Mother Opossum and Her Babies

Grades Preschool–1

Written by Jean C. Echols, Jaine Kopp, Ellen Blinderman, and Kimi Hosoume

An endearing and under-appreciated nocturnal creature—and North America's only indigenous marsupial—the opossum appeals to the imaginations of many children.

In this series of fun, exploratory activities, young children learn a lot about opossums and other marsupials, and about animal behavior in general. Drama, role-playing, and art are interwoven with science, math, and language arts as students make model opossum pouches, create baby opossums with pipe-cleaner tails, and sniff out and munch on opossum snacks. Throughout the unit, children gain practice measuring, estimating, and counting, and sum up their discoveries in a book of drawings and writings about opossums.

The activities can be done in classrooms, day care centers, or at home, and are meant for anyone who works with children. Complete information on opossums is provided for adults, along with lists of resources and children's literature. These creative activities have been extensively tested by educators across the country, and provide a wealth of meaningful and positive learning experiences.

This GEMS guide was developed by the PEACHES program.

NSTA Recommends   Mother Opossum and Her Babies
"This book is ideal for teachers of preK-2 students. Although opossums may not often get a lot of airtime in a typical unit about mammals, this interesting animal can be a great way to integrate science with other curriculum areas. Such thematic units provide meaningful learning, but can be difficult to design. Teachers just entering the integration arena will find Mother Opossum and Her Babies a great tool for learning how to create a thematic unit of instruction. "
–National Science Teachers Association Recommends

Comment on this GEMS unit.

Order online

Ordering information

Literature Connections

Spanish Language Student Materials

What materials are needed to present this unit? See the full list.