Perfect for nature-loving 7-12 year olds, each issue of Nat Geo Kids is carefully curated to ignite curiosity and spark conversations about science and nature, empowering children to love and care for our beautiful planet.
Hi, Kids! Winter is fast approaching, so this issue we’re learning about life in the cold! Find out how Scotland’s hardy mountain hares survive ice and snow, then join us on the world’s coldest continent as Antarctic explorer Ariel Waldman chats about the microscopic creatures that thrive there. Also this month, we witness a sparkling light show created by glowworms in New Zealand, check oat eight of the world’s most amazing caves and craters, and discover why playtime is a serious business for otters! Hope you enjoy our posters, puzzles and crafts, too. See you next month!…
Snow leopard numbers leap! Good news from Bhutan! Conservationists say snow leopard numbers in the central Asian country have increased by almost 40% in the last six years. Whoop! The elusive cats were counted during Bhutan’s National Snow Leopard Survey. Rangers hid 310 motion-triggered cameras across the mountains and these snapped over 10,000 snow leopard pics! By looking at the unique rosette patterns on the vulnerable felines’ fur, the team worked out which cat was which. In total, the scientists counted 134 snow leopards in 9,000km2 of protected habitat. Some were even spotted in new areas! These positive results show that the country’s conservation efforts, which include restoring snow leopard habitat and combatting poaching, are working. Paw-some! Asteroid sample returns! A spacecraft carrying dust from an asteroid has returned to…
1 Mountains are created over millions of years as huge slabs of rock in the Earth’s crust, called tectonic plates, push against each other. Any hill above 300m (that’s the height of the Eiffel tower) can be called a mountain. 2 Often covered in forests, mountains are home to more than 85% of the world’s mammal, bird and amphibian species including creatures that only live in this habitat, such as red pandas, snow leopards and mountain gorillas. 3 The summits of mountains are often blanketed in snow and ice, which store fresh water, slowly releasing it into streams and rivers. Over half of the world’s people depend on mountain water to drink, grow crops and generate electricity.…
SMEUSE If you’ve ever spotted a small hole in a hedge or at the bottom of a fence, you may not know that you are looking at a ‘smeuse’, an opening that allows the passage of animals such as rabbits and hares. The word is a blend of the words ‘meuse’ meaning a hiding place, and ‘smoot’, meaning a small hole or opening. If you crouch down to peer through a smeuse, you never know what you might see!…
Carve for the climate Environmental artists Sand in Your Eye highlighted the climate crisis this October by carving a T. rex out of pumpkins! The sculptors created the dino during Hebden Bridge’s annual Pumpkin Trail in West Yorkshire, with the message: ‘Don’t be a dinosaur. We have a choice.’ Multi-coloured fun! How coo! is this bright building in Shenzhen, China? Dutch architects MVRDV have transformed the abandoned office block into a hotel, theatre and children’s centre. Visitors won’t have trouble finding it, that’s for sure! Trim-endous animals Nayan Shrimali and Venus Bird make tiny sculptures of rare wildlife out of paper. The artists, from Ahmedabad in India, take up to six hours to create each creature - they painstakingly cut out the fur or feathers in delicate layers before painting each…
EXPLORE OF THE MONTH! Four species of pangolin live in Africa and four other types are found in Asia. All eight species eat ants and termites, which they slurp up using their long, sticky tongues! FACT FILE Name: Charles Emogor From: Nigeria, West Africa Job: Tropical ecotoqist, conservationist and National Geographic Explorer Hobbies: When he’s not looking for pangolins, Charles is listening and dancing to Afrobeat! As night falls in Cross River National Park, Nigeria, tropical ecologist Charles uses his headtorch to search through the undergrowth. Suddenly, the light startles a scaly creature the size of a large pet cat, which curls into a ball with a rustle. It’s a white-bellied pangolin! “I danced when I first saw a pangolin,” Charles remembers. “It was a magical experience. But it was also sad to…
