Read up on these Andes Mountain facts for kids while you complete this felt mountain craft that is fun to create and beautiful to display anywhere in the house. Also, you’ll love my Free South America Printable Lapbook and Fun Hands-on Unit Study Ideas.
The Andes Mountains are a massive range that extends throughout a lot of South America and have attracted millions of visitors over the years.
Tourists come to see Machu Picchu, Cotopaxi, La Raya Mountain Range, Lake Titicaca, and Rainbow Mountain.
When searching for an idea for a neat hands-on activity to go along with learning about the Andes Mountains we got caught up in the beautiful stretch of Rainbow Mountain, part of the Andes of Peru.
Rainbow Mountain is layered with the most colorful ribbons of sediments in turquoise, lavender, gold, red, and more.
It is known as Vinicunca, or Winikunka, and also called Montaña de Siete Colores which means Mountain of seven colors.
So, I wanted to focus our project here on these colorful peaks.
But I have lots of great information, facts, and resources to make your study of the Andes mountain range fun and full of learning.
Books About South America
First, look at some of these books about South America. We gravitate toward living books.
13 Resources for a Study of South America
Add some of these fun books and resources to your study of South America.
An incredible variety of climates and biomes span the territory of South America. As a result, the continent contains some of the greatest biodiversity on Earth.
Rookie Read-About: Continents series gives the youngest reader (Ages 3-6) an introduction to the components that make each continent distinctive and exceptional. Readers will get to know each continents' geography, history, and wildlife. In this book readers learn about the continent of South America, including the geography, native animals, people and more.
A full-color, compelling book for ages 7 to 10 offers a deep dive into the three sophisticated ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica―the Aztecs, Maya, and Incas― through hands-on STEAM projects, essential questions, and loads of fascinating facts!
Why were there more than 3,000 steps built at Machu Picchu? Why did the Aztecs roam Mexico for nearly 200 years before finding a place to settle? How did the Maya study the movements of the stars and the planets? Ancient Civilizations: Aztecs, Maya, Incas! With 25 Social Studies Projects for Kids takes kids ages 7 to 10 on a guided tour to experience the history, culture, economics, and daily life of the Aztecs, Maya, and Incas.
A man, his burros, and his books bring joy to children in remote Colombian villages in this inspiring book based on a true story by celebrated picture book creator Jeanette Winter.Luis loves to read, but soon his house in Colombia is so full of books there’s barely room for the family. What to do? Then he comes up with the perfect solution—a traveling library! He buys two donkeys—Alfa and Beto—and travels with them throughout the land, bringing books and reading to the children in faraway villages.
An Incan boy who tends llamas in a hidden valley in Peru learns the traditions and secrets of his ancestors.
In the sequel to On the Pampas, the author recalls her first year on the small Argentinian ranch purchased and managed by her mother, in an account that includes a visual dictionary of the Spanish words and geographical terms used in the text.
Atmospheric woodcuts illustrate this Newbery Award–winning collection of 19 South American folktales. Charles J. Finger heard the tales firsthand from native storytellers, whose fables of talking animals, witches, giants, and ordinary people in supernatural settings provide remarkable insights into regional values and culture. The first of the stories, "A Tale of Three Tails," tells of an age when the rat had a tail like a horse, the rabbit had a tail like a cat, and the deer's tail was plumed like the tail of a dog. "The Magic Dog" recounts an act of kindness to a stray animal that helps overcome a witch's curse. In "The Calabash Man," the creatures of the jungle assist a suitor in winning his bride, and in "El Enano," a greedy troll's insatiable appetite leads to his downfall. Packed with adventure and full of surprises, these and other stories emphasize the importance of hard work, courage, and loyalty.
In 1911, Hiram Bingham III climbed into the Andes Mountains of Peru and “discovered” Machu Picchu. While history has recast Bingham as a villain who stole both priceless artifacts and credit for finding the great archeological site, Mark Adams set out to retrace the explorer’s perilous path in search of the truth—except he’d written about adventure far more than he’d actually lived it. In fact, he’d never even slept in a tent.
With the memorable characters and plot twists she brings to her best-selling fantasies, acclaimed author Eva Ibbotson has written a hair-raising novel, set in turn-of-the-last-century Brazil.Accompanied by Miss Minton, a fierce-looking, no-nonsense governess, Maia, a young orphan, sets off for the wilderness of the Amazon, expecting curtains of orchids, brightly colored macaws, and a loving family. But what she finds is an evil-tempered aunt and uncle and their spoiled daughters. It is only when she is swept up in a mystery involving a young Indian boy, a homesick child actor, and a missing inheritance that Maia lands in the middle of the Amazon adventure she's dreamed of. Readers of every generation will treasure Ibbotson's lush historical adventure that harkens back to the beloved classics of Frances Hodgson Burnett and Louisa May Alco
Can you imagine living in a place where there is so much water some houses need to be built on stilts to protect them when the river rises? Or where it is so wet that some plants can grow on the sides of trees with their roots gathering water from the air? In This Place Is Wet, you'll find out all sorts of things about what it's like to live in the rain forest of Brazil. Try to imagine living there!
