Free Smithsonian Activity Sheets (ALL)

These Activities Sheets, each on a single theme, include word and number games, art exercises, and fun quizzes. With each activity, kids learn about something new, from the anatomy of the giant squid to the history of chocolate.

Action Words
Take a quick trip around the Smithsonian to learn about some of the world’s fastest things. In a word-search puzzle, look for words that mean “go fast.”
Action Words (PDF)

Everyone Knows an Ant Can't...
. . . move a rubber-tree plant. But an ant can move things as heavy as twenty times its own weight. What could you lift if you could do the same thing? Do some simple multiplication to find out.
Everyone Knows an Ant Can’t . . . (PDF)

Multicultural Make-a-Book
This activity page contains fun drawing and writing activities for children ages 8-12. By following fold-and-tear instructions, the child turns the page into a small book.
Multicultural Make-a-Book (PDF)

Zebra Lineup
Identify three zebras at the National Zoo by their unique fingerprint-like patterns of stripes. Included is a drawing activity.
Zebra Lineup (PDF)
Learn more about the zebras who live at the National Zoo in Washington.

Root Words
Learn amazing facts about soil as you unearth the meanings of a few words by looking at their common roots. Then find those roots in a word-search puzzle.
Root Words (PDF)
Root Words Answers (PDF)
Take a look at the online exhibition Dig It! The Secrets of Soil.

Something To Chew On
Make your way through a maze and solve a rhyming word puzzle as you get to know three creatures who have reigned at the top of the ocean’s food chain.
Something to Chew On (PDF)
Also, check out the National Museum of Natural History's Ocean Hall.

Sizing Up a Squid
Learn all about the giant squid, a real-life sea monster. You can figure out the size of the creature by drawing yourself swimming next to one.
Sizing Up a Squid (PDF)

Fruitful Exercises
Try matching four kinds of food with the trees they come from. Get the answers by completing the last lines of poems about the trees.
Fruitful Exercises (PDF)

Mystery Invention
Can you guess the identity of an early model of a common household object? Gather clues in a crossword puzzle and a number game.
Mystery Invention (PDF)

Walking on the Moon
Unscramble letters to identify cool pictures from the Apollo 11 mission, the first voyage that brought people to the moon.
Walking on the Moon (PDF)
Also, check out the online interactive IdeaLab, Walking on the Moon.

Start a Collection
Play a matching game to get some ideas on what you’d like to collect.
Start a Collection (PDF)
Also, check out the online interactive IdeaLab, Smithsonian Kids Collecting.

Click for free activity sheets
(Worldwide)

- This was posted by Catherine on July 15, 2011 -

Category: CDN, children, homeschool, US, worldwide