Additions and Fave Resources for Animals - Now All in One Place

Learn about animals with our inviting resources for online and offline use

Animals are one of the most inviting topics of study for young learners.  One sure way we learn about God's glory is through the study of His creations, and in this case we will focus on animals.  As we are still in the process of renovating our new website, we thought that it would be a nice idea to start grouping some of the resources together by topics.  We have begun doing this in our Saint Resources area as well and now we will begin adding them to our Printables resource area.  

By grouping themed resources together, we hope to make things easier for those who are using the unit study approach as well as give new ideas to those who may otherwise be only thinking of one kind of resource to meet there child's learning needs.  For example, when you visit our new animals themed page, you will not only find photo learning cards but printable games, over sized wall calendar pieces, animal specific graphic organizers, animal detective worksheets, phonics cards, reading resources. 

You will even find an online game for your kiddos to play as we begin to grow our online learning section.  We have a few colouring sheets to add on as well, but we just couldn't get to them today.  We will be adding those on in the very near future.

We hope that you find something neat and useful for your own little homeschool or classroom and we look forward to adding more and more resources to each theme page as we upload and add them to our site.

Visit our Animal Theme Page Now.

Don't forget, if you've found something useful from our resource collection that you would like to share with others, please feel free to share our blog or website with your friends and fellow homeschoolers or join us on Facebook and share us with your friends there too.  Many times we share little extras and links there before we post about them on the blog or site.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

Over 30+ Free New Word Searches Based on our Animal Word Families

New Word Searches Help Improve Reading and Phonics Skills

We have been very busy behind the scenes creating new resources for our children, and yours too! :)  As we are year-round learners, many of our curriculum resources are coming to a close.  We are finishing up books and looking to begin new things.  That being said, we are creating new lessons and resources out of necessity.  We have lots of new and exciting things in the works and today we begin to share them.

We have created over 30 new word searches based on phonetic word families and have paired them up with animals.  Each two page puzzle file displays a specific animal for the puzzle and includes an answer sheet.  They are simple and fun to complete. 

If you have used any of our Animal Word Family learning resources before, then you know how things may work a bit already.  They were originally designed just to teach phonics to K/1 learners, but the good news is that we are expanding those resources to include science, spelling, writing, and more subjects to appeal to a bit older aged children.  This completely free program for primary aged children should be a lot of fun and something that your kiddos will come to look forward to using on a daily basis.  So, here is a taste of the fun to come!

We look forward to sharing more details and resources very soon. 

Click HERE to see this collection of word searches.

Click HERE to see our entire collection of word searches.

Blessings,

Kalei - That Resource Team

Our Animal Friends Teach Us the Value of Work

Non-fiction nature story reinforces what the Bible tells us - No work, no eat!

Do you have a little one, or even a big one, that doesn't like doing chores?  Many children do not like doing chores.  Let's be honest, many adults do not like doing chores either.  After many attempts at trying to get one of our children to help with chores willingly, we heard 2 Thessalonians 3:7-12 preached in Daily Mass.  My favourite line was verse ten:

"For also, when we were with you, this we declared to you:  that, if any man will not work, neither let him eat."

My youngest thought that rule was for others, but not children, and certainly not her.  I prayed for a way to show her that everyone should help out willingly.  The next day my heart was pulled to reach for a book from the shelf called, Animals in Winter (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder.  This wonderful little read shared facts about how all kinds of animals prepare or survive in winter.  Animals such as bluebirds, bats, butterflies, woodchucks, pikas, squirrels, mice, deer and rabbits are highlighted in this easy to read book. 

The fantastic thing about reading this book is that it provides lots of great examples of how animals work in preparation to be able to eat later on in the year.  The pika, for example, will have gathered up to fifty pounds of grass over the summer to eat later in the winter.  These are great practical examples of why we must all work to earn our food.  Our Lord shows us that He expects all of His creatures to follow the same rules for working and eating.

Animal Traits Graphic Organizer

As a go-along resource for this story, you may want to use these worksheets to help children explore more about the animals mentioned in the story.  A few animals are mentioned specifically, but the templates can be used for any animal you want.  This graphic organizer style worksheet is easy to use for learners of various ages.  Confident writers can write out information while newer and younger writers can draw out information in a simpler style.  This style sheet is great for independent learning or even to use with a specific work like Animals in Winter because the amount of information presented is limited.  This can help build confidence in younger learners.

Animal Detective Sheets

As an alternative to a graphic organizer you may enjoy our popular Animal Detective worksheets.  These sheets require learners to find specific information about an individual animal.  It is fun and engaging and very non-threatening.  We have gotten great feedback about these sheets in the past.

