Animal Olympics

Mount Rainier Educational Activities

Are your kids learning from home? Bring Mount Rainier into your “classroom” with these fun, educational activities.

Ages 3-12 | Physical Education, Life Science - Animal Adaptions | 10-15 minutes

Can you jump as high as a fox or balance as well as a mountain goat? Test your skills against some of Mount Rainier's amazing wildlife species. Learn more about animals!

All animals have adaptations that help them survive. An adaptation is a body part (structure) or a behavior that helps an animal survive. Mount Rainier can be a hard place to live; adaptations help animals find their food, avoid getting eaten, stay warm and more. Learn more by taking the Animal Olympics challenges below.

Cascade Red Fox NPS Photo

Cascade Red Fox

Can you jump as high as a fox? Cascade Red Fox can jump over six feet into the air when pouncing on their prey (the small animals they eat).

Action: Try to out-jump the fox by jumping as high as you can 13 times in a row.

Canada (Gray) Jay NPS Photo

Canada (Gray) Jay

Can you flap as fast as a jay? Jays can beat their wings over 2,000 times/minute as they fly from tree to tree in search of seeds or bugs to eat.

Action: Flap your “wings” like a jay as fast as you can for a minute.

Hoary Marmot NPS Photo

Hoary Marmots

Can you be as chill as a marmot? Since it’s so cold and all the plants they like to eat are covered in snow, hoary marmots spend their winters sleeping in tunnels underground.

Action: Be like a marmot and lay perfectly still for as long as you can.

Pacific Fisher NPS Photo

Pacific Fisher

Can you jump as far as a fisher? Pacific fishers spend much of their time off the ground, up in the canopy of the forest. They can jump up to nine feet from tree to tree to get around their habitat.

Action: Jump as far as you can, like a fisher, 7 times in a row.

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• Mount Rainier National Park

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