Discovering Fish: A Fun Animal Classification Activity for Preschoolers

Let’s dive into the world of fish this week and add them to your animal classification poster. Keep in mind that there are many, many sea creatures that are not fish: octopi, crabs, sea cucumbers, etc.. This would be a good week to add those animals to the “other” section of your poster if you created a space for that.

Materials:

• Your animal characteristics poster that you began in Lesson 16
• Markers and crayons
• A source for your child to find pictures of fish: the internet, printer, and paper or magazines and scissors
• Glue stick
• Books about several different kinds of fish
  - Whenever possible, source books that show real pictures of animals in their natural habitats and engaged in fish behaviors, such as swimming with fins or using gills to breathe.
• Fish characteristics worksheet
• Optional: A variety of toy animals (plastic, stuffed, etc.) that include some 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 fish.

Before you begin talking about fish, review the characteristics of 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—whether 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.

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

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

Talk about some familiar and notable examples of fish:

• Salmon
• Tuna
• Minnows
• Sunfish
• Rays

Read some books about different types of fish. Look at each picture and talk about the animals. Can you see its fins and gills? Is it swimming by itself or with a school of other fish? What type of environment does it live in—the deep ocean; or a coral reef?

Label one section of your poster board “Fish.” Together with your child, search online for different examples of fish or cut pictures from magazines. If your child points out an animal that is not a fish, take the time to look it up and see what class it falls into. Glue the examples to the fish section of your poster. If you find some great 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 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.
• ***Some characteristics that are commonly associated with fish, like having scales and laying eggs, are not shared by all fish. Point out these examples when you see them. For instance, eels do not have scales.