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Day and Night! Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity

July 13, 2020 by Selena Robinson 3 Comments

Teach kids about the animals who are active during the day and those that come out at night with this fun nocturnal and diurnal animals sorting activity!
Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity - Look! We're Learning!
Use the print or digital version of this nocturnal and diurnal animals sorting activity to teach students about animal sleep habits!

Have you ever seen a possum in real life?

Growing up in the country, I knew that they existed. But it took several years before I actually saw one scurrying away in the early morning hours.

It was like catching sight of Bigfoot.

I knew that there were animals that were awake when I was asleep at night, but to actually see one was memorable.

If you’re teaching students about animal sleep habits, this printable and digital Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity can help!

Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals Sorting Activity for Early Grades

Most kids love to learn about animals and my students are no exception.

So when we were starting to learn about animal sleeping habits, I wanted to find a way to make a simple, hands-on activity they’d love to do.

Diurnal Animal Sorting Practice

Read on to see how to get your copy of this Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals activity – available as a print or digital resource!

Looking for more science resources for early grades? Take a look at our list of fun Weather STEM Experiments to try with students!

Teach early students how to recognize animals with different sleeping habits with this hands-on diurnal and nocturnal animals sorting activity!

Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity for Kids

I remember learning about nocturnal animals when I was a kid, but we didn’t talk much about diurnal animals (at least not using the term “diurnal”).

So in case this term is fairly new to you as an educator, “diurnal” simply means that they are active during the day like you and me!

Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals for Early Grades

The printable nocturnal animal sorting activity is super easy to use. You’ll only need the following supplies: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • Printer (with ink)
  • Printer Paper
  • Scissors
  • Laminator (if you want to make a set that lasts)
  • Hook and loop adhesive coins (optional)
Nocturnal Animals Early Elementary Activity

This resource includes picture cards of 16 animals: eight are nocturnal and eight are diurnal – in both English and Spanish.

Some of the animals in the product include:

  • Hawk
  • Gorilla
  • Bee
  • Raccoon
  • Elephant
  • Possum
  • Butterfly
  • Dog
  • And 8 more!
Learning about Nocturnal Animals in Spanish

There are also sorting pages (in both English and Spanish) where students can classify animals according to whether they are diurnal or nocturnal.

The Spanish set includes a pronunciation guide.

How to Teach Early Grades about Nocturnal Animals

A set of unlabeled picture cards is also inside!

Diurnal and Nocturnal Animal Classification

Plus, there’s an answer key included, as well as a full set of instructions.

How to Use the Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals Sorting Activity with Students

When you’re ready to use this resource with your class, here are a few ways you can include it in your lesson plan.

(Look at the included teaching script if you need an idea of how to introduce this topic.)

Teaching Early Students about Nocturnal Animals

You can use this for a one-time learning Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting activity.

Just skip the laminating and have students cut and paste the animals in the correct column.

Sorting Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals in Spanish

If you have Spanish-speaking students, let them use the animal cards and the sorting sheet with Spanish terms.

This is also great for early Spanish immersion classes.

Classifying Animals by Sleeping Habits

If you have students who are practicing writing, use the unlabeled cards as a labeling activity!

Just laminate the cards and then allow students to write the animal names (in either language) with wet erase markers.

Or have the class help you label the cards by challenging them to spell each animal name out loud with you.

Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals for Early Grades

Use the unlabeled cards as a reference and let students name each animal on their own. They can then use the labeled cards for self-checking.

Diurnal Animals Early Science Center Activity

If you use it at science centers, add hook and loop coin stickers to the back of the cards. Cut each column apart and place them on rings.

Then add coin stickers onto the column squares so students can practice sorting the animals again and again.

Digital Nocturnal Animals Classifying Activity

Are you distance learning? Use the digital version along with Google Slides!

Get a look at this resource in action below!

Scroll down to get your copy of our print or digital Nocturnal and Diurnal Animal Sorting Activity!

Kids’ Books about Nocturnal Animals: 

Read more about nocturnal animals with these books for kids!

