Animal Classification Posters and Games ~ Free Printables
Next semester in my Kindergarten/First Grade coop class I’ll be teaching Animal Science, and I’ve developed some of my own materials as well as using print and online resources. I’ll be posting my lesson plans sometime within the next several weeks, but I was so happy with how my posters turned out I thought I’d share them now!
There are many more animal classes than the eight included here of course – I chose the ones that were most familiar to younger children. These can be used the first day of class to introduce your kids to the subject, and while talking about classification of animals (What makes a mammal a mammal? What makes reptile a reptile? Basic hints are provided on the posters.) I also plan to play a couple of games with my students, which are described below.
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon
Animal Classification Games
You need:
- 8 Animal Classification Posters* (free printables below)
- Small animal figures
- Container to hold the animals
Game 1:
Distribute the posters among your children – two or three can share one poster if you have a lot of kids in your class. Keep the container of animals on your lap. Hold up an animal figure and ask: On which poster does this belong? Have the kids raise their hands if they have the right poster.
Ask why they think so, and repeat the attributes of the animal that puts it in that class. (An insect has 6 legs and 3 body segments, an arachnid has 8 legs and 2 body segments, etc.) Repeat for the remaining animals, or until the kids get bored!
Game 2:
Spread the posters out on the floor or table. Allow 3 to 4 kids to play together and take turns. Instruct them to take one animal out of the container at a time and place it on the correct poster. Have a teacher nearby to help. Check their posters when they are finished – praise the correct choices, and talk about the incorrect placements.
*If you plan on using the posters several times, you may want to laminate
More Resources
Here are a few of the resources I found helpful while planning the lessons; as I mentioned above I’ll be posting the lesson plans within the next several weeks. I found some of books in used book stores, so they may be out of print. Check half.com and Amazon
- The Usborne Internet-Linked First Encyclopedia of Animals (First Encyclopedias)
- The Kids’ Wildlife Book
- Circle-Time Poetry: Science
- The Best of The Mailbox Theme Book: BEARS (PreK-K)
- Animals (Hands-On Minds-On Science Series)
Free Printables
Click on the thumbnail below and open the PDF file in Adobe Reader to read and print. If you open in a browser window, the text may be garbled. You may share these online and use the image above without permission, but please have all links point to this blog post, not to the PDF file. Thanks!
If you have further ideas on how to use these posters, please comment below!
Copyright 2015 Kathryn Depew
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon
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