5+ Arctic Animal Activities & Free Nomenclature Cards

Arctic animal activities are a perfect addition to your winter activities for preschoolers! These free Arctic animal nomenclature cards are an excellent resource for hands-on learning, helping kids explore polar habitats, animal names, and early literacy and math skills.

Whether you’re teaching an Arctic theme or adding something fresh to your preschool lesson plans, these cards provide endless opportunities for fun and engaging activities. Let me show you all the ways to use these cards.

free arctic animal matching cards, Set of free Arctic animal cards with illustrations for preschool learning.
Free arctic animal vocabulary cards for preschool Arctic theme.

Arctic animal activities provide a fun and interactive way for preschoolers to learn about the fascinating creatures that thrive in icy habitats.

These free Arctic animal nomenclature cards are incredibly versatile and can be used for a variety of engaging winter activities for preschoolers. From simple matching games that build visual discrimination skills to counting and sorting activities that reinforce early math concepts. Teachers can also use them for vocabulary-building exercises, helping little ones learn the names and characteristics of animals like polar bears, arctic foxes, and seals.

Whether used in small group lessons, sensory bins, or as part of a literacy station, these Arctic animal cards bring learning to life while keeping children curious and engaged.

Why Use Arctic Animal Nomenclature Cards

Nomenclature cards in a preschool setting are basically vocabulary cards, and there’s a million and one ways to use them in your classroom. Here is a quick preview of some of the activities that are supported by vocabulary cards.

  • matching animals
  • describing arctic animals
  • arctic animal riddles
  • matching animal names
  • game of Concentrataion
  • card game Go Fish

Arctic Animals Learning Activities for Preschoolers

There isn’t really a reason to pick and choose from this list of arctic animals learning activities. Some fit in just right to your arctic theme preschool centers; some of them work well in small group settings or can be used during circle time.

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What’s Included

The free printable includes twelve arctic animal vocabulary cards. They include:

  • Caribue
  • Beluga Whale
  • Arctic Fox
  • Arctic Hare
  • Barnacle Goose
  • Snowy Owl
  • Polar Pear
  • Harp Seal
  • Walrus
  • Norwhal
  • Orca Whale
  • Arctic Wolf

Materials

Arctic animal cards spread out on a table for sorting and matching games.
Free arctic animal activities using vocabulary cards.

Arctic animal toys are not necessary for using the matching cards, but they add a fun hands-on element These cards are designed to pair with the arctic animal tube sets, if desired.

Here are my favorite arctic animal toys for preschoolers.

Wild Republic Polar Nature Tube, Arctic Animals, Kids…
  • Great value: thirteen Polar toy figures, Polar bear, Walrus, Penguins, Orca and many more.
  • Size: approx. Size of these highly detailed, Hand painted and durable Polar figurines are 2” to 3…
  • Multi-use item: perfect for imaginative play, school projects, dioramas, ice age party favors, cake…
Safari Ltd. Arctic Adventure Bulk Bag – Set of Arctic…
  • Icy Adventure: Prepare for a frosty journey with our Arctic Bulk Bag. This toy set introduces kids…
  • Diverse Range: The collection includes 10 unique, hand-painted designs. Find nine different animals:…
  • Size and Color: Each Bulk Bag measures 8 inches by 7.5 inches. The Arctic figures within the set…
EOIVSH 18PCS Arctic Animal Figures, Realistic Polar…
  • Arctic Animals Big Party: 18 pieces small polar animal toys make up this set, including 2pcs arctic…
  • Delicate Texture& Hand Painted: As animal toys for kids, our sea animal figures are designed with…
  • Early Education Tool: With true-to-life details, active poses, these sea animal toys can easily help…

Arctic Animal Learning Activities for Preschoolers

There’s nothing I like better than having a single printable that I can use in multiple ways. It saves me space when sorting my printables, but it also makes my thematic lesson planning that much easier.

Be sure to read about all the arctic animal activities you can do with these matching cards.

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #1 – Matching Animals

Print out two copies of the arctic animal matching cards and place them in a pile on a tray. Invite your preschooler to make matches.

Have the cards facing upwards so that your preschooler can see all the animals and sort the duplicates to make matches. This is one of the first steps in teaching visual discrimination, which is an important pre-reading skill.

Encourage your preschoolers to say the names of the animals as they match them, too.

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme | Preschooler using Arctic animal cards to practice counting and animal names.
Printable arctic animal vocabulary cards can be used for multiple activities.

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #2 – Describing Arctic Animals

You can also use the cards to develop oral language skills by inviting your preschoolers to talk about what they see in the picture cards. Encourage them to name physical characteristics about each animal.

If your preschooler gets stuck and isn’t sure what to say when trying to describe the animals, help them by asking questions.

