Children's books and activities
Oceans, Rivers and Ponds
Do you know any kids who are happiest swimming in a freshwater lake, body surfing in the ocean, or launching a homemade boat down a stream? Or kids who are curious about ocean tides, the physics of water, and the amazing variety of aquatic animals?
Try pairing fiction with nonfiction books and exploring different genres [6] (like poetry and biographies) and formats (like graphic novels and audio books). You'll be creating your own "text sets" — collections of texts focused on a specific topic, such as water, oceans, rivers, and ponds. Reading widely in this way helps children build background knowledge [7], vocabulary [8], and comprehension skills.
You might also want to explore our River Rangers summer science program [9], with a free toolkit ready to print and use!
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Is your public library closed?
See if your public library offers OverDrive [20] where you can borrow and read free ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines on your phone or tablet — all you need is your library card to get access. There are also a number of online services that offer high-quality audiobooks and ebooks: Audible for Kids [21], Tales2Go [22], and Epic!. [23] Learn more: Finding Audiobooks and Ebooks [24].
Great Fiction & Nonfiction Books
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Print List
All the Water in the World
By: George Ella Lyon
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Rich, rhythmic language combines with lush illustration to poetically describe the water cycle...
Purchase book [25]
Bear Came Along
By: Richard T. Morris
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Once there was a river flowing through a forest. The river didn't know it was capable of...
Purchase book [26]
Crustacean Vacation
By: Brian Benoit
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [28]
Deep in the Ocean
By: Lucie Brunellière
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
A little silver submarine maneuvers past masses of busy waterfowl and sea life to plunge from...
Purchase book [29]
Elizabeth, Queen of the Seas
By: Lynne Cox
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Most elephant seals live in the ocean but one prefers the Avon River in Christchurch, New...
Purchase book [30]
Have You Seen My Duckling?
By: Nancy Tafuri
Age Level: 3-6 years old
An anxious mother duck leads her brood around the pond as she searches for one missing duckling...
Purchase book [31]
Hello Ocean / Hola Mar
By: Pam Muñoz Ryan
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [32]
Here Come the Humpbacks!
By: April Sayre
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [33]
Hey, Water!
By: Antoinette Portis
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
An introduction to the water cycle and water conservation for the youngest readers. Join a young...
Purchase book [34]
If You Want to See a Whale
By: Julie Fogliano
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [35]
In the Small, Small Pond
By: Denise Fleming
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [36]
Jump into Science: Coral Reefs
By: Sylvia Earle
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Readers explore a coral reef with a snorkeling young swimmer and see what the swimmer sees as...
Purchase book [37]
Kumak's River: A Tale from the Far North
By: Michael Bania
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Spring comes to a remote Alaskan village, and the ice on the frozen river cracks and breaks and...
Purchase book [38]
Leopard & Silkie: One Boy's Quest to Save the Seal Pups
By: Brenda Peterson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [39]
Looking Closely Along the Shore
By: Frank Serafini
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [40]
Looking Closely Around the Pond
By: Frank Serafini
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [41]
Make Way for Ducklings
By: Robert McCloskey
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Mrs. Mallard was sure that the pond in the Boston Public Gardens would be a perfect place for...
Purchase book [42]
Mr. Gumpy's Outing
By: John Burningham
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Mr. Gumpy lives by a river. One sunny day he decides to take a ride in his small boat. It is...
Purchase book [45]
On the Way to the Beach
By: Henry Cole
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Young readers are invited to look and listen as they join a girl on a summer morning walk to the...
Purchase book [46]
Out of the Ocean
By: Debra Frasier
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [47]
Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach
By: Melanie Watt
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [48]
Seashells: Treasures from the Northeast Coast
By: Joanne Roach-Evans
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [49]
Swamp Chomp
By: Lola Schaefer
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
As swamp residents move, water ripples and the creatures munch, gulp, swallow and more. Short,...
