Best Arctic Animal Activities For Kindergarten Centers

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Centers are a fun way to expand on learning for young children. When I was a classroom kindergarten teacher, and again when I was a homeschool mom with preschool and early elementary kids, I created themed centers every week.

These Arctic animal activities are perfect for a arctic animal themed centers. They can be helpful if you are teaching a unit study on Arctic animals, or even just as a fun winter theme.

Arctic animals include:

• Polar bears
• Arctic foxes
• Snowy owls
• Harp seals
• Narwhals
• Beluga Whales
• Reindeer
• Atlantic puffins
• Walruses

Did you notice that penguins are not on the list? That is because penguins do not live in the Arctic. Penguins live in the southern hemisphere and the Arctic Circle is at the northernmost part of planet Earth.

Penguins can be considered polar animals though because they can be found at the south pole. Polar regions can mean either the north or south pole, while the Arctic region is strictly up north. It might seem like a silly thing to point out, but we don’t want to give little learners incorrect information.

When I was a kindergarten classroom teacher I believed that young children learn best through play. Centers allow kids to feel like they are playing when they are actually working on a variety of skills. Having a theme for the centers can be so much fun!

Best Arctic Animal Activities for Kindergarten Centers

These center activities all have an Arctic animals theme.

Art

Creating arts and crafts projects is a good way for kids to work on their fine motor skills. In this center, kids can create an arctic animal. There are a few arctic animal crafts that will work well for an art center. Depending on how long you want to keep this center theme, you could choose one or two projects, rotate through the crafts, or set out multiple project materials and let kids choose what they want to create.

I think it is helpful to have completed projects of the different Arctic animals available for kids to reference while they are working. Of course, they can put their own spin on the projects.

Math

Adding sums up to 10 is a common kindergarten math standard. This cute walrus math center is a great way for kids to practice this foundational kindergarten skill.

Material:

• Roll and count walrus printable
• 2 Dice
• Laminator and laminate sheet (optional)
• Toothpicks or cut-up straws

Kids will roll the dice, identify the numerals, and add the numbers together. Then they will add that many whiskers (toothpicks or cut-up straws) to the walrus.

I like to use dice with numerals instead of dots for math activities, but kids who are still learning to add might benefit from being able to count the dots.

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Related Post: How to Homeschool Kindergarten

Science

In the science center, kids can explore how arctic animals stay warm in the water. Many Arctic animals spend at least some of their time in the water. Others, such as narwhals, live exclusively in the frigid Arctic waters.

Materials:

• Shortening
• Ice
• Water
• Large bowl
• 3 Zipper bags
• Arctic animal blubber investigation printable (optional)

Kids will work through the scientific process in this experiment. They will place their hand in the icy water to see how it feels. Then they will add shortening to a bag and put their hands in the bag before putting their hand back into the cold water. This blubber experiment lets kids feel how effective body fat can be at keeping animals warm even in harsh conditions.

The printable lists all of the steps of the experiment and has room for kids to write their predictions and the experiment conclusion.

Games

The games center can be a physical game or an online game, depending on your preference.

Online Game – National Geographic Arctic Animals Memory Game

In this online Arctic animals game by National Geographic Kids, kids can select the difficulty level. They have more chances to make a match at the easy level.

Kids click on a square and it turns around to reveal a photograph of an arctic animal. After a few seconds, the square turns around and the picture disappears. Then kids will click on another square. If they make a match, those squares disappear from the game board.

Physical Game – Arctic Animal Search and Find Puzzle

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This Arctic animal game is like two games in one. First, the kids put the 64-piece puzzle together. Building puzzles is great for developing spatial awareness skills. Then they look through the puzzle to find 40+ animals and fish.

Spelling

We can give a spelling center a theme by writing the spelling words on theme-related cutouts. This center activity works with:

• Sight words
• Spelling words
• Words related to Arctic animals

You will need:

• Polar bear paw prints
• Laminator (optional, but I recommend either laminating your paw prints or printing them on thick paper)
• Wet erase marker
• Magnet (these magnet strips can be cut into smaller pieces so the box lasts longer)
• Magnetic alphabet letters (I like this set because it is all lowercase letters and the vowels and consonants are different colors. Multiple sets are helpful so you have multiples of commonly used letters.)
• Magnetic surface – magnetic whiteboard, kitchen appliances, or even a baking tray

To set up the center:

1. Print the polar bear paw prints and laminate them.
2. Write one word on each paw print in the white rectangle.
3. Stick a magnetic strip on the back of each paw print.
4. Place the paw prints and the alphabet magnets on the magnetic work surface.

Kids will form the words with the magnetic letters.

Reading

A reading center offers kids a comfortable place to relax and quietly read books. If you can find an audio version and a print version of the same book, emerging readers can listen as they read along. You can make your own audio version by recording yourself reading the book.

We can give the reading center an Arctic animal theme by offering fictional and nonfiction books featuring Arctic animals.

In Arctic Waters by Laura Crawford

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This book showcases a variety of animals that live in the Arctic Ocean. The text has a rhythmic flow with repeating words, which can be helpful for new readers.

Over in the Arctic: A Polar Baby Animal Counting Book by Marianne Berkes

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This picture book features cute rhyming text with repeatable patterns. Kids will learn the words for different types of animal babies, such as walrus calves.

Cozy by Jan Brett

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

This beautiful book tells the fictional story of a young musk ox who has been separated from his family during a storm. Other animals, such as an arctic hare, lemmings, and a wolverine, gather near him for warmth and protection from the cold weather. They enjoy each other’s company and get cozy together.

Rory: An Orca’s Quest For The Northern Lights by Sarah Cullen and Carmen Ellis

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Rory is an orca whale who has always dreamed of seeing the Northern lights. One day he decides to embark on a journey to see this beautiful night sky. Along the way, he meets a beluga whale, a polar bear, and a fox.

Writing Center

A writing center is a great way for kids to practice writing. We can give this center an Arctic theme by giving them Arctic animal cards and plenty of paper. They can make up a fictional story that involves arctic animal characters or they can write nonfiction sentences about what they have learned.

Materials:

• Free Arctic animals vocabulary cards
• Kindergarten writing paper with room for drawing
• Pencils
• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers

Print out the free Arctic animals vocabulary cards and put them in the writing center in a place where kids can easily see them. Kids can then write about the Arctic animals in any way they like. It is always interesting to see what kids choose to write about.

Sensory Play

Sensory bins can be a lot of fun for kids. I frequently set up a rice sensory bin in my kindergarten classroom and for my own children. Understanding math skills such as volume can begin with kids filling and pouring rice out of a variety of containers.

This Arctic sensory bin is incredibly easy to set up. Just pour dried rice, or cotton balls, into a bin of your sensory table. If you don’t have a sensory table, a large container with a lid works just as well. Then add the different animals.

Materials:

• Bin with dried rice (or cotton balls)
• Arctic animals

Last update on 2026-09-16 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

Kids can find the animals as they scoop through the rice. Then they can work on their classification skills by classifying the animals by whatever criteria they choose. They might choose to sort land and sea animals, sort them by size, or sort them by other physical characteristics, etc.

I love when we can make sensory bins even more educational.

I hope these fun Arctic animal activities are a helpful addition to your lesson plans! They can also be useful in an Arctic unit study for young children.

Check out these other kindergarten posts!

Homeschool Kindergarten: Your Complete Guide to Teach Your Kindergartener at Home

How to Homeschool Kindergarten: What Do I Really Need to Teach?

Everything You Need to Know About Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum

Activities for Weather Lesson Plans for Kindergarten