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Activity Sheets
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.
It's Pop Culture, Kid
It's Pop Culture, Kid

Can lunch boxes be part of pop culture? Which one do you think was the most popular lunchbox of all time? See lunch boxes from the Smithsonian and design your own! Download and print It's Pop Culture, Kid (PDF).

Where Have You Been
Where Have You Been Where in the United States have you traveled?  Where would you like to go?  Mark these places on the map!  Download and print Where Have You Been/Where Are You Going (PDF).
First Kids of the White House
First Kids of the White House Imagine if your mom or dad was the president of the United States!  What would that be like?  See the First Kids and First Pets of the White House!  Download and print First Kids of the White House (PDF).
Wanted:  First Lady
Wanted:  First Lady Which First Lady was a movie star first?  Which First Lady raised silk worms?  Learn more about the job of First Lady of the United States!  Download and print Wanted:  First Lady (PDF).
So, You Want to Be President
So, You Want to Be President Being president is a big job.  It's actually seven jobs rolled into one.  See what it would be like to be president for a day!  Download and print So, You Want to Be President (PDF).
The True Story of the Star-Spangled Banner
The True Story of the Star-Spangled Banner Do you know the "Star-Spangled Banner?"  See what you really know about the flag of the United States and design your own flag to represent you!  Download and print The True Story of the Star-Spangled Banner (PDF).
What in the World Is That
What in the World Is That Is this mysterious object a jar of leeches? Was this a piece of jewelry that melted in a fire at the White House? Test your detective skills!  Download and print What in the World is That (PDF).
Start Your Own Rock Collection
Start Your Own Rock Collection Rocks hold secrets about how Earth was formed. Follow the steps to start your own rock collection and display it for your friends and family! Download and print Start Your Own Rock Collection (PDF).
The True Story of the Hope Diamond
The True Story of the Hope Diamond This rare blue diamond has belonged to kings and queens and was even stolen once! Is it cursed? How did it get to Smithsonian? Learn the story!  Download and print The True Story of the Hope Diamond (PDF).
What Is a Fossil?
What Is a Fossil?

Think like a paleontologist. Take a look at the fossils and see how many you can identify! Download and print What Is a Fossil? (PDF).

How Well Do You Know Your Solar System?
How Well Do You Know Your Solar System?

What’s what in the solar system? Test your knowledge by matching the clues with the planets of the solar system. Download and print How Well Do You Know Your Solar System? (PDF).

How Things Fly in Space
How Things Fly in Space Are you weightless in space? If gravity is pulling on an orbiting spacecraft, why doesn’t it fall to Earth? Learn how things fly in space!  Download and print How Things Fly in Space (PDF).
Create Your Own Flight Lab
Create Your Own Flight Lab Experiment with the forces of flight at home! Create your own flight lab to see which paper airplane will fly the farthest. Download and print Create Your Own Flight Lab (PDF).

Bicycle Crossing
Bicycle Crossing Look closely at four bicycles from the nineteenth century. Can you put them in order of their age? Clues can be found in a crossword puzzle.
Bicycle Crossing (PDF)
Herding Cats
Herding Cats Three cats at the National Zoo—a lion, a clouded leopard, and a cheetah—have each lost a cub. Reunite the three families by matching the adult cat with the baby cat.
Herding Cats (PDF)
Counting Your Chickens
Counting Your Chickens Look closely at two paintings from the Smithsonian American Art Museum in order to find and count things in them—pigeons in an urban scene, for example, and chickens in a rural scene.
Counting Your Chickens (PDF)
Action Words
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 . . .
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
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
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
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
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
Sizing Up a Squid Activity Sheet 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
Fruitful Exercises Activity Sheet 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
Mystery Invention Activity Sheet 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
Walking on the Moon Activity Sheet 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
Start a Collection Activity Sheet 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.

Giant Squid

In 2004, a team of Japanese scientists went fishing for the giant squid and snagged one that seemed to be about 25 feet long. It put up a fight and broke free, but not before the scientists got the world's first pictures.

Photo courtesy of the Proceedings of the Royal Society B and Dr. Tsunemi Kubodera.

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