Purchase book [50]
The Seashore Book
By: Charlotte Zolotow
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [51]
The Water Walker
By: Joanne Robertson
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
The determined story of an Ojibwe grandmother (nokomis), Josephine Mandamin, and her great love...
Purchase book [52]
Trout Are Made of Trees
By: April Sayre
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [53]
Undersea Animals: A Dramatic Dimensional Visit to Strange Underwater Realms
By: Jane Buxton
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [54]
Water Is Water
By: Miranda Paul
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Nonfiction
Lyrical language and handsome, realistic watercolors present water in its many forms, from...
Purchase book [55]
Wave
By: Suzy Lee
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [56]
We Are Water Protectors
By: Carole Lindstrom
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
An Ojibwe girl confronts a grave situation by channeling age-old wisdom. The “black snake” of an...
Purchase book [57]
Where the River Begins
By: Thomas Locker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Fiction
Purchase book [59]
Wow! Ocean
By: Robert Neubecker
Age Level: 3-6 years old
Purchase book [60]
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Print List
A River
By: Marc Martin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
There's a river outside my window. Where will it take me? So begins the imaginary journey of a...
Purchase book [61]
A River Ran Wild: An Environmental History
By: Lynne Cherry
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Learn how the modern-day descendants of the Nashua Indians and European settlers were able to...
Purchase book [63]
Along the Tapajós
By: Fernando Vilela
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Cauã and Inaê are a brother and sister who live in a small community along the Tapajós River in...
Purchase book [64]
At the Sea Floor Cafe: Odd Ocean Critter Poems
By: Leslie Bulion
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poems introduce sea creatures and their habitats using different poetic forms (e.g., concrete,...
Purchase book [65]
Beavers
By: Gail Gibbons
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Beavers are fascinating animals. They build their own homes and live in family groups. They keep...
Purchase book [66]
Bowhead Whale
By: Joanasie Karpik
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet bowhead whales in this slim but fact-filled volume. Dramatic illustrations add detail and...
Purchase book [67]
Coral Reefs
By: Jason Chin
Age Level: 6-9 years old
A girl is transported from the library to an underwater world where she observes coral reefs and...
Purchase book [68]
Deep Sea Floor
By: Sneed Collard
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Rich, realistic illustrations accompany clear text as readers explore what lives in the ocean,...
Purchase book [69]
Dolphins
By: Penelope Arlon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Splendid photographs are used along with a crisp, easier to read narrative to introduce dolphins...
Purchase book [70]
Droughts
By: Melissa Stewart
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Where do droughts happen? How do we know that we are in a drought? Why is rainfall important?...
Purchase book [71]
Everglades
By: Jean Craighead George
Age Level: 6-9 years old
As an Indian storyteller guides a boat of children down the sea of grass, he reveals the story...
Purchase book [73]
Explore Rivers and Ponds!
By: Carla Mooney
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
From puddles to lakes, streams to rivers, and bogs to swamps, each body of water contains an...
Purchase book [74]
Face to Face with Manatees
By: Brian Skerry
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [76]
Face to Face with Sharks
By: David Doubilet, Jennifer Hayes
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Underwater photographers, Hayes & Doubilet, provide basic information about their work as...
Purchase book [77]
Flotsam
By: David Wiesner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [78]
Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles
By: Philippe Cousteau, Deborah Hopkinson
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
To help baby loggerhead turtles find their way back to the sea, a group of children involve...
Purchase book [79]
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean
By: Arthur Dorros
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [80]
Galápagos Girl / Galapagueña
By: Marsha Diane Arnold
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
As a Galápagueña, Valentina spends her days observing the natural world around her. This...
Purchase book [81]
Home for a Penguin, Home for a Whale
By: Brenda Williams
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
With lyrical rhymes, readers explore a dazzling underwater menagerie. Each rhyming couplet gives...
Purchase book [82]
I Know the River Loves Me / Yo se que el rio me ama
By: Maya Christina Gonzalez
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Whenever Maya visits the river, the river jumps up to greet her. It cools her when the summer...
