Natural Disasters Puzzle Activity {FREE}

At least once a year, there seems to be a natural disaster that becomes worldwide news. Whether it’s in your curriculum or not, the topic often comes up in the classroom. We created this natural disasters puzzle activity as a way to introduce this to your students in an interactive way. You may experience a tornado or hurricane on a local level, or you hear about a devastating tsunami or earthquake that took place in another country. Traditionally, it’s during these times that children naturally have a lot of questions or comments. Of course this is expected as kids try to make sense about what is happening in the world around them.

Why We Should Teach About Natural Disasters

Natural disasters are, as the name suggests, caused by the forces of nature, and can be disastrous. Oftentimes, they leave a lot of destruction and sometimes even death in their wake. People who are caught in them can be left with injuries, destroyed homes or missing loved ones. Obviously, this can be scary for children and cause worry or anxiety. But, by teaching about how these events happen and how to prepare for them, you can take away some of the fear that comes with the images and stories they are hearing. You can also tie it to various science or weather topics too! If you are introducing natural disasters for the first time, or need a quick review, try our puzzle center activity. We have made it very easy to prepare and place in your science center!

Using the Natural Disasters Puzzle Activity in Your Classroom

To get started, simply download and print the puzzles pieces. You can laminate them for extra durability or print them on cardstock to make them a little bit thicker. Then, cut out the pieces and mix them up. Have students match the name, picture and definition of each natural disaster. This will create six completed puzzles:

earthquake
hurricane
tornado
volcanic eruption
tsunami
wildfire

We have also included a bonus printable that allows students to research a natural disaster of their choice and fill out the information. We like to send this page home as an extension activity. When these are completed, allow students to share their findings with each other. Small groups work best for this because it gives each student time to ask questions and have more meaningful discussions.

Other Ways to Learn About Natural Disasters

Further explore the various natural disasters (especially those that your region experiences) in the following ways:

1. Buy or check out books on this topic and display these books in your classroom library. Make sure students have easy access to read and study this topic on their own. Here are a few suggestions of the books we like for the elementary level:

Tornadoes and Hurricanes by Cy Armour
The Magic School Bus Presents: Volcanoes & Earthquakes by Tom Jackson
Volcanoes! (National Geographic Readers) by Anne Schreiber
Tsunamis (Blastoff! Readers: Extreme Weather) by Anne Wendorff
National Geographic Readers: Wildfires by Kathy Furgang

2. Watch kid-friendly videos that show natural disasters in action! We really like the YouTube channel SciShow Kids which has the following videos that are perfect introductions to these concepts:

3. Grab our Natural Disasters bundle from our TPT store. This resource is available in a print or digital bundle and introduces four major disasters: EARTHQUAKE, HURRICANE, TORNADO & VOLCANO. We have included a variety of activities including engaging reading comprehension passages, informative posters and even science observations! You can purchase these separately too.

4. Head on over to our blog post with fun and exciting science experiments. You can make a tornado in a jar, a hurricane in a bowl, an erupting volcano and even an earthquake shake table!

However you decide to teach more about this subject, we hope that your students lose some of the fear and gain a lot of knowledge. The world can be scary, but it is also a wonderfully fascinating place with so much to explore!

Click on the button below for your instant download of our natural disasters puzzles. Enjoy!