where they live and what landforms might be in their area. Students should work with their families to create a map of what they see on the way to school. Kindergartners can draw simple map designs and add pictures of trees, houses, rocks, hills and any other thing that might be considered a landform. This activity gets students thinking about where they live and what the earth looks like in their neighborhood.
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