Purchase book [83]
Lotus and Feather
By: Ji-li Jiang
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Inspired by the true story of a crane that rescued a Chinese village. One day, when a village...
Purchase book [84]
Marshes and Swamps
By: Gail Gibbons
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Get an introduction to the concept of wetlands (swamps have trees, and marshes do not) and learn...
Purchase book [85]
McElligot's Pool
By: Dr. Seuss
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
A small boy is fishing in the tiny, unpromising McElligot's Pool, a puddle that is nothing but a...
Purchase book [86]
Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
By: Thomas R. Yezerski
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
The 20,000 acres of wetlands in New Jersey now known as the Meadowlands were once home to...
Purchase book [88]
Nya's Long Walk: A Step at a Time
By: Linda Sue Park
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
With compassion, the creators present younger readers with a portrait of a life in which...
Purchase book [89]
Ocean Soup: Tide-Pool Poems
By: Stephen Swinburne
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Meet a sea anemone, sea urchin, a sculpin and other inhabitants of a tide pool through poems (in...
Purchase book [90]
Oceans
By: Seymour Simon
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [91]
Oil Spill
By: Melvin Berger
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Did you know that an oil spill occurs somewhere in the world almost every day of the year? This...
Purchase book [92]
Olivia's Birds: Saving the Gulf
By: Olivia Bouler
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
One 11 year-old girl can make a difference, as young ornithologist and artist Olivia Bouler has...
Purchase book [93]
Otters Love to Play
By: Jonathan London
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Head to the river, where a frolicsome bunch of otters plays all year round. Follow the baby...
Purchase book [94]
Over and Under the Pond
By: Kate Messner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Discover the plants and animals that make up the rich, interconnected ecosystem of a mountain...
Purchase book [95]
Pond and River
By: Steve Parker
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [97]
River
By: Debby Atwell
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Explore the changes that occur through the centuries along a riverbank, from the arrival of the...
Purchase book [98]
River Wild: An Activity Guide to North American Rivers
By: Nancy F. Castaldo
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Learn about the formation of rivers, the water cycle, and the variety of habitats that exist...
Purchase book [100]
Rivers of Sunlight
By: Molly Bang
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
How does the sun keep ocean currents moving and lift fresh water from the seas? What can we do...
Purchase book [101]
Purchase Kindle version [102]
Seashells: More Than a Home
By: Melissa Stewart
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Young naturalists discover thirteen seashells in this elegant introduction to the remarkable...
Purchase book [103]
Purchase Kindle version [104]
Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems
By: Joyce Sidman
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
From spring’s first thaw to autumn’s chill, the world of the pond is a dramatic place. Though...
Purchase book [105]
The Big Rivers: the Missouri, the Mississippi, and the Ohio
By: Bruce Hiscock
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [106]
The Boxcar Children: Houseboat Mystery
By: Gertrude Chandler Warner
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny used to live alone in a boxcar. Now they have a home with heir...
Purchase book [107]
Purchase audio version [108]
The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor
By: Joanna Cole
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [109]
The Open Ocean
By: Francesco Pittau, Bernadette Gervais
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [110]
The Raft
By: Jim LaMarche
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [111]
The Vast Wonder of the World: Biologist Ernest Everett Just
By: Mélina Mangal
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Nonfiction
Ernest Everett Just was not like other scientists of his time. His keen observations of sea...
Purchase book [112]
The Water Princess
By: Susan Verde, Georgie Badiel
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
Princess Gie Gie’s kingdom is a beautiful land. But clean drinking water is scarce and she...
Purchase book [113]
Purchase Kindle version [114]
Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe
By: Vera B. Williams
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Purchase book [115]
Water Rolls, Water Rises/El agua rueda, el agua sube
By: Pat Mora
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Poetry
Evocative watercolors and short, lyrical poems take readers on a trip, “Around our round world”...