It is astonishing that Simón Bolívar, the great Liberator of South America, is not better known in the United States. He freed six countries from Spanish rule, traveled more than 75,000 miles on horseback to do so, and became the greatest figure in Latin American history. His life is epic, heroic, straight out of Hollywood: he fought battle after battle in punishing terrain, forged uncertain coalitions of competing forces and races, lost his beautiful wife soon after they married and never remarried (although he did have a succession of mistresses, including one who held up the revolution and another who saved his life), and he died relatively young, uncertain whether his
achievements would endure.
Ada Ríos grew up in Cateura, a small town in Paraguay built on a landfill. She dreamed of playing the violin, but with little money for anything but the bare essentials, it was never an option...until a music teacher named Favio Chávez arrived. He wanted to give the children of Cateura something special, so he made them instruments out of materials found in the trash
Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book – Fun And Education For Adults and TeensMake the perfect gift for anyone who loves coloring! Enjoy this Mayans Aztecs Incas Coloring Book for Adults and Teens. Click the cover to reveal what’s inside!About this book:
- 40 original pages drawings of Symbols, Warriors, Masks and Mandalas.
Explore the Inca empire, including how the Incas survived in the mountains, how the empire was built, and why it disappeared.
A True Book: Ancient Civilizations series allows readers to experience what makes each ancient civilization distinctive and exceptional as well look at its influence on the some of the practices of the modern world. This series includes an age appropriate (grades 3-5) introduction to curriculum-relevant subjects and a robust resource section that encourages independent study.
7 Andes Mountain Facts For Kids
- The Andes Mountains are the longest mountain chain in the world at 5,530 miles long and stretch through 7 different South American countries- Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina
- They were formed due to the tectonic activity between the South American and Nazca plates, simply put it means that two tectonic plates pushed together and one lay above the other, disrupting the Earth’s surface.
- The majority of Andean peaks are volcanic with an estimated 150 to 160 active volcanoes along the Andean Volcanic Belt.
- Did you know that the Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire islands in the Caribbean are the peaks of an extensive submerged continuation of the Andes? In Patagonia, many islands are also part of the mountain chain.
- The Amazon River originates in the Andes mountains at an elevation of 5,598 miles, less than 100 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
- The summit of Mount Chimborazo in the Andes is the highest point of elevation on Earth when measured from the Earth’s center.
- The Andes are a very biodiverse system, if you were to take a trip through the mountains you might see many of the over 3,700 species of animals that live there, including alpaca, chinchilla, llamas, mountain tapirs, guinea pigs, spectacled bears, and more.
Next, look at more Andes mountain facts for kids and South America resources.
More Mountain Facts for Kids and South America Activities
- Try this Torn Paper Mountain Landscape Art Tutorial for another unique mountain project.
- How To Make A Blue-Footed Booby Bird Craft
- 7 Facts About the Inca Empire & Make a Fun Incan Ruins Model
- A good resource can be used for more than one specific theme, Mountain Ranges of the World contains information on mountains and how they are formed as well as artistic views of ranges including the Andes and more
- 9 Free South America Country Reports for Kids Notebooking Pages
- Galapagos Islands Animals Fun and Simple Watercolor Flamingo Tutorial
Finally, look how to make a felt mountain craft.
How to Make a Felt Mountain Craft
You will need:
- Cardboard
- Colorful craft felt
- Hot glue, tacky, or school glue
- Scissors
First, cut whatever size span of mountains you want from cardboard, corrugated cardboard is nice and sturdy and this is a great upcycle for old Amazon boxes.
Next, you want to cut a lot of very thin strips, with some size variations out of the colors of felt you have chosen. You could also use yarn if you have that on hand instead.
“Paint” your cardboard mountains with a thick coat of glue all over. Originally, I was going to use hot glue but it dries quickly.
Plus, I wanted to allow for building time. An older child could hot glue a piece at a time if they want a quicker drying project.
Begin pressing your strips of felt into v patterns on the mountain.
Starting from the outside or inside, whatever they prefer. Let the excess hang off the sides, you will fix that when it’s dry.
Continue until your mountain(s) are completely covered.
Allow it to dry overnight and then trim off the excess along the edges of the mountains.
If you are layering mountains instead of making just one you can attach them to one other.
Leave it at that or mount them on a larger piece of felt glued to another piece of cardboard to give it a background.