Learning about camouflage {science for kids}

My mom is a retired science teacher. I’m sure that is part of the reason why I love doing science with my kids. It also means that sometimes we are on the receiving end of some really cool science books.

This was the case a little while back when my mom showed up one day with some books about camouflage. These books sparked an impromptu and very hands-on lesson about camouflage for my two preschoolers.

The two books about camouflage that sparked this activity were:

Where in the Wild?: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed… and Revealed by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy

and

Where Else in the Wild? by David M. Schwartz and Yael Schy

We started by reading the books. Each spread of the book has a poem on the left and flap on the right. The flap has a photo of a nature scene that kids are invited to look through to see if they can spot the camouflaged animal. Then they can lift the flap to see the answer.

My kids enjoyed reading through the books and trying to spot the camouflaged animals. This was a great opportunity to discuss the wide range of animals that employ camouflage and to look at all the camouflage techniques that animals use.

To really drive home the point about camouflage, however, I decided to do a hands-on activity with the kids.

We started in our living room where we have a red and tan carpet. We talked about what the kids would have to do in order to camouflage themselves against the carpet. So they went into their room to change into red shirts in order to match the carpet. QBoy even had a pair of tan pants he put on to match the tan border of our carpet.

Then, while the kids were still wearing red, we went into our kitchen. The kitchen floor has white tile with black accents. The kids noted how much they stood out on the white floor while wearing their red shirts.

QBoy then decided to borrow one of my husband’s large white shirts in order to camouflage himself against the kitchen floor.

The whole time, the kids were cracking up. So this was one activity that was both educational and a ton of fun. That also means it isn’t likely to be forgotten anytime soon. 🙂

For more ideas for doing hands-on science with kids, see my science activities for kids page. 

More resources for learning about camouflage