- animal books (nonfiction)
- pictures of animals of different colors (in with their environment; some of animals blending into their environment)
- blend
- color
- darker
- lighter
- environment
- shade
MA Standards:
Language/L.PK.MA.5.a: Demonstrate understanding of concepts by sorting common objects into categories (e.g., sort objects by color, shape, or texture).
Head Start Outcomes:
Science Knowledge/Scientific Skills and Method: Observes and discusses common properties, differences, and comparisons among objects.
PreK Learning Guidelines:
Mathematics/Patterns and Relations 7: Explore and describe a wide variety of concrete objects by their attributes.
Animal Colors
© Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Department of Early Education and Care (Jennifer Waddell photographer). All rights reserved.
Skill Focus: Listening and Speaking, Sorting, Vocabulary
Educator Prep: Gather pictures of animals from magazines or online. Choose some pictures that show animals whose color blends in with their environment.
Give small groups a set of animal pictures. Ask children to sort the animals by color. Then talk more about the pictures and the color of each animal. Ask,
- All of these animals are brown, yes! What shades of brown are they? Are some lighter or darker than others? Which ones? Show me!
- Which of these animals blend with their environment, or have the same colors?
- How might an animals' color blending with its environment might help the animal?
You may want to have nonfiction books available about the animals in the photographs for reference as you discuss.
Adaptation: For groups with younger children, you may want to do only the sorting part of the activity and talk about animals blending in with their environments at a later time.