101 Fun Arctic Animals Facts for Kids

Your little animal lovers will be fascinated by these arctic animals facts for kids. Simple animal facts are a great way to introduce new animals to kids and create an interest in learning even more about them.

The arctic lands are home to so many fascinating creatures. Your kids will love these interesting facts about the animals that inhabit the arctic region!

These true animals of the North are even more interesting because of the harsh conditions they have to be able to survive. Can you imagine living somewhere where the coldest recorded temperature is -69.6 degrees? You would need some serious body temperature regulation to keep warm under those conditions.

On top of the arctic environment, in recent years these animals are up against things like climate change, global warming, sometimes larger predators and even being hunted by the indigenous people who are also trying to survive the same harsh environment.

 

Fascinating Facts about Arctic Animals

Arctic Foxes

Here are 10 easy facts that kids will have great fun learning about the adorable and interesting Arctic fox.

• An Arctic fox has a thick fur coat that keeps them warm and a bushy tail they use as a blanket.
• They have thick fur on their feet, which serve as built-in snow boots.
• An Arctic fox’s favorite food is rodents.
• Arctic foxes’ fur changes color with the seasons to blend in for protection.
• Polar foxes are good swimmers, but don’t actually enjoy swimming and will avoid it when they can.
• An Arctic fox can smell a seal den a mile away.
• Compared to other foxes, the Arctic fox is small.
• Baby Arctic foxes are called kits.
• A female fox is called a vixen and a male fox is called a reynard or tod.
• A group of Arctic foxes can be called skulk, leash, earth, lead, or troop.
• Weighing only 6 to 10 pounds when full grown, arctic foxes are a small animal.

Snowy Owls

Snowy owls are majestic and mysterious animals that kids will love learning about. Here are 10 facts that will be a fun way to spark their interest in snowy owls.

• Snowy owls have bristles on their beaks to help them sense nearby objects. 
• They are one of the heaviest owl species in North America because of all the layers of feathers they have to keep them warm.
• Snowy owls swallow their prey whole.
• These owls eat a variety of food including lemmings, Arctic hares, mice, ducks, and seabirds.
• Baby snowy owls are called owlets.
• Females stay with the young, males go out and bring back food and then females feed it to the owlets.
• The snowy owl’s wingspan is 4-5 feet wide on average.
• Male snowy owls are almost completely white while female snow owls have black and brown markings.
• Snowy owls are diurnal, which means they don’t sleep during the day like many owl species. They sleep at night.
• Snowy owls have great hearing and night vision.

Arctic Hares

Kids will love Arctic hares because they are a bigger and even cuter species related to rabbits. Here are 10 fun facts about Arctic hares.

• Arctic hares eat plants and sticks and in the winter they eat snow to get water.
• A Female Arctic hare can have up to 8 baby hares.
• Baby Arctic hares are called leverets.
• Arctic hares have many natural predators like foxes, owls, wolves, and more.
• They survive the cold with a very thick coat, short ears, and a tiny nose.
• These adorable creatures can weigh between 6 to 15 pounds.
• Arctic hares have very large back feet that act like snow shoes.
• Their eyes are set on the side of their heads so they can look forward, backward, and sideways without moving their head.
• Believe it or not, Arctic hares can run up to 40 MPH.
• Arctic hares can jump 6.8 feet in one leap.

Arctic Bears

Did you know that polar bears are the only species of bear that lives in the Arctic circle? Unfortunately, they are considered vulnerable and at high risk of extinction. These 10 facts will surely spark kids’ interest in learning more about polar bears.

• Polar bears are the largest living carnivores on land.
• They weigh around 800 pounds and measure 8 feet long from nose to tail.
• A group of polar bears is called a “pack” or a “sleuth.”
• A polar bear has a strong sense of smell and can sniff out a seal from 20 miles away.
• Polar bears have black skin and even their fur looks white, it is actually transparent, it has no color at all.
• Seals make up most of a polar bear’s diet.
• Polar bears have 42 teeth.
• These arctic bears are able to keep warm because they have a lot of fat under their skin.
• Polar bears can run up to 25 MPH and swim up to 6 MPH.
• They are excellent swimmers and spend most of their time at sea.
• At birth, baby polar bears weigh about 16-24 oz and are about 12 inches long. Males are born slightly larger than females.

Musk Ox Facts

Musk oxen are furry animals that look like dust mops with feet. Kids will love learning about these cute mammals..

• Musk oxen are herbivores, which means they eat only plants. In the winter they eat moss and roots under the snow.
• Musk ox can weigh as much as 850 pounds.
• These polar animals can live anywhere from 12 to 20 years.
• A musk oxen’s natural predators are wolves and polar bears.
• Musk oxen have curved, pointy horns.
• A musk ox’s hair grows 2 feet long and almost touches the ground.
• When threatened, musk oxen gather in a circle with their horns facing out.
• Musk oxen babies are called calves.
• Musk ox have two glands under their eyes that produce a strong odor called musk, which we can imagine helped give them their name.
• A group of musk oxen is called a herd.

