Same Different Picture Worksheet

Before a child can compare two stories, she has to be able to compare two pictures. Noticing that three things match and one does not is the very first move in compare and contrast, and it is a skill first graders use every day — sorting laundry, matching socks, spotting the one letter in a row that faces the wrong way. This same different picture worksheet gives students slow, careful looking practice: four rows of pictures where three are identical and one is the odd one out, plus a short writing task that turns the noticing into words.

Part A holds the four picture rows. Some rows change the object completely — a pear standing among apples, a fire truck parked in a line of school buses — while others change only one detail, like the single red umbrella hiding among three blue ones. That mix teaches children to keep looking after the obvious answer. Part B then puts a school bus and a bicycle side by side and asks for one way they are the same and one way they are different, so students move from circling to explaining. Use this 1st grade compare and contrast worksheet as a warm-up before a compare-and-contrast read-aloud, as a center activity, or as a quick observation check.

What’s Included

• 1 print-ready PDF worksheet
• 4 picture rows with one odd picture in each
• 1 two-picture comparison with a Same and a Different sentence line
• 1 answer key

This resource helps children learn compare and contrast in three ways. First, pictures carry no reading load, so a child who is still decoding can practice the thinking skill at full strength instead of getting stuck on the words. Second, the rows are built at two difficulty levels — a whole different object versus a single changed color — which trains the careful, second-look attention that comparing two texts will later demand. Third, Part B asks students to say what is alike before they say what is different, the same order a Venn diagram uses, so the writing task builds the structure they will reach for in second and third grade.

Teachers and parents can keep the practice going away from the page. Line up four objects on the table, swap one while your child closes their eyes, and let them find the change. Play a same-and-different game with two stuffed animals, naming one likeness and one difference each turn. On a walk, point at two houses, two trees, or two cars and trade observations back and forth. When your students are ready to move from pictures to text, pair this same different picture worksheet with the related resources below.

Related Resources

• Compare and Contrast Similarities and Differences Graphic Organizer Worksheet
• Compare It Compare and Contrast Activity
• Compare and Contrast Graphic Organizer Activity
• Shapes Song (Have Fun Teaching)