Do you have kids who enjoy learning about animals? When kids are interested in a topic, their motivation is golden!
One of my favorite ways to set kids up for success is to use sticky notes. I give each child 3 sticky notes and ask them to find 3 things about the animal they find interesting. Then each child can share his or her findings. Even non-readers can put a sticky note on interesting photos or illustrations they find.
Of course, you can give specific guidelines for the kids to research. Here are some ideas to ask the kids to find:
- Where does the animal live?
- What type of animal is it? (mammal, reptile, amphibian, bird, insert, etc.)
- Does this animal live in groups or alone? What is the name of this animal’s group?
- What is this animal’s offspring (baby) called?
- What does this animal eat?
- What is this animal’s size?
- What unique features does this animal have?
We have been learning about several forest animals lately, such as squirrels, owls, and turkeys. We connected our research about turkeys with this Evan-Moor activity from U.S. Facts and Fun for grades 1–3. We learned how eagles and turkeys are different. Then we learned more about why the eagle was chosen over the turkey as the U.S. national bird.
Here are 5 kid-friendly websites we use as our “go-to” sources to collect more animal facts:
- http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/
- http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/zoo-animals
- http://discoverykids.com/category/animals/
- https://kidskonnect.com/animals/
- http://www.kidsbiology.com/
Of course, you will find over 340 activities in Evan-Moor’s TeacherFileBox focusing on learning about animals. 60 of those activities are specific to researching, too!
BONUS: Here is a FREE printable to use for kids to record research (from Evan-Moor’s Giant Science Resource Book for grades 1–6.)
Do your kids enjoy learning about animals? If so, what animals are their favorites? Let us know in the comments section.
Amy Michaels is a certified teacher with 11 years of elementary classroom experience who is actively homeschooling her own children. Her mission is share the best teaching methods and resources with all homeschoolers. Amy supports parents through her podcasts, webinars, and online training for homeschoolers on her website http://www.thrivehomeschooling.com.