Islands and archipelagos

Ages 6 to 8 Read together, then try alone · about 20 minutes

Read together

An island is land with water all around. A group of islands is an archipelago.

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than seven thousand islands.

Do it

1. Find the Philippines on a map. Notice the three big groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
2. Make an island with clay in a tray of water. Add a boat.
3. Talk about how people travel between islands: by boat, ferry or plane.
4. Find another archipelago, such as Japan or Hawaii.

Talk about it

• What is an archipelago?
• How do people cross the water?

For the grown-up

The Philippines is officially said to have 7,641 islands, though counts vary with the tide and the survey. Supervise closely around water.

Mark as done

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Where this comes from

• Republic of the Philippines, National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA), figures on the number of islands
• National Geographic Society, educational pages on islands and archipelagos

Written with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed. Please read it before sharing it with a child.