St. Joseph Trading Card

Another little resource that your child may enjoy having as a go along to the scriptural reference is a saint trading card for the patron saint of workers, St. Joseph, the foster father of our Lord.  If working and doing chores isn't a well received idea for your young Catholic, perhaps asking St. Joseph for a bit of intercessory help could be wise.  You may also want to remind your beloved that even our Lord had to do chores - he would have had to sweep up and help maintain the carpentry shop. :)

Click HERE to see our animal worksheets and templates.

Click HERE to see our printable saint trading cards.

We hope you'll enjoy this read and that it helps make happier little helpers in your home.

Blessings,

Kalei - That Resource Team

 

New Science Detective Sheet for Kids

Learning about land animals just got an even bigger smile. :)

Many homeschool moms and teachers have commented about how much they like our Science Detective sheets. They are bright, colourful, and very engaging for many different aged children. We currently offer a Plant Science Detective, Aquatic Animal Science Detective, and a Jr. Ocean Animal Detective Sheet for slightly younger learners. We have now added another Detective to the scene . . . The Land Animal Detective!

This sheet is fun and easy to use for any land animal. Basic information is required of learners which could be found in almost any good animal reference book or encyclopedia. We have designed this sheet, like our other science worksheet resources, to be used with almost any resource you may have on hand at home or can acquire from your library or online.

Sheets require a picture of the animal which can be either drawn in or pasted in, basic size info as well as info about eating habits, habitats, and more. Our kids really love using these sheets. We hope yours will too!

 

Click Here to visit our science worksheets main page and see our collection of Science Detective Sheets.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

The Adventures of Grandfather Frog by Thornton W. Burgess

Read and remember the Adventures of Grandfather Frog

Having grown up in Hawaii, I missed the simple things of God's glory that many others took for granted - ponds and meadows, woodland creatures, and seasons.  It's true I learned a great deal about the ocean environment, volcanoes, and tropical plants and animals, but I'll never forget the first time I saw a Garter Snake in our backyard, the leaves turning bright red on the Maple trees, or the afternoon a baby raccoon fell out of a 30ft pine tree nearly landing our oldest daughter's head by about 10 inches.  No these are not things I grew up with.  Having lived in two distinct environments has made me appreciate God Glory so much more.

This brings us to Thornton W. Burgess books.  They teach so much about nature in such a lovely way.  He incorporates rich truths about our world and gives great examples of virtuous and those still seeking virtuous behaviour through animal characters.  In today's resources we meet Grandfather Frog.  He is patient but very stubborn.  Oh the adventures he has in a simple little country side pond.

We offer two resources for this public domain work today.  The first is a readable version and the other is a Charlotte Mason style narration tool.

The PIY Version of The Adventures of Grandfather Frog by Thornton W. Burgess
These books are nice because the print has been enlarged for little hands, they look and feel like real books when bound neatly, the original pictures are still included and they are simple and fairly cheap to make.  To do this, simply print the file out as is in landscape mode, fold the pages in half keeping them in page order, select a cover, and bind on the left.  Feel free to search our other posts for a step by step on how to create this resource or visit here to see our entire collection of PIY books.

The Adventures of Grandfather Frog Big Book for Narration

This resource is the narration go-along for this story.  It gives a space to draw a picture as well as narrate a bit about the story chapter by chapter.  Since we like to make each Big Book special in some way, this book offers the opportunity for your child to create a character appendix of animals who make a solid appearance in this book.  This is fun - they draw out the character, tell a bit about them with the prompted page.  This is sure to be a hit. 

To use this resource, simply print this out as is in landscape mode, fold the pages in half keeping them in chapter order, fill out, and bind on the left with rings, brads, binder, folder, trimmed duo-tang, or comb spine.

We look forward to putting this book and other resources to go with it on its own book study page shortly.  Johnny Crow has just been added there.

We hope you enjoy these resources as they help to illustrate and teach about God's Glory in the natural world.


Click Here to download the PIY version of The Adventures of Grandfather Frog 
Click Here to download the Big Book for Narration for The Adventures of Grandfather Frog by Thornton W. Burgess.


Blessings,

Kalei - That Resource Team

British Bird Cards

Learn to recognize our British feathered friends

Help children learn to recognize common birds found in British backyards with these Montessori style picture cards.  These sweet set of 15 cards were created and shared by Michelle over at Thinking Love, No Twaddle.  It is always neat to see what lands in other people's backyards around the world.  Thanks, Michelle!

