Animal Classification for Preschool: Exploring the Amazing World of Amphibians

Amphibians are a unique classification of animals. They are sometimes difficult for young children to identify because one of their most distinctive characteristics is not readily seen: their complex lifecycle. All amphibians have a larval stage and an adult stage.

By way of example, this can be compared to how caterpillars change into butterflies (Although butterflies are insects, of course). This makes amphibians a fascinating topic in the animal world!

Materials:

• Your animal characteristics poster that you began in Lesson 16
• Markers and crayons
• A source for your child to find pictures of amphibians: the internet, printer, and paper or magazines, and scissors
• Glue stick
• Books about several different kinds of amphibians
  - Whenever possible, source books that show real pictures of animals in their natural habitats and engaged in amphibian behaviors, such as changing between stages of their lifecycle.
• Amphibians characteristics worksheet
• Optional: A variety of toy animals (plastic, stuffed, etc.) that include some amphibians, fish,  birds, mammals, and reptiles.

Tell your child that you’re going to continue learning about different types of animals and how to sort them into different categories. This week, you’ll learn about a group of animals called amphibians.

Before you begin talking about fish, review the characteristics of fish, birds, reptiles, and mammals with your child.

Mammals are a group of animals that:

• Are warm-blooded*
• Have at least some hair or fur
• Feed their babies milk

Review the examples of mammals that you pasted on your animal chart.

Reptiles are a group of animals that:

• Are cold-blooded*
• Have scales
• Breathe using lungs**
• Usually lay eggs (There are some reptiles that don’t.)

Review the examples of reptiles that you pasted on your animal chart.

Birds are a group of animals that:

• Are warm-blooded*
• Have feathers Have wings—rather or not they can fly
• Have beaks or bills
• Lay hard-shelled eggs (many reptiles lay soft-shelled eggs)

Review the examples of birds that you pasted on your animal chart.

Fish are a group of animals that:

• Are cold-blooded*
• Live in an aquatic environment
• Have fins for movement
• Breathe using gills

Review the examples of fish that you pasted on your animal chart.

Now, review the amphibian characteristics*** worksheet with your child and let them color it. Talk about how amphibians:

• Are cold-blooded*
• Need a moist environment
• Have smooth, shiny skin
• Have different stages in their life cycle (most of the time)
• Can breathe through their skin and may have either lungs or gills, depending on their stage

Talk about some familiar and notable examples of amphibians:

• Frogs****
• Toads
• Salamanders
• Newts

Read some books about different types of amphibians. Look at each picture and talk about the animals. What stage of its life cycle is it in, larval or adult? Does it have gills or lungs? What type of environment does it live in—the water, a tree, on the ground?

Label one section of your poster board “Amphibians.” Together with your child, search online for different examples of amphibians or cut pictures from magazines. If your child points out an animal that is not an amphibian, take the time to look it up and see what class it falls into. Glue the examples to the amphibian section of your poster. If you find some great fish, bird, reptile, and mammal examples, add those to the appropriate sections as well!

Optionally, you can get out your child’s stuffed animals or plastic animals and have your child sort them into amphibians, fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, and other types of animals.

Save your poster for later!

Teaching moments:

• *If your child is unfamiliar with warm-blooded and cold-blooded animals, this is the perfect time to introduce those concepts. Warm-blooded animals can make their own heat and may feel warm to the touch, while cold-blooded animals are the same temperature as their surroundings and must move to a sunny or warm location to warm up.
• **The characteristics of reptiles could also equally apply to fish without this distinguishing factor. If you don’t want to get into a detailed anatomical lesson and explanation of lungs, show examples of fish—how they breathe using their gills—and reptiles—how they breathe through their nostrils.
• ***If your child is interested, this is the perfect time to do a deep dive into metamorphosis. Study the lifecycle of a frog from egg through tadpole (larva), froglet, and frog (adult) stages. See how it changes from an aquatic to a semi-aquatic or even a land (toad) environment. See how it initially has gills and then develops lungs. Find out what other animals go through metamorphosis.
• ****Some amphibians, like frogs, are commonly grouped in with reptiles, although they are not. The easiest way to tell reptiles from amphibians? Amphibians have no scales.