Purchase book [116]
Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
By: Kate Coombs
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Translucent watercolors and short, varied poems take readers on a trip to the sea. There they...
Purchase book [117]
Water Sources
By: Rebecca Olien
Age Level: 6-9 years old
How much water is on Earth? This title introduces readers to the different places on Earth water...
Purchase book [118]
Water Wonders: The Curious Adventures of Sydney & Symon / Las Maravillas del agua
By: Peter H. Reynolds, Paul A. Reynolds
Age Level: 6-9 years old
Fiction
In this bilingual book, two young scientists, Sydney and Symon Starr, a sister and brother team...
Purchase book [119]
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Print List
A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams
By: Jen Bryant
Age Level: 9-12 years old
When he wrote poems, he felt as free as the Passaic River as it rushed to the falls. Willie’s...
Purchase book [121]
Caught in the Rapids (Science to the Rescue)
By: Felicia Law
Age Level: 9-12 years old
During a trip to survey a river, Dr. Bea and Joe are suddenly swept into the water, and must use...
Purchase book [122]
Encantado: Pink Dolphin of the Amazon
By: Sy Montgomery
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [123]
Flush
By: Carl Hiaasen
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Noah's dad is sure that the owner of the Coral Queen casino boat is flushing raw sewage into the...
Purchase book [124]
Purchase audio version [125]
Purchase Kindle version [126]
Make a Splash! A Kid’s Guide to Protecting Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers and Wetlands
By: Cathryn Berger Kaye, Philippe Cousteau
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
This book teaches elementary kids about the earth’s water crisis and empowers them to do...
Purchase book [127]
Muddy Max: The Mystery of Marsh Creek
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Max and his soil scientist parents live in a marsh where Max discovers mud’s special properties...
Purchase book [128]
One Well: The Story of Water on Earth
By: Rochelle Strauss
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
All water is connected. Every raindrop, lake, underground river and glacier is part of a single...
Purchase book [129]
Paddle-to-the-Sea
By: Holling Clancy Holling
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Purchase book [130]
River of Words: Young Poets and Artists on the Nature of Things
By: Pamela Michael
Age Level: 9-12 years old
The California-based River of Words trains teachers, park naturalists, and others to incorporate...
Purchase book [131]
Rivers: A Visual History from River to Sea
By: Peter Goes
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Our seas and rivers tell a compelling story about our planet. Take a journey along the most...
Purchase book [132]
Science Comics: Sharks: Nature's Perfect Hunter
By: Joe Flood
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Sharks often get a bad reputation from movies and television but they’re crucial to a healthy...
Purchase book [133]
Purchase Kindle version [134]
Slickety Quick: Poems About Sharks
By: Skila Brown
Age Level: 9-12 years old
A poem about the well-known Great White begins this handsomely illustrated collection of poems...
Purchase book [135]
The Aquarium Book
By: George Ancona
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Nonfiction
Purchase book [136]
The Negro Speaks of Rivers
By: Langston Hughes
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Poetry
Dazzling watercolors turn Hughes' short poem into an unforgettable glimpse of African...
Purchase book [137]
The Next Wave: The Quest to Harness the Power of the Oceans
By: Elizabeth Rusch
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Journey to the wave-battered coast of the Pacific Northwest to meet some of the engineers and...
Purchase book [138]
White Water! National Geographic Kids
By: Brenna Maloney
Age Level: 9-12 years old
From hippo attacks on the Okavango River to Chitina headwaters in Alaska, this chapter book is...
Purchase book [139]
Wild River
By: P.J. Petersen
Age Level: 9-12 years old
Twelve-year-old Ryan goes kayaking and fishing on a California river with his older brother,...
Purchase book [140]
Purchase Kindle version [141]
Hands-on Activities
Build on what you're learning together through books with these family-friendly activities, experiments, and crafts.
