It’s “Geography Awareness Week” from 14th - 19th November so we have created a colouring, cut out and matching activity following the theme of geography, habitats and the animals that live there.  We have included 8 habitats, the largest types of these habitats in the world, the locations/countries where you’ll find them, and 3 unique animals that you’ll find in that habitat.

There are 16 pictures to colour in 8 animal sets + 8 Habitat/location sets. Once coloured, cut along the lines to make 16 individual picture boxes.  Mix them up then try to match up which set of animals lives in which habitat. You’ll end up with 8 pairs.

We’ve included the matching set answers below, but haven’t included answers on the colouring page, instead, we have given subtle clues to help children with problem-solving such as a Mountain Tapir - will live in a Mountain habitat, a Polar Bear will live in a Polar habitat. We suggest the children first guess the habitat/animal matches, then give clues of matching similar names (as above), then research the animals to see what habitats they live in.

The matching set answers are:

Freshwater habitat - The largest freshwater biome in the world is the Florida Everglades. 

The set of animals you’ll find in this Freshwater habitat are the West Indian Manatee, Largemouth Bass, and American Alligator.

Ocean habitat - The Pacific Ocean is the largest in the world, and Canada has the longest coastline bordering it (on the west side of Canada). 

The set of animals you’ll find in this Ocean habitat are the Pacific Herring, Loggerhead Sea Turtle, and Harbor Porpoise.

Mountain habitat - The largest mountain range in the world is The Andes.

The set of animals you’ll find in this Mountain habitat are the Andean Condor, Chinchilla, and Mountain Tapir.

Rainforest habitat - The largest rainforest in the world is the Amazon Rainforest.

The set of animals you’ll find in this Rainforest habitat are the Brown-Throated Sloth, Squirrel Monkey, and Giant Waxy Tree Frog.

Temperate Forest habitat - The largest temperate forest in the world is the Tongass National Forest.

The set of animals you’ll find in this Temperate Forest habitat are the Queen Charlotte Goshawk, Black Bear, and Sitka Black-Tailed Deer.

Desert habitat (Hot Desert see below Note) - The largest hot desert in the world is the Sahara Desert.

The set of animals you’ll find in this Desert habitat are the Fennec Fox, Dorcas Gazelle, and Saharan Spiny-Tailed Lizard.

Polar habitat - The largest polar habitat in the world (just slightly bigger than Antarctica) is The Arctic.

The set of animals you’ll find in this Polar habitat are the Musk Ox, Arctic Wolf, and Polar Bear.

Grassland habitat - The largest grassland habitat in the world, extending for 8000km is The Eurasian Steppe. 

The set of animals you’ll find in this Grassland habitat are the Bobak Marmot, Great Bustard, and Saiga Antelope.

Note: A Desert habitat is not defined by hot temperatures but by very low amounts of rain and snow. Therefore you can have a Hot Desert and a Cold Desert. The largest cold desert in the world is Antarctica. We have only included the largest Hot Desert in this colouring activity.

Click the link to download this colouring activity from  Planet Designs Kids Free Downloads on our website.

Here are some ideas on how to extend this colouring activity further:

• Get out an atlas or world globe and find the pictured locations on it.
• Get out a map that includes where you live and mark how near or far away are the pictured locations.
• On a map that includes where you live mark where you can find the same habitats. What animals live in these? 
• Research why these habitats can be found in these places eg Temperature, or distance from the equator.
• Can the pictured animals live in any other habitats? Why?

Geography Awareness Week is a time to reflect on how the decisions we make in everyday life affect the world we live in. Here are some further discussion points on the relationship between people and the environment they live or visit.

• What activities do people do at these locations?
• When do people mostly visit these places? eg day or night
• Does the weather affect what people do when they visit a place?
• What are some good and bad choices people make that affect these places?
• How can the wildlife in these places be affected by the good or bad choices people make?
• What places do you enjoy visiting? What type of habitats are in these places? Think about one or more good or bad choices for that place. Discuss how those choices would affect the land, water or air in that place.

To download or print using the above links: 

* Planet Designs Kids Free Downloads (on our website) - click the “Planet Designs Kids Free Downloads” link and it will take you to the free downloads page on our website. Put in your email address and you’ll have free access to all of our free colouring activities. Click “Continue”, then on the page you want click “Download”, and it will then be saved in your downloads folder where you can print it.

We hope you enjoy this free educational resource.