The study of landforms is an important step in scientific education for children in early elementary grades and it helps to set the foundation for understanding Earth science. Use these engaging activities to teach students about landforms and bodies of water. With these resources, children will learn about all types of landforms and more with hands-on experiences, cool crafts, and fun ideas for games!
1. Build-an-Island STEM Challenge
Challenge your learners to build an island that will solve a posed problem. Next, children will work to plan and develop their islands using their knowledge of landforms. They will illustrate their island on paper and work to create 3D models using play dough!
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2. Sculpt-Arades Game Cards
Print these bright landform cards and grab playdough to teach landforms. Learners will get a card and have to build the designated landform.
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3. Building Landforms with Sand
Use Tupperware and wet sand to ask children to create the desired landform with this interactive idea. Print the landform cards and ask students to create the desired shape in their plastic containers. Hands may get messy here, but the container helps to keep everything contained and clean!
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4. Biome Coloring Pages
You will only need crayons and paper for this simple activity. Children will love learning more about biomes that contain the landforms that are being discussed. Use these coloring pages as a brain break in-between learning.
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5. Exploring Landforms and Bodies of Water Video
Use this informative Earth video to teach students about landforms and bodies of water. This is a great resource to use either before or after a class discussion on the various landforms present on our planet.
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6. Do-A-Dot Landforms Book
Perfect for independent practice or centers, these landform dot pages are great to discuss landforms! Landform illustrations are already present and children will simply need a dot marker and a piece of paper to learn more about the various landforms.
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7. Classroom Activity Landforms
This low-prep activity is great for a whole class discussion of landforms or can alternatively be used as an afternoon activity to reinforce an Earth science unit. Use the provided article and images and have children describe each landform to create their original definitions and landform descriptions.
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8. Edible Rocks Activity
Take a tasty break and learn more about rock formations with this edible “rocks” activity. Learn about sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks as part of a discussion of landform layers. You will need Snickers bars to demonstrate the different rock types and children will love eating these at the end!
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9. Paper Plate Nature Island
Gather a paper plate, rocks, playdough, and other household items to create this natural island formation. Learners can paint their ocean first and then create their own island formation using the provided materials.
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10. Landform Diorama Project
This landform diorama is perfect for the end of a landform unit. Ask children to select multiple landforms to create a diorama. They can use a large container, playdough, grass, and paint to build their chosen landform. Add toy animals to top it off!
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11. Guess My Landform Game
Play “Guess My Landform” using printed pictures, game cards, and playdough. Perfect for partners in class or centers; children will pull a card and create the targeted landform. Next, the second player will guess what landform was created. Children then swap roles and continue to do more.
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12. Directed Cutting Activity
Learners will only need paper, glue, and scissors to complete this directed cutting activity. Have children cut out and glue a variety of landforms on a large piece of construction paper. Next, have them label each landform and provide descriptions of the climate, etc. of each.
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13. Erosion Science Lab
Using aluminum food pans and sand, learners can create various landforms. Place a Styrofoam cup filled with water above the landform and poke a small hole in the bottom of the cup. The water will trickle down and erode in different patterns depending on the differing landforms created.
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14. Landform Snack: Mountain Ranges
This snack is a great way to demonstrate one of the major landforms on Earth. Use a graham cracker, sprinkles, frosting, and Hershey’s kisses to create this mountain range. Ask students to observe the geographical features of the mountain range before they have a tasty treat!
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15. Landforms Anchor Chart
Create this large anchor chart to display in your classroom. Learners can use chart paper and colored pencils to illustrate the major landforms. This resource is great for students to view and work from as they learn more about natural science.
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16. Landform Diorama
Use the bottom of a drink holder to create this landform diorama. Perfect for the start of a landform unit- children will create a variety of landforms using the underside of the drink carrier. Just add paper, toothpicks, and paint to create the differing geography.
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17. Build a River Model
Use this video to teach children how to build a river model using aluminum pans, rocks, sand, and foil. Children can test major landforms and how bodies of water interact within them.
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18. Visual Guide to Landforms
This high-quality resource is a great visual guide to landforms. It’s perfect for interactive notebooks or a larger version on a whiteboard. This visual guide will make it easy to see the various landforms on Earth.
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19. Paper Art: Landforms for Kids
This is a great project to demonstrate all major landforms! Use paper, glue, and colored pencils to create these fantastic paper landforms. This craft will challenge children to create and label a variety of landforms.
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20. Printable Landforms Handouts
Add to your children’s knowledge about landforms with these printable resources. Math challenges and sight word worksheets are provided and make lesson prep easy!
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21. Landforms Flipbook
This low-prep activity is a good visual resource for teaching your students about the different types of landforms. Cut out the provided pages to create six different landforms and then staple them together to create this fantastic flipbook.
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22. Landforms Cards
Use these landform cards to play a variety of games. Simply print out the cards and have students match the illustration with its definition. You can also ask the students to label specific sections of the landforms or describe the elements of each picture.
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23. Hands-On Landforms Project
Give students paper plates, salt dough, paint, toothpicks, paper, and tape to create this cool project. They will then create and label ten separate landforms on their plates using the provided materials.
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24. Salt Dough Landforms Lab
Create salt dough or use playdough in this landforms lab activity. Get a map of your current geographical location and ask children to create a replica of the place with dough. Paint the landform when you are finished to highlight all of the different features.
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25. Edible Landforms Project
Prepare an aluminum pan, rock candy, ice cream cones, frosting, and other basic food objects to create an edible landform. Children will love creating this tasty diorama while they label and learn more about each landform.
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26. Pizza Box Landform Diorama
Learners will use a pizza box, paper, crayons, and other craft materials to create these pizza box landform dioramas. Children will draw a map of the specific area on the top flap of the pizza box. Then, they can create a 3D diorama of the landform on the bottom of the box.
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27. U.S. Landforms Edible Project
Create a geographical replica of the United States with this entirely edible project. You can use any edible objects that you have to create mountain ranges, great lakes, great plains, and more.
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28. Landforms and Bodies of Water Flip-Flap Books
Learners can use paper and colored pencils to create this beautiful flip book for landforms and bodies of water. All of the pages will be stapled together for students to refer back to.
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29. Desert Diorama
A shoe box, paper, sand, rocks, and small toys are all your learners need to create desert diorama boxes. Adaptable to any major landform, these projects will require students to research specific landforms and then create models with a shoebox.
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