All About Rainforests: Useful Information for Kids

Rainforests are called so because of the high amount of rainfall it gets all around the year. They are also home to millions of plants and animals.

Rainforests are located across the world, generally around the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. Central and South America, Africa, India, Southeast Asia, parts of Indonesia and Australia all contain rainforests.

The largest rain forests are located in Brazil (South America), Zaire (Africa) and Indonesia (South East Asia). Other tropical rainforest are located in Hawaii and the islands of the Pacific and Caribbean.

• There are two types of rainforests: tropical and temperate. While the tropical rainforests remain warm and green all year round with tall trees, the temperate rainforests experience cold weather and have broad, leafy trees.
• The Amazon Rainforest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world. It is so huge that if it was a country, it would have been the 9th biggest nation in the world. The Amazon rainforest produces nearly 20% of the world’s oxygen, and is thus called the ‘lungs’ of the Earth. Rainforest are so thick that only 2% sunlight reaches to the ground through the canopy of the trees. Also, it takes 10 minutes for rain to reach the forest floor through the thick canopy.
• Rainforests are found on every continent across the Earth, except Antarctica.

What kind of animals are found in rainforests?

As temperate rainforests are located near the polar regions, they are home to pumas (mountain lion), bears, grey wolves, elk (deer), Siberian tigers, snow leopards and wombats. The tropical rainforests are a suitable home for chimpanzee, gorilla, Indian cobra, orangutan, jaguar, monkey, leopard, parrot, iguana and the tree frog.

Rainforests are also home to several species of plants and animals (some of the most fascinating animals are found in rainforests). Statistics suggest that approximately half of the world’s animal species live in rainforests. Another estimate is that 25 percent of the world’s medicine is derived from rainforest plants.

Why are rainforests important habitats for Earth?

Plants in the rainforest produce nearly 40% of the oxygen on Earth. They keep the temperatures and weather in check. The plants of the rainforests protect against flooding and pollution.

Threats to Rainforests

Rainforests are facing a major threat as trees are being cut down for wood, and land being cleared for farming, cattle grazing and building roads. Recently Amazon Rainforest in Brazil was set on fire by man leading to loss of many animals and rare plants and trees.

Watch:Rainforest animals of the Amazon jungle – BBC wildlife

There are a lot of rainforest books for kids out there but many of them are more appropriate for older children both because of the amount of information included and because of how much they focus on the destruction of the rainforests and the extinction of species.

We all know how big of a problem this is and want to raise children who are environmentally aware. However, toddlers are probably too young to be worrying about deforestation and the loss of animal habitats (and the animals). But you can still teach them about amazing plants and animals in the forests around our world, and a bit about how an ecosystem works—plants, animals, and insects that live side by side and depend on one another.