To use this resource, simply print out the cards and cut them apart.  Printing out on card stock or heavier bond paper always adds durability.  Laminate for longevity or to be able to take out cards on nature hikes, etc.

Happy bird watching. :)

Click Here to download the British Bird Card set


Blessings,

That Resource Team

July 6 - Spelling In Johnny Crow's Garden

Let's learn to spell the names of Johnny Crow's friends

After reading the story, In Johnny Crow's Garden, we began noting down all of the animals we found.  Although some of the animal's names are easy to spell, some of them present challenges such as whale, hippopotami (a plural), penguin, giraffe, and elephant.  We practiced spelling some of God's most glorious creatures using a few easy fun printable tools.  Choose to do one, two, all, or none.  One a day works very well for the duration of the study.

Johnny Crow Word Artist Worksheets
These are fun little sheets that our children suggest we create for this purpose.  To complete this sheet simply choose two animals from the list.  Draw a picture for each in the boxes provided writing (or hiding) the animal word in the drawing. Sometimes the kids like to hide the words, other times they like to make the word a focus of the drawing.  Lots of spelling practice fun as it could be printed off and used over and over again until most or all of the animals have been used.  You may also want to assign words to certain aged children too. 

Johnny Crow Animal Spelling Cards
These fun cards are great for word practice.  We printed out two sets so that we could play games with them including go fish - we played 3 rounds today, concentration, spelling bee - we had 2 of them today too by request, alphabetizing practice - you can have them race to complete this task if they are on the same learning level.

Johnny Crow Word Scramble Sheet

All of the children loved this activity.  The kids just reorder the letters in the title, In Johnny Crow's Garden, to create familiar words.  Younger children could create any sized words.  Older children had to create words that had 4 or more letters.  Lots of fun.

Johnny Crow Word Search Sheet
Everyone loves practicing spelling and reading words with word searches.  This one also includes an illustration from the book.  The children had fun looking for everyone who showed up in Johnny's garden.  Words can be found in all directions.

Click Here to download the Word Artist Worksheet for In Johnny Crow's Garden.
Click Here to download the Animal Spelling Cards for In Johnny Crow's Garden.
Click Here to download the Word Scramble for In Johnny Crow's Garden.
Click Here to download the Word Search for In Johnny Crow's Garden.


Visit us tomorrow as we highlight Grammar and Writing In Johnny Crow's Garden.  Don't forget to bring your crayons! :)

Blessings,


That Resource Team

June 28 - Animal Themed Story Starter Art Cards

Encourage writing or narration with imaginative art cards.

We are very excited about this new resource we created from the ideas of our kiddos.  This simple sheet of paper turns into a narration writing card that displays the artistic talents of the writer when completed.  This is perfect for the Charlotte Mason method educator or any child who likes to write or draw.
Each card begins as a sheet with a black and white animal graphic of some sort.  The learner then completes the picture by adding some of the following:  a background, details, objects, horizon line, shading or shadows.  Then the artist fills it in with colours using any favourite medium - coloured pencils, gel pens, felt tipped markers, or crayons will work fine.

After completing the drawing, the artist flips the paper over and becomes a writer. :)  Using the lines provided, children create a story or provide a description of their picture.  We have used this line spacing style to encourage new young writers or those writers who are attempting to master cursive writing.

Upon completion of both sides, fold page in half and glue.  Laminate to preserve.  These cards can be easily used in games such as:  guess what's going on in the picture or read the story a loud and ask players try to match the picture to the story they just heard.  It is lovely to see how children create such unique pieces with the exact same starting point.

BTW - If card learning really isn't your thing, you could easily create books with a collection of these cards bound on one side with a comb-bind spine, key-ring or put it into a duo-tang cut in half.

Click Here to download our Animal Themed Story Starter Art Card sets.

Enjoy!!

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 22 - Play a Syllable Symphony for Fun!!

Play a simple Bingo style game with a twist to help children learn about animals and syllables at the same time.

Introduce or review the concept of syllable sounds with children as they learn to say and spell the names of animals.  This game has a neat twist to it in that it is played like bingo but uses a specific number of musical note graphics to represent the syllable sounds in a word.  It is simple to make and play.  This game can even be useful for non-readers as the parent could read the words and the child would only need count the syllable sounds using clapping if necessary.  It is fast to complete and several rounds could be played within 15 minutes.  Animal words utilize 1-5 syllables.

This game is designed for 2-6 players of any age and includes game boards, cards, reference list, and instructions.  More game sets will follow with different themes.  Our themes come from what we are currently studying right now in our little homeschool or will be covering in the very near future.

