Using this Living and Non-Living Things Mini Pack, students learn about the Living and Non-Living Things through ten fun worksheets and four activities.
Does it grow? Does it eat?
Preschoolers learn that living things grow, eat or drink, breathe and can make more of themselves. People, dogs, trees and flowers are alive. Non-living things like rocks, chairs and toys do not grow or eat. Kids use simple questions to sort: Does it grow? Does it need food and water? The tricky ones are the fun ones: a plant does not walk, but it is alive! Watching a seed sprout in the window is the moment it really makes sense.
Three simple questions and a few real objects go a long way.
Show pictures of a cat, a rock, a tree and a car. Kids sort them into alive and not alive and explain why. Our Living and Non-Living Things Mini Pack has ready-made sorting pages.
Why it works: children learn more from words and pictures together than from words alone (Mayer, 2009).
Try it withLiving and Non-Living Things Mini PackWorkbooksOpen it →Plant a bean in a clear cup with a wet paper towel. Kids check it every day and draw what they see. Watching it grow shows what living things do.
Why it works: going from real objects to pictures to symbols is a core recommendation of the U.S. Department of Education's elementary math guide.
Each morning hold up one object and ask, "Is it living?" Kids vote and explain. A quick daily routine builds the habit of asking the three questions.
Why it works: short practice spread over several days beats one long session, according to a large review of learning research (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Living things grow, eat or drink and breathe. Non-living things do not. Ask your child, "Does it grow? Does it need food?"
Yes. Plants grow, need water and sunlight, and make new plants. They are alive even though they cannot move around.
Rocks, toys, chairs, cars, water and pencils are non-living. They do not grow or eat.
A nature walk to find examples outside, or sorting pictures into two groups, are both simple and fun.
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