Kindergarten Elementary
ScienceFile Folder GamesPrintables
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If your kids are anything like mine, they love animals. All animals.
Big or small, scaly or furry, it doesn’t matter. To my children, they’re all amazing.
I love that they’re so curious and that they’re always more than willing to help a creature in need if they find one and I wanted to find a way to include this love of animals in our newest file folder games.
Of course, turning it into a science lesson about the differences between mammals and reptiles seemed like the perfect solution and our mammal and reptile sorting file folder game was born!
Once your little learners have learned what makes mammals and reptiles so different, have them practice sorting them with this fun file folder game! They might even learn about a new animal or two!
Within this game, you’ll find:
- beaver
- polar bear
- tapir
- elephant
- beluga whale
- zebra
- lion
- fennec fox
- turtle
- python
- iguana
- gila monster
- alligator
- desert tortoise
- rattle snake
- chameleon
Assembling the Mammal and Reptile Sorting Game
As always, you’ll need to start by gathering up your supplies to make the game yourself.
You’ll need:
- A manila file folder
- Scissors
- Clear contact paper
- Laminator (optional, but highly recommended)
- Velcro dots
- The mammal and reptile sorting printable (below)
Start by cutting out each of the animal pieces as well as the sorting labels. You’ll want to run all of the animal pieces through your laminator to make them durable enough to stand up to small hands constantly pulling them off of the Velcro.
Next, use your clear contact paper to attach the cover of your game to the front of your folder and then use a bit more to attach the sorting labels to the top of the inside flaps of your folder.
Finally, stick one set of Velcro dots to the backs of your animal pieces and the opposite Velcro dots to the inside of your folder.
You may need to lay them out across your folder first to find the best fit before adding the Velcro.
Using the Mammal and Reptile Sorting Game
When you’re ready to play, explain to your child that they will be sorting the included animals into two groups, mammals and reptiles.
Each of the animal pieces has the name of the animal printed below the picture so that they know exactly what type of animal they have before they start.
Have your child look at each animal, decide whether it is a mammal or a reptile and stick it to the appropriate side of the folder.
As they’re working their way through the animals, have some books and resources available to learn more about these animals if they’re interested or even check out some of these live animal cams for kids. You never know what might pique their interest!