Popular Animals of the Arctic Waters

Under the frozen ice of the Arctic Ocean, there are many different animals living in the arctic waters. They are amazing because they live and thrive in waters that have an average temperature of -22 degrees.

Kids will love these amazing facts about the popular animals of the Arctic Waters.

Walrus Facts

• There are two main subspecies of walrus, the Atlantic walrus and the Pacific walrus.
• A walrus can live up to 40 years in the wild.
• A walrus can weigh up to 1.5 tons, the weight of a small car!
• A group of walrus are called a herd.
• Both male and female walruses have large tusks used for things like pulling themselves out of the water onto ice.
• The worldwide population of walruses is estimated to be around 250,000.
• Orca whales and polar bears are the walrus’s only natural predators.
• A walrus can survive freezing temperatures as low as -31 degrees.
• Walruses live in shallow water but can dive deep to search for their food.
• They prefer eating in shallow water and like eating clams, mollusks, worms, snails, soft shell crabs, shrimp and sea cucumbers.

Beluga Whale Facts

• Beluga whales turn white as they grow up but are actually gray or brown when they are born.
• These whales can live for 35 to 50 years in the wild.
• Beluga whales live in groups called pods.
• They are smaller than most other whales. They grow up to 13 to 20 feet and weigh around 2,000 to 2,500 pounds.
• Beluga whales eat fish, shrimp, mollusks, and worms.
• These arctic whales are playful and very smart.
• When it comes to speed, Beluga whales are pretty slow. They usually swim around 5 MPH but can swim up to 14 MPH for a short amount of time.
• During the winter, the Beluga whale’s skin thickens to keep it warm.
• Beluga whales love to sing and make lots of noise that can be heard above water.
• These amazing whales can give birth to a calf about once every 3-5 years.

Puffin Facts

Many people think puffins are penguins, but they are not! Puffins are actually a different species of bird, and while equally cute, they are not a penguin.

• Puffins are small, standing only about 10 inches high.
• These adorable Arctic creatures can dive up to 40 feet in search of fish
• Puffins mate for life.
• Parent puffins usually have one baby each summer.
• Puffins have bright orange bills during mating seasons and dull orange bills any other time.
• These funny birds make growling noises.
• Puffins carry food to their babies. They can carry up to 60 fish at one time!
• An angry puffin opens its mouth wide and stomps its feet, kind of like a toddler.
• Puffins can fly up to 55 MPH.

More Popular Arctic Animals

The Arctic tundra is full of many amazing and different arctic animals. Here are more facts about more popular arctic animals surviving the polar regions.

Arctic Wolf Facts

• The Arctic wolf is a medium-sized subspecies of the grey wolf.
• It is also known as the polar wolf or white wolf.
• The Arctic wolf has a narrow skull, a short muzzle, and small ears.
• These wolves have 42 sharp teeth and strong jaws.
• The Arctic wolf has a white coat color that resembles the snow.
• Male Arctic wolves are usually bigger than females.
• Arctic wolves live about 7 to 10 years in the wild.
• The Arctic wolf is a carnivore.
• With a highly predatory hunting style, these wolves hunt musk oxen and Arctic hares.
• Arctic wolves usually hunt in packs.

Canada Lynx Facts

• The Canada lynx is about twice the size of a domestic cat.
• This Arctic cat is a mostly nocturnal animal.
• A baby Canada lynx is called a cub.
• These amazing creatures can swim quite well.
• The Canada lynx is normally a solitary animal but can sometimes be seen traveling in small groups.
• To mark its territory, the Canada lynx uses scent marking.
• The Canada lynx eats mostly Arctic hares.
• These predators hunt every 1 to 2 days and eat about 1.3 to 2/6 pounds of food per day.
• The Canada lynx usually hunts alone but sometimes her cubs hunt with her. This is how mom teaches her babies to fend for themselves!
• These beautiful cats are a threatened species in the United States.

Arctic Animal Printables for Kids 

Let your kids have fun learning about Arctic animals with these printables.

Write the Room Arctic Animals

Your kids will love this write the room activity.  Simply hang the animal cards around the room, and give them a recording sheet.  

The Write the Room Arctic Animals set comes with 2 levels!  Level 1 has 16 animal cards with the name written on bottom. 

The Level 2 has 16 animal cards that do NOT have the name on it. 

Level 1 (with animal names) are for the kids who need to work on transferring and letter formation.  Whereas, level 2 (without the names) are for the kids who already know the name of the animals, and want to try and write them independently.  

 

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