Rainforest Activities for Kids

If you’re looking for rainforest activities for kids to go along with my Rainforest Amazon Unit Study, you’ll love the ones I’ll share here. Also, you’ll love my Rain Forest – Animals of the Amazon page.

These hands-on activities like making slime, facts about the plants, and animals of the rainforest can be done with kids of many ages.

Table of Contents

Tropical Rainforest vs Temperate Rainforest

First, look at how the tropical rainforest and temperate rainforest compare to help ignite ideas for rainforest activities for kids.

Tropical Rainforest Features

Temperate Rainforest Features

They grow in hot places near the equator.	They grow in cool places.
Most of the animals live in the canopy layer.	Most of the animals live on the forest floor
Location: They are located in a broken band around the equator called the tropics. They are found in four main regions: The three largest of these regions are Central and West Africa, including Madagascar; Central and South America; and South and Southeast Asia. The fourth region is on the northern tip of Australia and Papua New Guinea. The largest rain forests are located in Brazil, South America, Zaire in Africa and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. They are located in more than 40 countries around the world.	Location: They are found near large bodies of water, such as oceans and seas. They are found along coastal areas of Chili, Great Britain, Norway, Japan, New Zealand and South Australia. The world’s largest are found along the Pacific Northwest of North America, stretching all the way from Alaska to Oregon.
Seasons: They do not have a dry season.	Seasons: They have different seasons like warm summers and cool winters.
Temperature: The temperatures are always warm. Average temperatures in a tropical rain forest range between 68 degrees and 84 degrees Fahrenheit. (20 degrees to 29 degrees Celsius).	Temperature: The temperature ranges from 80 degrees Fahrenheit to freezing.
Rainfall: The average rainfall is 80 to 100 inches per year.	Rainfall: The average rainfall is about 100 inches.
Largest: The largest tropical rain forest is the Amazon, also known as the Amazonia in South America.	Largest: The largest temperate rain forest is the Tongrass National Park in Alaska.
Fruits: avocado, fig, banana, mango and orange	Fruits: apple, blueberry, pumpkins
Amphibians: poison arrow frog, red eyed tree frog	Amphibians: bullfrog, spring peeper, tree frog
Birds: American kestrel, cattle egret, cockatoo,hummingbird, toucan,parrot, pelican, quetzal, scarlet macaw, rainbow lorikeet, red-tailed hawk, wood thrush	Birds: American crow, American kestrel,black-capped chickadee, blue jay, hummingbird, north cardinal, northern parula, red-tailed hawk, rock dove, veery, wood thrush
Reptiles: anaconda, boa constrictor, chameleon, gecko	Reptiles: garter snake, rattlesnake
Insects: leaf cutter ants, bees, large stag beetle, colorful katydids	Insects: carpenter ants, mosquitoes
Mammals: anteater, chimpanzee, deer mouse, flying foxes, howler monkey, jaguar, kinkajou, ocelot, tamarin monkey	Mammals: black bear, badger, beaver, deer mouse, gray squirrel, little brown myotis bat,lynx, moose, muskrat, weasel, white tailed deer
Trees: cacao tree, cecropia tree, kapok tree, teak tree, strangler fig tree	Trees: American beech, paper birch, red maple, red oak, sugar maple.

ABC’s of the Amazon/South American Region of the Rain Forest

A – Anteater, Agouti, Army Ant, Anaconda, Armadillo (Giant)
B – Balasik Lizard, Blue Morpho Butterfly, Boa Constrictor, Blue-Headed Parrot, Bare-Faced Curassow
C – Crocodile, Capybara, Coatimundi, Collared Puffbird, Caiman (Speckled), Collared Peccary
D – Dolphin (Pink)
E – Egret(Great White), Emerald Tree Boa, Eyelash Viper, Emperor Tamarin

F – Frog (Red Eyed), Flag Bug, Firestick Bug, Fruit Bat, Fishing Bat,
G – Green Iguana, Green Anaconda, Giant Centipede, Green-Headed Tanager, Gladiator Tree Frog, Glasswing Butterfly, Golden Lion Tamarin, Golden Tree Boa
H – Harpy Eagle, Harlequin Beetle, Hercules Beetle, Hoatzin, Hawk Moth Caterpillar, Hermit Hummingbird, Hummingbird (Violet-Eared)
I – Ibis
J – Jaguar, Jaguarundi

K – Kinkajou (aka honey bear), Katydid (False Leaf), King Vulture
L – Leaf Cutter Ant, Long Nose Bat
M – Marmoset (Pigmy), Mimosa Butterfly, Mosquitoes, Macaws
N – Night Monkey (owl monkey),
O – Owl (Pigmy), Ocelot, Orb Weave Spider, Owl Butterfly

P – Parrot, Piranha, Poison Arrow Frogs, Peruvian Dung Beetle, Parakeet (Yellow-Chevroned), Postman Butterfly, Praying Mantis
Q – Quetzel (Resplendent)
R – Red Howler Monkey, Round-Eared Bats
S – Sloth, Saddleback Caterpillar, Stink Beetle, Sorcerer Moth, Squirrel Monkey, Swallowtail Hummingbird, Scarlet Macaws, Spider Monkey
T – Toucan, Tarantula (Pink-Toed), Tarantula (Curly-Haired) Tapir (Brazilian), Termites, Tayra, Treehopper, Thorn Bug

U – Umbrella Bird
V – Vampire Bat
W – Wasp (Tarantula), White-Throated Toucan
X – Xenops (pronounced ZEN-ops)
Y – Yanomi people, Yolk Butterfly, Yellow-Eared Conure, Yellow Crowned/Capped Amazon
Z – Zebra Long Wing Butterfly