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5 Homemade Boats [142]
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Blow Fish Toy [143]
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Build a Watershed [144]
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Cardboard Ships [145]
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Chalk Art with Water [146]
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Craft a Craft [147]
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Daily Water Log [148]
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Deep Sea Diver [149]
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Design a Rain Garden [150]
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Is There Kelp in Your Cupboard? [151]
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Little Drifters [152]
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Make a Water Filter [153]
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Ocean in a Bottle [154]
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Oil Slick [155]
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Oil Spill Challenge [156]
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Pond Dipping [157]
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Race Sticks Down a Stream [158]
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River Music [159]
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Salt Dough Fossils [160]
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Soap-Powered Model Boat [161]
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Stick and Leaf Boats [162]
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Stuff to Do Outside [163]
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Tidepool Water Scope [164]
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Wall Porthole [165]
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Water Conservation at Home [166]
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Water Detective [167]
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Water Scope [168]
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Water Strider [169]
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Water Wall [170]
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Water Wheel [171]
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Water, Ice and Steam [172]
Summer Writing
Give kids a chance to flex their writing muscles all summer long. Try one of these prompts, selected from our writing contest archives and other literacy organizations.
Great Websites for Kids
Dive deeper into topics of interest with these media-rich and interactive sites.
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Brain Pop: Earth Systems [174]
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Brain Pop: Our Fragile Environment [175]
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Build a Fish [176]
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California Academy of Sciences: Live Webcams [177]
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Conservation in the Deep Sea [178]
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Discover Water [179]
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EcoKids [180]
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Gizmos: Earth's Oceans and Water Effects [181]
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How's My Waterway? (EPA) [182]
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Humpback Whale Migration Game [183]
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Kids Recycling Guide [184]
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Lakes and Ponds [185]
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Monterey Bay Aquarium Games [186]
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My Submarine Explorer: Creatures and Features [187]
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National Aquarium [188]
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National Geographic Kids [189]
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Nature Find: Find Parks, Trails, and Other Nature Sites Near You [190]
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Ocean Adventures: Shark Protector [191]
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Ocean Adventures: Whale Watcher [192]
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Oil Spill [193]
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PBS Kids: Plum Landing [194]
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Sea and Sky [195]
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Sortify: Continents and Oceans Game [196]
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Water Cycle Game: The Blue Traveler [197]
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Whale Sounds [198]
Great Podcasts for Kids
Listen and learn with these podcasts especially for kids. These podcasts are free and easy to listen to from any device via Apple Podcasts [199], Google Podcasts [200], or Stitcher [201] — or from Listen Notes [202], a podcast search engine.
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Fun Kids Science Weekly [203]
Fun Kids
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Ocean of Life [204]
Aaron's World (Season 3)
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The Big Melt [205]
Earth Rangers / Gen-Z Media
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The Journey to the Deepest Part of the Ocean [206]
Tumble Science Podcast
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The Voyage of the Ocean Trash [207]
Tumble Science Podcast
Educational Apps
Educational apps recommended by Common Sense Media and other trusted reviewers.
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Discovery Kids Sharks [208]
$
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DIY Lake Science [209]
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Expeditions [210]
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iBiome: Ocean [211]
$
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iBiome: Wetlands [212]
$
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Journey Into the Deep [213]
$
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MarcoPolo Ocean [214]
$
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Meet the Insects: Water & Grass Edition [215]
$
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WaterLife: Where Rivers Meet the Sea [216]
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Where's My Water? [217]
$
More Themed Resources
Growing Readers Tip Sheets
Simple activities for parents and kids to do together to build reading, writing, and critical thinking skills. Read online or print the PDF.
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Capturing and Sharing Images [218]
Download PDF: English [219] | Spanish [220] -
Journals and Field Notes [218]
Download PDF: English [219] | Spanish [220] -
Outdoor Explorations [221]
Download PDF: English [222] | Spanish [223]
Our Summer Blog
Washington DC for Kids
Places
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C&O Canal Boat Rides [231] $
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National Aquarium DC [232] $
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National Zoo [235]