Living and Nonliving Activity
This living and nonliving activity gives kindergarten to 2nd grade students 12 picture cards and a sorting mat to classify things that are alive. A practice page and answer key are included.
$6.97
Want this one free?
Tell us where to send it and it’s yours — no card, no catch.
One free resource per teacher. We’ll also send free teaching ideas each week — unsubscribe anytime.
Free teacher account · no credit card
Membership
Get every game, song, & printable
- Every game, on any device
- 6,500+ resources
- Assign online with HFT Classroom
Then $39.97/year · cancel anytime · See plans
- Instant digital download
- Printable PDF + answer key
- Made by real teachers
Teacher / Family membership
Teaching is easier with every resource
One membership for your whole year: 6,500+ worksheets, games, songs and videos for Preschool–6th, for your classroom or homeschool.
- Unlimited printables & downloads
- Every game, on any device
- Assign online with HFT Classroom
- Cancel anytime
Teacher / Family membership · 3 days free
Yearly
Monthly would be $119.64 a year
$3.33/month
Billed $39.97 once a year
You save $79.67 every year
Start My 3 Free Days$0 today · cancel anytime
Monthly
$9.97/month
Flexible, month to month
Yearly is just $3.33/mo. Switch and save $79.67
Start My 3 Free Days$0 today · cancel anytime
About this resource
Description
Is it alive? Telling living things from nonliving things is one of the first big ideas in science. This living and nonliving activity gives young scientists a hands-on way to sort the world around them. Children learn that living things grow, need food and water, breathe and make more of their kind, while nonliving things do not.
The activity includes 12 bright picture cards and a two-sided sorting mat. Children take a card, name the picture and ask three questions: Does it grow? Does it eat? Does it breathe? Then they place the card on the green living side or the blue nonliving side. A teddy bear and a toy car make children think carefully, because some things look like animals but are not alive. Print the cards one-sided, cut on the dashed lines and the game is ready for a small group, a science center or a partner game at home. A Kindergarten practice worksheet lets each child circle the living things on their own.
What’s Included
- A colorful cover page
- A How to Use page with materials, prep tips, simple steps and a Mystery Card game
- 12 picture cards on two cut-apart sheets: 6 living things and 6 nonliving things
- A Living and Nonliving sorting mat
- A Kindergarten practice worksheet: circle the living things
- An answer key for the card sort, plus the practice answer key
Why This Activity Helps Kids
First, sorting real pictures turns an abstract science idea into something children can touch and move. Second, asking the same three questions for every card builds a simple habit of scientific thinking. Third, talking about tricky cards, like a toy that looks like an animal, helps children explain their reasons and learn from each other.
Ideas for Teachers and Parents
Copy the cards onto cardstock and keep each set in a zip-top bag. Play Mystery Card: one child hides a card and gives clues, and a partner guesses the card and sorts it. Take the mat outside and look for one more living and one more nonliving thing. This kindergarten animals activity also makes a quick check of understanding before a unit on plants or animals. Pair the living and nonliving activity with the resources below for more practice.
Related Resources
What teachers say
Reviews
Write a review, earn store credit
Get 25¢ in credit for every approved review of a resource you’ve downloaded, played or purchased — up to 15 a month. Credit applies automatically to your membership payments, so your reviews can help pay for your membership.
Honest reviews only — any star rating earns the same. Program rules
Log in to write a review and earn store credit.
The Mammal Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about mammals. This animated music video teaches that mammals breathe air with lungs, are warm-blooded, have fur or hair, give birth to live young and feed their babies milk. While watching the Mammal Song, students learn…
A 1st grade Mammals, Fish, or Birds Classifying Animals Worksheet where students sort a word bank of animals into three groups. Includes a complete answer key for quick, no-prep science practice.
This reptile classification worksheet helps 1st graders sort animals by circling reptiles, matching them to their names, and completing simple reptile facts. Includes a complete answer key for fast, no-prep life science practice.
Students label nine friendly animal pictures using a nine-word bank in this animal names worksheet. Built for 1st Grade science, with an answer key included so checking work takes seconds.
Using this Animal Song (Animated Music Video), your students learn about different types of animals and their sounds by watching this fun, catchy video.
This Learning about Mammals Worksheet gives 1st graders a short informational passage and five fill-in-the-bubble questions about mammal traits. An answer key is included, so reading comprehension practice takes no prep at all.
Use this Importance of Farming Worksheet to help 1st Grade students sort six farm foods into plants and animals and decide what farms really give people. Answer key included for fast, no-prep science practice.
The Amphibian Song by Have Fun Teaching is perfect for teaching and learning all about amphibians. This animated music video teaches that amphibians live on land and in water, start life with gills, go through metamorphosis and have moist skin without scales. While watching the Amphibian Song, students learn the…
This fish writing paper worksheet gives 1st grade students wide lined paper and a fun fish prompt, so every child can write about a favorite fish and practice neat, complete sentences.
This Snake Rebus Worksheet gives 1st graders a picture-supported story to read aloud, then four pictures to label with the matching word. Answer key included, so fluency practice takes almost no prep.
This Basic Fish Parts Worksheet asks 1st graders to label six numbered parts on a big, friendly fish using a word box. An answer key is included, so science practice takes no prep at all.
Writing about Animals Worksheet helps 1st graders pick an animal they love and write what it looks like, what it eats, and where it lives on clear, roomy lines that build confident sentence writing.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet