School often comes off as a burden to elementary students as they can easily get bored and become uninterested. However, they will always enjoy activities that they can actively participate in without the banal spellings or math problem solving- hence the need to include some interesting elements into your lesson plans so as to extend their attention span. This is where our cave activities come in! You can help your students learn about the uniqueness of the natural underground environment by participating in a few of the activities listed below.
1. Picture Books
It may not sound like the type of cave activity you had in mind, but it’s most definitely something your kids will enjoy! The best way to learn is through visualization, which is why starting with pictures books would ease the process and help imprint knowledge into young minds.
Learn More: Bookroo
2. Wildlife Plastic Toys
Buy plastic toys resembling wildlife in the cave and show them to your kids. Seeing the pictures and then playing with something similar will make the memory stick with them for a longer time.
Learn More: Amazon
3. Create Wildlife Cave Creatures
Get creative with your cave activities! You can use toilet rolls, pipe cleaners, stickers, bottle caps, etc., to make simple cave creatures like bats, cricket, worms, millipedes, spiders, rats, etc.
Learn More: Pinterest
4. Picture-to-word Matching
After learning about the basics, it is time to check if what they’ve learned is intact. You can ask them individually, or as a group to match the words to the pictures they think is right. This simple exercise will give you enough insight into what they need to relearn.
5. Caving clubs
Elementary kids would not be allowed to join caving clubs, but you can take them to one, or invite a team over to tell them about their experiences from cave trips. Hearing about people’s experiences physically will certainly peak their interest in caves.
6. Engraving
After they’ve learned about different animals found in a cave, they can attempt to do some plywood engraving. It would be best to watch them closely, so they don’t hurt themselves with the engraving tool used in the process.
Learn More: Pinterest
7. Mobile Cave Trip
The mobile cave is an interactive, challenging, and exciting cave activity for young learners. Students can experience realistic cave features and see everything you’ve taught them about caves. They will be equipped with protective gear and an inspector will also be present to ensure their safety.
Learn More: Outdoor Academy
8. Build Your Cave
Yes! You can build a cave in your backyard or space inside your home using a few chairs, sheets, and torches. You should make the cave as dark as possible to bring in the feeling of a real-life cave, and use a torch to light the way whilst exploring!
Learn More: Pinterest
9. Discovering Wildlife Inside the Cave
Place plastic toys along with your DIY cave creatures in strategic points inside your burrow and keep the lights off. Then ask your kids to go in and try to “hunt” them. This might be one of the most exciting and challenging cave activities for your elementary students.
Learn More: Blogspot
10. Bear Hunting
Your cave activities are incomplete without a bear hunt! Place a big teddy bear at the back of your cave and ask your children to pass through the cave carefully without any form of light to feel the bear.
Learn More: Learning 4 Kids
11. Sorting of Rock Samples
Collect different rock samples and ask your kids to sort them based on what they’ve learned. This will challenge their brains and help them familiarize themselves with the main types of rock.
Learn More: Blogspot
12. Weathering
Show learners the process of weathering by representing a rock with sandstone. Then ask them to weather the sandstone by running it under a tap. It will take a while to show the effect, just as in real life! This will help them better understand how water can affect rocks and ultimately lead to weathering.
Learn More: eSchoolToday
13. Cave Paintings
Of course, paintings are vital pieces of prehistoric art and are the perfect cave activity. Simply gather cardboard, preferably brown, and some ink. Ask the kids to place their hands inside the ink to make their handprint art and other cave paintings.
Learn More: Research Parent
14. Activity books
Activity books are an exciting way for kids to connect with the natural world. They will learn fun facts, stories, details, and pictures of rocks, minerals, and various cave formations. They’ll also gain access to crosswords, quizzes, word searches, and puzzles.
Learn More: Mini Me Geology
15. Soda Straws
Soda straws are formed when crystals build up around droplets of carbonic acid. As the carbonic acid continues to drop, it forms a tube-like structure resembling a straw. The easiest way to depict this is to get a few rubber straws, tie one end, fill them with water, tie the other end and freeze them. Take it out the following day and try to pass them through a thick paper to demonstrate soda straws found in caves.
Learn More: Wikipedia
16. Sinkhole Experiment
A sinkhole experiment is one of the most exciting cave activities to watch! Simply cut a plastic bottle in half and fill the lower part with water. Then take a paper cup, fill it with sand, punch the bottom about 2cm in diameter, and cover the hole with soft paper. Place it inside the water and watch as a sinkhole comes alive!
17. Hibernation Activities
Explain to them why animals go into hibernation and demonstrate it with a paper cave and little paper or plastic bears. Place the bears inside the cave and challenge them to try to keep the bears as warm as possible!
Learn More: Powerful Mothering
18. Drawing
Drawing sure is one delightful cave activity for your kids. Give each child cardboard and charcoal and provide different animal representatives. Drawing what they see will bind the pictures to their minds for a long time, and the charcoal will give it a nature-like feeling.
Learn More: Blogspot
19. Virtual field trip
If a mobile cave trip sounds too expensive or risky, you can try a virtual one. Students can explore and feel the natural underground environment right in their classrooms! A virtual field trip is one of the most intriguing educational activities in a school’s education program.
Learn More: National Park Service
20. Ask And Listen to Their Thoughts
Try to figure out which of the cave activities your kids found more fascinating. Ask them what they’ve learned about caves, what scares them, and see if taking your students to caves sometimes is feasible. You might start planning a trip with them if there’s a high probability!
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