Explore the Amazing Rainforest with Four Cross-Curricular Activities
Transport your Year 2 students to the world's most biodiverse habitat with this engaging resource featuring four hands-on activities that explore rainforest ecosystems, wildlife, and geography through art, science, and creative exploration.
Four Complete Activities Included:
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Rainforest Habitats Collage: Create stunning layered collages showing the rainforest structure! Explore the emergent layer, canopy, understory, and forest floor, discovering which animals live in each layer while developing artistic skills and understanding of rainforest ecosystems
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Amazon Rainforest Map: Discover where the world's largest rainforest is located! Explore maps showing the Amazon rainforest across South America, learning about countries, rivers, and the vast scale of this incredible habitat while developing geographical knowledge and map skills
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Chameleon Camouflage: Investigate how rainforest animals use camouflage to survive! Create chameleon artwork that blends into backgrounds, exploring how animals hide from predators or sneak up on prey through colour and pattern—understanding adaptation in action
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Create A Rainforest: Build a 3D rainforest scene! Use craft materials, plants, and creativity to construct a miniature rainforest complete with layers, animals, and vegetation—bringing this distant habitat into the classroom in a tangible, memorable way
Why Teachers Choose This Resource:
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Cross-Curricular Excellence: Seamlessly combines Science (habitats), Geography (world locations), Art & Design, and Design & Technology
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Curriculum-Aligned: Supports Year 2 Science objectives for living things and their habitats and KS1 Geography objectives
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Hands-On Learning: Practical activities that make distant rainforests tangible and memorable
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Ready to Use: Complete lesson plans with learning objectives, resource lists, and step-by-step instructions
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Age-Appropriate: Activities specifically designed for 6-7 year olds with achievable, engaging tasks
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Develops Multiple Skills: Builds scientific knowledge, geographical understanding, and artistic abilities
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Environmental Awareness: Introduces children to rainforest conservation and biodiversity
Perfect For:
- Year 2 Science lessons on living things and their habitats
- KS1 Geography lessons on world habitats
- Cross-curricular rainforest topic work
- Homeschool science and geography curriculum
- Building understanding of global ecosystems
- Developing environmental awareness and conservation understanding
Learning Outcomes:
Through these activities, children will identify that most living things live in habitats to which they are suited, understand that different habitats provide for the basic needs of different animals and plants, explore the structure and layers of rainforest habitats, locate rainforests on world maps, understand how rainforest animals are adapted to their environment including camouflage, and develop awareness of rainforest biodiversity and conservation.
What Makes This Resource Special:
Rainforests are distant and exotic to most children, yet they're crucial to our planet's health and home to incredible biodiversity. These activities bring rainforests to life in the classroom, helping children understand not just what rainforests are, but why they matter. Through creating, exploring, and investigating, children develop both knowledge and appreciation for these vital ecosystems.
Building Global Awareness:
Understanding rainforests helps children develop global awareness and environmental consciousness. By learning about the Amazon and other rainforests, children begin to understand that the world is bigger than their immediate surroundings and that habitats far away affect us all—building the foundation for environmental responsibility and global citizenship.
Connecting Science, Geography, and Art:
These activities beautifully demonstrate how subjects connect. By creating rainforest collages, children learn about habitat layers (science) and artistic techniques. By mapping the Amazon, they develop geographical skills while understanding ecosystems. This integrated approach makes learning richer, more meaningful, and more memorable.
Bring the rainforest to your classroom! These engaging activities help Year 2 students discover the world's most biodiverse habitat through hands-on exploration that combines science, geography, and art—building knowledge, creativity, and environmental awareness while making distant rainforests tangible and inspiring.
