Free pattern: Windmill Wagga quilt

It’s pretty generally true that kids love animals, and learning about different kinds of animals is a fun way to learn about the natural world. 

I recently came across this set of printable wild animal flash cards from 123 Homeschool 4 Me, which includes pictures of 32 different animals that are labeled with their names. I like these because they are actual photographs, not drawings, which makes them great for kids learning the names of animals. 

But there are lots of other options out there for printable animal flash cards. These from Super Simple have cartoony drawings but are really cute for little kids to use. This set includes 38 cards.

Flashcards for Kindergarten has a set of 100 animal flash cards with the animal names on them, perfect for kindergarten, grade school or ESL learners. 

And MES Learning has printable and online flashcards, as well as worksheets, bingo cards and other printables to supplement learning.

Of course you can just use the pictures to learn the names of different animals, but animal flash cards are also great to use to expand learning. Here are a few ideas.

• Choose an animal and share/learn facts about that animal.
• Match the cards to animal toys
• Print a set of animal pictures that aren’t labeled and match the labeled animal to the unlabeled one
• Make a scavenger hunt by hiding animals around the room
• Sort animals by habitat or different features such as feathers vs. fur, lives in water or on land, where it is cold, where it is hot, etc.
• Use as a writing or storytelling prompt 
• Set up a pretend play or sensory box with an animal theme and use the flash cards to identify animals that might live there (or hide cards in the sensory box for kids to find)
• add a spelling element with alphabet magnets or write the words for kids to trace to practice writing

I’m sure there are lots of other ways you can use animal flash cards; I’d love to hear your ideas!

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