A simple introductory activity regarding the North Pole involves discovering what animals live there. Have the students draft a list of five animals they think reside at or near the North Pole, or in the Arctic region. You can give out treats for each correct animal and enhance the learning process by informing students about where the incorrectly picked animals live. Animals inhabiting the greater North Pole region include Arctic foxes, caribou, polar bears, snowy owls and walruses. After identifying these animals, you can have each child draw one to post at the top, or North Pole, of your bulletin board. Another individual activity could be having students create an Eskimo using construction paper and cotton balls or create an igloo using plastic blocks.
Living in the harsh conditions of the North Pole requires animals to adapt to the climate. Discuss features such as blubber, thick coats of fur, and shorter noses and tails with respect to their benefits for North Pole living. Then, break the class into groups and assign each a familiar non-Arctic animal they have to adapt to the North Pole by changing is characteristics. Another group activity would be having students design a North Pole zoo, jointly deciding on aspects such as temperature, animal selection and location -- to avoid pairing predators and prey -- and what to feed the animals.
An enjoyable introductory activity to the South Pole is an animal word search. This can keep children entertained as they learn about penguins, seals, squid, dolphins and other animals of the South Pole area. You can also have your kindergarten students consider the harsh climate of the South Pole, and design and draw a vehicle they would take to explore the area. Then, contrast their ideas with the conveyances available to actual explorers such as Ernest Shackleton, who set sail in the Nimrod, a wooden ship.
A fun South Pole group activity could be creating a large map of the South Pole and the Antarctic region on poster board, and having your students draw animals, explorers and expedition bases on the map. You can also split your class into teams and have South Pole animal relays, in which teams race by running like a variety of different animals, such as penguins. Lastly, you can have a team spelling bee with a South Pole theme, challenging your students to spell the names of South Pole animals, explorers and geographic features, such as icebergs. After each word, you can offer a few brief details for students to learn.