1. Daylight Starlight Wildlife by Wendell Minor
2. Where are the Night Animals? by Mary Ann Fraser
3. Moonlight Animals by Elizabeth Golding
4. Night Animals by Gianna Marino

Resources about Nocturnal Animals:

Learn more about nocturnal animals with these other learning ideas for early grades!

Bat Science Experiments: Echolocation Activities

Creating Growing Patterns with Nocturnal Animals

Nocturnal Animal Report: Hedgehogs

Bats in a Cave Sight Word Game

Nocturnal Animals Writing Tray and Word List

And don’t miss these other early science activities!

These Spanish Arctic Animal learning cards are perfect for early literacy and science centers and ELL students!
These fun weather STEM activities for kids are excellent for simple spring science experiments! Simple enough for home or the classroom!
This hands-on oak tree life cycle sequencing activity makes learning about fall plant science fun for early grades!
Digital Diurnal and Nocturnal Animals Sorting Activity

Pick up the digital version of this sorting activity in my Teachers Pay Teachers store! You can also get the print and digital versions together as a bundle!

>> Digital Nocturnal and Diurnal Animal Classification Activity <<

Spanish Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting

To get your copy of the printed Nocturnal and Diurnal Animals Sorting Activity, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check it out below!

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables, Science, Teaching Printables Tagged With: animal flashcards, animal printables, animal science, diurnal animals, homeschool printables, homeschool science, nocturnal and diurnal animals sorting activity, nocturnal animals, printable flashcards, printables, science, science printables, sorting, sorting activity

Animal Diagram! Habitat and Diet Animal Sorting Activity

July 17, 2019 by Selena Robinson Leave a Comment

We’ve learned quite a bit about animal diets and behavior with our kids. But it can be tough to keep all the information straight in your head afterward.

Who lives where?

Who eats what? 

And, once you learn that some animals live on both land and water and that some animals eat both meat and plants, it can get really confusing.

So we’re sharing a fun and simple animal science lesson for keeping up with animal diets and habitats – a Venn diagram animal sorting activity!

Printable Animal Sorting Venn Diagram for Kids

This is such a cute animal science activity for early grades! Plus, it can work as a science center activity you can reuse!

See how to get your hands on a copy below!

And, for more ways to learn about animal behavior, take a look at our nocturnal and diurnal animal sorting activity too!

Teach students about animals with this animal diets and habitats sorting activity! Such an easy way to learn about animal science with young learners!

Habitats and Diets Animal Sorting Activity

To use this printable animal sorting activity, you’ll need the following: (This post contains affiliate links. For details, see our Disclosure Policy.)

  • Printer (with ink)
  • Printer Paper
  • Child-safe scissors
  • Glue stick
Printable Animal Diets and Habitats Sorting Activity for Kids

This product includes a cut and paste animal diet activity, as well as a cut and paste animal habitat activity.

Printable Animal Habitat Sorting Activity

For the animal habitats lesson, kids can cut out each animal.

Then practice sorting them according to whether they live in water, on land, or both!

For the animal diets activity, they can cut out the animals and then practice sorting them according to their diet. 

Be careful! Some animals eat both plants and meat!

Animal Diet Sorting Activity for Kids

And, if you need a little refresher on which animal goes where, there’s an answer key included for each activity!

Animal Diets and Habitats Sorting Activity

Scroll down to get your copy of our Diets and Habitats Animal Sorting Activity!

Want to learn more about animals with the kids? Check out these other learning ideas!

These simple bird species identification cards are fun for learning about common bird species during spring! Use them with early grades science lessons!
Pick up these printable sea monster notebooking pages to learn more about incredible creatures of the deep!
Learn about the fascinating world of sharks with this printable shark food chain game!
Learn about what animals eat and where they live with this fun Venn diagram animal sorting activity! Perfect for science centers and early learners too!

To get your copy of our Animal Diagram! Habitats and Diets Animal Sorting Activity, visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store or check it out below!

Filed Under: Homeschooling Printables, Science Tagged With: animal science, homeschool printables, science

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