We’ve spent a week with the polar bears, penguins and seals, with the help of our friends at Safari Ltd. We set up fun and easy habitats to go along with some great learning resources.
And, Safari Ltd has generously offerred to give away to my readers, your choice of an animal replica or one TOOB of figures, up to a $40 value. You can enter the giveaway at the end of this post.
Books and Video Resources We Used and Loved
- Nat Geo Kids polar bear video , penguin video and seal video.
- Tacky the Penguin
A cute story of a penguin who dares to be different.

Our Tacky Penguins. Craft inspiration and printable template courtesy of I Heart Crafty Things.
- Penguins Strange and Wonderful
by Laurence Pringle. Great examples of all different kinds of penguins all over the world.

A chunk of ice cubes from the freezer made the perfect ice floe for our polar bear to rest on, floating in the water table. This is the Step2 WaterWheel Activity Play Table.
- National Geographic Young Explorers Listen and Read Books, penguins and polar bears. Free, on-line books. These were a big hit with my 4 and 6 year olds.
- March of the Penguins
companion book. The book is more suited for younger children, whereas the movie, showing the harsh realities of Emperor penguin life is more appropriate for older children and adults.

Shaving cream in half the Activity Play Table,
water and ice in the other, made a great wet habitat for our polar animals.

A plastic bin covered with white cotton material and a collection of stones and large water beads made up a dry habitat for our polar animals.

Love these large water beads, found in the floral section of a hobby store. They are nearly the size of eggs! They made great pretend ice and snow for our polar animal habitats. What a fun sensory experience we had with them!
Polar Animal Science How do polar animals stay warm? We used Crisco shortening to simulate animal fat, a large bin of ice water and our science thermometer to find out why polar animals can swim in such frigid waters. This experiment was inspired by Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits .

Inserting our hand in a plastic bag, inside another bag filled with shortening, then into the icy water.
For more learning ideas, visit our Polar Animals Unit Study Pinterest board.
Safari Ltd makes so many lifelike models of toys, perfect for pretend play. We’ve used them a lot in our homeschool this year and they’ve truly enhanced our learning.
Enter to win your own selection of one Safari Ltd replica or TOOB, up to a $40 value. There are so many to choose from: horses, pirates, knights, fairies, dinosaurs, farm animals and so many more. Which one will you choose?
I received the polar animal products pictured in this post for free from Safari Ltd in exchange for this review.
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Over on Kiwi Crate this week, we made Sparkly Shamrock Sun Catchers. Some mixing and pouring fun, with some glitter added for sparkle are decorating are windows for St. Patrick’s Day.














































































