Animal Classification Chart Printable and Fact Cards

There are so many different types of animals to learn about when teaching your kids about classifying animals. Our Animal Classification Chart Printable with fact cards and cheat sheets will help kids learn some basic animal classification terms as well as classification information for 50 animals. 

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Animal Classification Chart Printable

Scientists estimate there could be more than 10 million living species of animals in our world today! How do they ever keep them all organized for study?

The answer is scientific classification. Classifying animals can be tricky as there are so many different animals that exist in our world. Yet, it is a lot of fun to do with your kids.

Printable materials and science worksheets are a great addition to a study of land animals, marine animals, feathered friends, cold-blooded animals and more. They are a wonderful way to teach about the different animal classifications.

Using an animal classification chart printable, animal information cards and cheat sheets, your kids can be immersed in learning about all the different groups of animals. Let’s dig a little more into the animal classification system.

What are the 7 classifications of animals?

There is a specific scientific order of animals. Every single animal on the planet can be classified using this system of classification. They are broken down into 7 classifications. These are:

1. Kingdom
2. Phylum 
3. Class 
4. Order
5. Family 
6. Genus 
7. Species

Animal Classification for Kids

Since there are so many animals and different species n our world, it can be difficult to sort them all out. This can first be done by splitting them into two groups. These groups are Vertebrates and Invertebrates.

Vertebrates

Vertebrates are animals that have a backbone. They make up the animals in class phylum chordata. These animals are: fish, reptiles, amphibians, mammals and birds.

Invertebrates

Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone. Invertebrates make up up more than 95% of all animals. 

Once you split those animals into two main groups, you can then break them down into smaller groups of animals. This is where animal classification begins.

What are the different groups of animals?

When we are sorting into animal groups, we want to look at the unique characteristics of these living things. These are the different groups of animals and the types of animals that will fall into that specific group.

• Amphibians – These animals lay their eggs in water, but they live on land and also in the water.
• Reptiles – Reptiles are cold-blooded animals that have scales and need to be in a warm place. They also live on water and on land, but lay their eggs on land.
• Fish – Fish have fins and gills. They do not have legs and they live in water where they lay their eggs.
• Mammals – Mammals do not lay eggs. They give birth to live animals and nurse their young with milk. They also have hair or fur.
• Birds – Birds lay eggs and have beaks, feathers and two legs. Most birds – but not all – can fly while some of them can also swim.
• Insects – All insects are invertebrates. Their body is made up of 3 parts and they have six legs, while some have wings. All insects lay eggs.

How Can I use Animal Classification Cards?

Animal classification cards are great interactive resources  that can be used to help your children with observation skills and learning how to sort and categorize. Kids love to sort and put things in order.

You can use animal classification cards in a variety of fun ways.

• You can begin by sorting the animal cards into the two main categories of vertebrates and invetebrates.
• Then you can begin sorting the animals into their different types. 
• Take it a step further and sort them into their different family groups.
• Include young children in the sorting by giving them tubes of animals to sort and play with. You can lay the cards out and have them sort them into groups. Then match the animals to the different types in the group.
• Play a matching game with classification cards. Our cards are in color and black and white, so there are two sets that you can use to play a classic matching game like Memory.
• Use the cards to drill your children in a fast, fact drill game. Show them the animal and have them quickly tell you what class or family it belongs in.
• Older students can even use them to launch a study of what animals are related and what makes the animals in a particular family similar.

Scroll down to the bottom, to grab our free animal classification fact cards and cheat sheets!

More Free Animal Classification Resources 

Kids are fascinated by animals, and there is so much information, especially when you are teaching your kids about animal classification. We have come up with some great free resources and printables that you can use as a unit study on animals, or in addition to your science curriculum.

Animal Classification Color by Code – These free printable animal classification worksheets will help your kids identify animals and explore their differences in a fun way. Your little ones will enjoy the fun facts and information as well as creating a beautiful picture when they are done. Free Instant Download.

 Cut & Paste Animal Classification – Practice working on fine motor skills and learning about the animal classes while cutting out animals and sorting them into the correct animal group. This free pdf file is an instant download of a cut and paste activity. There are fun challenges for your kids to participate with  hands-on learning fun. 

Animal Kingdom and Classification Printables – Go in depth, and learn more bout the animal kingdom with these amazing resources. This post also includes an instant download of free printable classifying animals worksheet to further your studies.

FREE Animal Classification Fact Cards and Cheat Sheets

We have created another amazing resource for you to teach about animal classification. There are 30 pages of information in this instant download printable pack for you to use in your homeschool.

There are three parts to these free Animal Classification Fact Cards and Cheat Sheets.

Animal Classification Chart Printable Cheat Sheets

First, is a cheat sheet of animal classification terms. This printable page looks at these vocabulary words and has a definition of each one.

• family
• amphibian
• arachnid
• bird
• echinoderm
• fish
• insect
• mammal
• mollusk
• reptile
• rodent
• scientific name

Next, is a set of animal information cheat sheets. These include the name of the animal, type, family, and scientific name for 50 animals such as: American black bear, Bactrian camel, capybara, Egyptian fruit bat, gila monster, honey ant, llama, red-tailed hawk and many more!

There are 3 pages of animal information cheat sheets in this pack. These sets of cheat sheets would make wonderful additions to your FREE homeschool binder as well as our series of FREE cheat sheets and/or fact cards.

Your kids can use them to create their own animal classification book out of.

Animal Fact Cards

The final part of these FREE Animal Classification Fact Cards and Cheat Sheets are the fact cards themselves. There are 100 of them!

It’s a great way to become familiar with different families and species of animals, and there are many ways you can use this tool in your studies. You can play hands-on games with them. Give them to older children to memorize the facts and use as a research tool.

There are 50 full color fact cards that include a picture of the animal, its type, its family, and its scientific name. Next, are 50 black and white fact cards with blank spaces for your students to fill in the information. These are great for older children.

Since there are two sets of cards they can be used as flash cards or for memory games. The colored cards will look lovely laminated to be used over and over again. Kids that enjoy coloring can use the black and white cards to color the animals in nicely with our favorite colored pencils. 

Final Thoughts

If your children love animals as much as mine did when they were younger, then we hope you’ll enjoy using these free cards and cheat sheets to lean more about their favorites – or maybe even discover a NEW one!

Instant Download: FREE Animal Classification Fact Cards and Cheat Sheets