Home Sweet Home Hike (Grades K-2)

Countless animal homes can be discovered right outside our front door.

Millipede in a hand

After getting some inspiration from Friends of the National Zoo: A Guide to the Outside, try it yourself! Go outside and look up, look, down, and look all around, and you’ll see all sorts of animal homes.

Look in trees and you might see a bird’s nest or a hive. Bigger critters like squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks and opossums like to live in hollow trees, garages, or even under porches. 

Take a hike through your yard or a walk with your family and see how many animal homes you can find.

What You Need

  • Comfortable walking shoes
  • A grown-up to go on a walk with you

What To Do

  • Go outside and look all around you. Do you see trees, garages, a house with a porch?
  • Think about the animals that you see near your home. Where do they sleep at night? Where do they raise their babies?
  • Be very careful not to disturb or scare any animals you may come across.
  • Imagine what would be like to live in a nest like a bird, or in a den-like a raccoon.