What a fun way and joyful way to learn about language arts and animals at the same time! :)

Click Here to download our Syllable Symphony game.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 18 - Animal Matching Game with God as Creator

Animal Silhouette Fun

We liked the animal silhouettes that we featured the other day so much that we made a card game to go with it.  It is very simple and easy to play for many different ages. Simply identify the animal in the silhouette and match it to its name. 

This can be done using a Go Fish style of play, Concentration style for one to two players or a variation of Old Maid called Great Creator.  Great Creator is like playing Old Maid except that God in His goodness created all of the things pictured and we want to be with Him. The person who is left with the Great Creator card in the end is the winner.

 

Sample sets

Print out file (heavier bond paper is better or laminate pieces), cut apart and play.

Click Here to download our Animal Matching Game.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 17 - More Animal Classification Cards

Classification Learning Cards sets 4-6

Here are sets 4-6 of the Animal Classification Learning Cards.  We hope that your older learner finds them challenging yet fun practice.  Simply print out, fill out, fold and glue.  Laminate for stability and longevity.  These work great for Trivia Quest on Fridays. :)

Today's resource sets include the following animals:

Set 4 - Leopard Tortoise, Read Eared Slider, Short Horned Lizard, Red Legged Frog, Copperhead Snake, Rattle Snake, Canadian Goose, Mallard Duck, Canary Lizard, Coral Snake

Set 5 - Hummingbird, Snowy Owl, Dragonfly, Ladybug, Yellow Jacket, Honey Bee, Fly, Green Hornet, Gila Monster, Roman Snail

Set 6 - Polar Bear, Pacific Walrus, Wasp, Gypsy Moth Caterpillar, Octopus, Caribbean Reef Squid, Desert Tarantula, Black Widow Spider, Rabbit, Bottlenose Dolphin

Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 4
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 5
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 6


Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 16 - Classification Animal Learning Cards

Classifying God's Creatures

As we previously posted, we have made additional sets of animal learning cards that focus on Classification.  These sets use the exact same animals as our Simple Animal Learning cards but they require a full classification of each animal.  These are quite challenging and are perfect to help teach multi-aged learners at the same time.  Much of the info can be found in most encyclopedias or online using Wikipedia.  There are a host of great websites to help children (and grown-ups :) learn about animals.  Perhaps we will tackle sharing those online resources in a future post?  But for today, we focus on classifying our Lord's creatures great and small.  We adding to this collection as well as the Simple Animal Learning Cards in the near future.

Today's resource sets include the following animals:

Set 1 - Lemur, Koala Bear, Armadillo, Coatimundi, Manatee, Badger, Gray Wolf, Bearded Seal, Wolf Brown Bear

Set 2 - Moose, Coyote, American Bison, Marmot, Ground Squirrel, Raccoon, African Elephant, Lion, Masai Giraffe, East African Hippo

Set 3 - Cheetah, Impala, Giant Panda, Bactrian Camels, Banteng, Komodo Dragon, Peacock, Bengal Tiger, Brown Long-eared Bat, Pig-Tailed Macaque

Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 1
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 2
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 3

Visit us tomorrow to collect the next 3 sets of  Classification Animal Learning Card sets.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 15 - What am I? Creation Themed Wall Calendar

Creation Themed Oversized Monthly Wall Calendar

We have just added a brand new monthly oversized wall calendar to our collection. This one is a bit different as it is black and white, can be used for any month of the year, and is interactive. The theme is the creation of animals. God created all of the animals, and it was good. How well can you identify His creations? This calendar uses black and white silhouettes of animals and asks you to name each one. There is a different one for each day of the month. We have also included an answer sheet for anyone who may be needing a little help. :) The border graphics are also in black and white and feature Bible passages on Creation as well.  One passage speaks on animals, the other on the creation of man.

We thought we would try something a bit different this time around - something so simple, but yet so fun and spiritual.

Simply print out sheets, cut apart, and apply to your template. If you have never used one of our calendars before, visit our calendar page from the link at left to see a sample as well as our entire collection.

Click Here to download our Creation themed Oversized Monthly Calendar.

