[FREE PRINTABLE] Animal Homes Matching Activity

Katie, creator of our At-Home Program, created a fun new activity to enrich vocabulary and early literacy skills.

This activity helps children understand where animals rest, sleep, and raise their young.

This understanding also helps children to build their connection to the natural world.

Recommended Age: 3 years and up

Instructions:

1. Print and cut out all of the cards, separating the animal cards from the habitat/home cards.
Click here to download the cards.
2. Begin by introducing the activity. Choose about five pairs of cards to start with, ideally ones that will be most familiar or interesting to your child.
3. Sit together and look through the animal cards first, naming each animal as you go.
4. Then look through the habitat cards and name each home aloud.
5. Once familiar with the cards, invite your child to begin matching. You might say, "Let’s see if we can find a home for each animal."

Support as needed by reading the words together and talking through the choices.

Extensions

• As interest grows, rotate in new cards or add more from the set to keep the activity fresh and engaging. Follow your child’s curiosity, revisiting favourite animals or unusual habitat names for conversation and vocabulary building.
• This is also a great opportunity to introduce early research skills. If your child becomes curious about a particular animal or habitat, look it up together at the library or search online. You could also explore where the animal lives in the world, what materials it uses to build its home, or whether it lives alone or in a group.