Learning about landforms can be a lot of fun! Here are plenty of interactive ideas and activities to teach landforms for kids. If you’re working on landform vocabulary, then you’re sure to find these videos, worksheets and even experiments to help.
Be sure to click on each idea to see the original source and get additional information on making these landform lesson plans happen in your classroom.
Landform Activities
Building With Sand – Make an interactive sand tray that is individual sized. Have students use their fingers to push the sand aside to form each landform.
Erosion Experiment – Use some basic materials and a simple setup to explore how erosion is responsible for various types of formations – makes it memorable!
Edible Landforms – This simplified version is edible and memorable.
Salt Dough Landforms – Make and paint salt dough – forming the most popular one. Just in case you’re in need, here’s a good how to make salt dough tutorial.
Naming the Types of Landforms
Matching Real and Illustration Landforms – Real life examples can be tricky to identify. Use these free illustration cards and real world examples to help make connections.
Matching Forms and Descriptions – Match each formation of the Earth to a card with it’s descriptive characteristics. {Free printable}
Smartboard Game – A quick quiz of 25 questions to answer which type of landform is shown on this free smartboard game.
Geographical Landforms
Worksheet Set – Worksheets for first grade with a geographical theme.
Landforms Flipbook – Create a flipbook by coloring pages of landform layers and labeling them.
My Landforms Booklet – Write 3 sentences about each of 5 land forms in this free printable booklet.
Construction Paper Landform Layers – Get the free printable patterns to trace and a vocabulary sheet to paste in the back of this layered craft. You could easily add writing onto the back of each landform or mention a real world example.
Landforms for Kids Videos
Landform Song -Covers waterfall, river, lake, valley, glacier, volcano, cliff, plains, island, and mountain.
Exploring Landforms – What are landforms? Natural features of the earth’s surface.
What is Erosion? – Find out the answers in this guided video.
Landform Crash Course
All Over the World
Songs and simple illustrations from a fellow teacher to help teach land formations.
Types of Landforms
Illustrating the Landforms – When learning the types of land formations, having students illustrate them can be helpful – this one includes a free assessment. Or you could have them make landform posters.
Paper Version – Cut out shapes to create each landform and label in English or Spanish.
Dinosaur Landform Review – Use the image of a dinosaur to help students remember what each type of landform looks like. Clever!
Landforms Freebie – Draw a picture of each landform in this free visual vocabulary worksheet.
See? Teaching geographical features just got a little easier with the help of these fantastic ideas from other teachers. What fun ideas – I’m all about the hands-on lesson plans to make it more interactive.
You should also check out these 15 Fun Activities and Ideas to teach Rocks for Kids.
More Science for Kids
- Clouds Science for Kids: 23 Smart Ideas for the Classroom
- 8 Fast, Free Water Cycle Resources and Activities
- Solids, Liquids and Gases: Fun With Froot Loops
Teach Junkie
Leslie {aka the original Teach Junkie} loves learning new things to make teaching easier and more effective. She enjoys featuring creative classroom fun when she's not designing teacher shirts, making kindergarten lesson plans or planning her family's next trip to Disney World.