Blessings,


That Resource Team

June 14 - Let's Learn About Animals Part III

More Simple Animal Learning Cards

We offer sets 5 and 6 of our Simple Animal Learning Cards today.  We will be making more in the future but we thought that these would give us all a good start.  We also thought that we would share with you some ideas on how you could use these resources in your family:

• Use these cards as an addition to an animal unit study.
• Use these cards as an addition to science unit study .
• Fill out a card when a picture book or novel you are reading mentions the animal as a character in it such as in Thornton Burgess stories, Beatrix Potter Stories, Parables From Nature by Mrs. Gatty, Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, works by by Lewis Carroll and so one.  We intend to create lots more cards so that children can begin a good collection of these cards.
• Take these sheets with you on your next nature walk, field trip to the nature sanctuary, or zoo trip.  Fill them out on the spot and then bring them home to cut apart and finish off.
• Fill these out as the animals are mentioned in video series like Planet Earth, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, Jeff Corbin, The Magic School Bus and more.
• Use selected animals in your world Geography studies.  We have tried to include all of the continents.
• Use completed cards for sick day learning review - once laminated they can stay germ free.  You can even wipe them down or even apply antibacterial wash to them.
• Play trivia quest with them.  Over a bowl of popcorn or trail mix, we play a review trivia style game.  Assign players to numbers on a die.  Player roles die and asks whoever assigned to the displayed number a question about something on a Learning Card.  We decide before we start who will choose the categories.  So much fun.  This is good for in front of the fireplace winter play or outside in the yard under a shady tree summer play.

These are just a few ideas to get you started.  I'm sure there will be others you will find.  Feel free to share some of your own uses in the comment section as I will try to keep a running list and eventually post it on the Learning Cards web page.

Today's resource sets include the following animals:

Set 5 - Hummingbird, Snowy Owl, Dragonfly, Ladybug, Yellow Jacket, Honey Bee, Fly, Green Hornet, Gila Monster, Roman Snail

Set 6 - Polar Bear, Pacific Walrus, Wasp, Gypsy Moth Caterpillar, Octopus, Caribbean Reef Squid, Desert Tarantula, Black Widow Spider, Rabbit, Bottlenose Dolphin

Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 5
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 6

Visit us tomorrow to collect some of the Classification Animal Learning Card sets.

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 13 - Let's Learn About Animals Part II

More Simple Animal Learning Cards for Young Learners

Here are the next two sets of simple, circle the answer style, Animal Learning Cards.  Each set contains ten animals to learn about.

Simply print out, cut apart, fill-in, and then fold and glue.  You could also laminate them for stability and longevity.  These cards are great for trivia usage.  In tomorrow's post, I will give you some ideas on how we use these cards in our own little homeschool.

Today's resource sets include the following animals:


Set 3 - Cheetah, Impala, Giant Panda, Bactrian Camels, Banteng, Komodo Dragon, Peacock, Bengal Tiger, Brown Long-eared Bat, Pig-Tailed Macaque

Set 4 - Leopard Tortoise, Read Eared Slider, Short Horned Lizard, Red Legged Frog, Copperhead Snake, Rattle Snake, Canadian Goose, Mallard Duck, Canary Lizard, Coral Snake


Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 3
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 4

Enjoy!

Blessings,

That Resource Team

June 12 - Let's Learn About Animals Part I.

Use our simple style science Learning Cards to help children learn about animals from all over the world. 

We are beginning to study animals in science as well as in our world geography studies.  We created these sets of Learning Cards to help children study animals and geography at the same time.  Each card asks the learner to simply circle the proper information.  This is great for younger learners who are just starting to learn research skills while still presenting and encouraging proper vocabulary use of such terms as: class, carnivore, herbivore, omnivore, vertebrate, and invertebrate.

 

We created these resources so that even little learners can find and note information without being overwhelmed by having to write everything out.  By circling the info the find, they can still feel a sense of accomplishment and more easily participate in multi-aged learning in science.  Not to mention that this also helps in the geography area as well.  As many animals are found on more than one continent, the opportunity to circle all that apply presents itself.  This encourages higher order thinking as well. 

We have tried to list animals from various continents spanning all of the classes.  We used real photographs of animals in their habitats (wherever possible) to help really give children a good idea of what the animal looks like if they saw it for themselves.  All of our images have come from the public domain, so that has been our only limitation.

Today's resource sets include the following animals:

Set 1 - Lemur, Koala Bear, Armadillo, Coatimundi, Manatee, Badger, Gray Wolf, Bearded Seal, Wolf Brown Bear

Set 2 - Moose, Coyote, American Bison, Marmot, Ground Squirrel, Raccoon, African Elephant, Lion, Masai Giraffe, East African Hippo

We will try and present the sets over the next few days. If you know of anyone doing a continent study or animal study now or this coming academic year, why not tell them to come and visit too.

Plus - We will soon be posting a go-along Classification Animal Learning Cards for older learners to learn about animals, develop their Latin skills, and practice classifying God's wondrous creatures.


Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 1
Click Here to download Simple Animal Learning Cards set 2

We hope you find these useful and fun!! :)

Blessings,

That Resource Team