As part of our Earth Science unit in our homeschool co-op, we have been studying and identifying various landforms and bodies of water. Now let’s face it, trying to memorize terms like plateau, peninsula, island, or valley can be just a tad bit boring to a kid. But creating your very own island to showcase the landforms? Now, that’s fun!
TIP: Scroll to the bottom for the FREE landforms download printable.
Before we learned the various landforms, we backed up and memorized the big stuff: seven continents and five oceans. We even recorded a Five Oceans Song and a Seven Continents Song to help us learn! Next, we brainstormed what landforms students already knew, watched a Brainpop Jr. Landforms video on YouTube, and then added on to our list of landforms.
Here was our final list of landforms and bodies of water (but you could always add more)
- Island
- Mountains
- Lake
- Valley
- Coast
- Plateau
- Plains
- Hills
- Canyon
- Peninsula
- River
- Bay
Next, we drew the landforms and bodies of water then labeled them on paper to make an anchor chart!
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Making Landforms Islands out of Salt Dough
As an at-home activity, students had the option to make a salt dough landforms island or build an island out of LEGOS. Kids had to include certain landforms on their island and name them, too!
So, in our house, we headed to the kitchen for my handy-dandy salt dough recipe that we use for so many projects! It only took a couple of minutes to make and then my daughter used the dough to create her island with mountains, hills, and a plain. She used a toothpick to make a riverbed, too, and her finger to shape a little lake. Then, time to bake it!
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Salt Dough Recipe
- 1 1/2 c. flour (use whole wheat flour for a more grainy, earthy color & texture)
- 2 c. salt
- 1 c. water
- 1 1/2 tsp. alum (optional)
Directions:
- Mix all dry ingredients.
- Add water, a little at a time until the consistency of play-dough. If dough is too sticky, add more flour.
- Manipulate dough into desired shape on cookie sheet . Use parchment paper for easy clean-up.
- Leave out and allow to harden or bake in oven at 350 for 10 minutes.
Baking tip: If you don’t have alum in your pantry, you can just leave it out. However, it definitely helps the dough to harden after baking. Without it, your project is likely to remain a bit soft and squishy after baking.
After baking the landforms island and allowing it to cool, we whipped out the paints. My daughter had fun painting the rivers, lake, coast, and various landforms while thinking up names for each landform or body of water. She even painted a field of flowers on the plain. Other kids in the group really got into the painting, too, and the islands turned out so cute! Each one was unique!
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Add in Some Literacy & More
To make it a more well-rounded project, I wanted to add in some literacy. So, I asked students in our co-op to create a brochure of their island. You can see and download the instructions I sent home below. Creating a brochure gave them opportunity to draw pictures of their island, explain about its features, and share all their unique place names. They were supposed to write a full paragraph description. Some of them got really creative! Then, they each stood before the class to present their landforms island, share their brochure, and tell about their landforms and place names. It was super fun to see everyone’s creativity! Some imagined it to be a habitat for specific animals, others imagined their island as a vacation resort, and others as a private getaway. Lots of fun!
I love this salt dough recipe because it is ridiculously easy but so versatile. It can be colored, shaped, dried, and manipulated in so many ways. It’s perfect for everything from making fossils to making maps or – today – making landform islands! What a great way to learn!
Download your free Landforms Project handout now! Printable recipe included.