  • Where does your animal live? (water or land)
  • What color is the animal?
  • What might this animal eat?
  • Does this animal have fur?
  • How does it stay warm?
  • Does this animal live in groups, or does it like to live by itself?

Preschoolers may not know the answers to these questions right away, but this is a good way to start teaching preschoolers about the different characteristics of animals who live in the arctic.

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme | Free printable Arctic animal cards for winter-themed preschool activities, preschooler holding arctic themed nomenclature cards
Download these six free arctic animal activities for preschoolers.

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #3 – Arctic Animals Riddles

This activity is especially fun for circle time.

Lay out the arctic animal cards for your preschoolers to see or put them in a pocket chart. Secretly choose one of the animal cards and give your preschoolers clues about the animal. See if they can guess correctly based on the clues given.

These riddles are not written out on the cards; they are just clues you can make up on the spot.

  • Which animal has antlers?
  • Which animal has a fluffy tail?
  • Which animal hibernates underground?
  • Which animal has long tusks?

Of course, you always have the option to start with a really broad clue and then give more specific clues. This is always fun for the preschoolers.

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme, Arctic animal flashcards displayed with colorful pictures for early learning.
These arctic animal matching cards can also be used in a pocket chart during circle time.

Check out these 20+ free arctic animal printables.

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #4 – Matching Animal Names

You may have noticed that these matching cards are designed like Montessori nomenclature cards.

For an added literacy element, print two copies of the cards and cut the names off of the second copy. Then invite your preschooler to select a card and find both the matching pieces.

Preschool child matching Arctic animal cards to the correct animals in the classroom.
These matching cards can be used like 3-part Montessori cards.

These are also called “3-part cards.” You can read this article to find out more about how nomenclature cards can be used with preschoolers. In Montessori practices, there’s a very specific routine that I sometimes like to add to my teaching strategies.

>>> What are Montessori 3-Part Nomenclature Cards? <<<

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #5 – Concentration

If you make two printouts of these cards, you can also play concentration games. Simply cut out both sets of cards, mix them up, and lay them on the table face down. Then take turns flipping over two cards at a time to see if they match.

Concentration (or Memory–the game can be called either name) is very appropriate for developing preschool critical thinking skills.

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme, Winter-themed preschool activity featuring Arctic animal cards for learning.
Grab your free arctic animal activities at the end of this post.

Even toddlers can play memory games! Try starting with fewer matching sets, like 3-4 sets at a time, or just leave all the cards face up in rows and ask your toddlers to take turns finding matches.

Arctic Animals Learning Activity #6 – Go Fish

Another easy game to play with these cards is Go Fish. Print out four copies of the cards, cut them out, and mix them up. Divide the cards equally among all players and then play a typical game of Go Fish.

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme, Arctic animal cards designed for counting, sorting, and learning animal names. Preschooler using the cards to play a game of go fish
These free arctic animal matching cards can be used in six different activities!

Arctic Animal Printables

Grab Your Free Arctic Animal Vocabulary Cards Here

Think you can use these cards while doing an arctic theme in your classroom? Grab your own copy by clicking the image below, and then don’t forget to try out all the extra ways to use these cards, too!

free lesson plans for arctic animals preschool theme

Arctic Animal Matching Cards

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Active Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

These arctic animal cards can be used for more than matching activities. Try all six arctic animal activities.

Print this sheet to file away with your arctic animal matching cards. This sheet does not include the cards. The cards must be downloaded from above.

Materials

  • Free arctic animal printable
  • heavy card stock

Tools

  • laminator (optional)
  • arctic animal toys (optional)

Instructions

To prepare:

  1. Download the free printable included in the post.
  2. Print on heavy card stock.
  3. Laminate for added durability (optional).
  4. Cut apart the cards.

Activities Using Free Arctic Animal Matching Cards

  1. Matching Animals - Print out two copies and invite your preschooler to make matches while the cards are face-up on the table.
  2. Describing Arctic Animals - Have your preschooler select a card and describe the animal. If your preschooler struggles for details, ask prompting questions.
  3. Arctic Animal Riddles - Lay out the matching cards for everyone to see. Secretly select an animal and then give clues about the animal for your preschooler to guess.
  4. Matching Animal Names - Print out two copies of the cards and cut apart. Cut off the names from one set of the animal cards. Have your preschooler then match both the animal and its name.
  5. Play Concentration - Print two copies of these cards and play a traditional game of Concentration or Memory.
  6. Play Go Fish - Print two copies of these cards and play a game of Go Fish.

Notes

Please read the post 5+ ARCTIC ANIMAL ACTIVITIES & FREE ARCTIC ANIMAL CARDS for specific details on how each activity might need to be prepped slightly differently. Some activities require cutting off the animals names, while others do not.

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2 Comments

  1. I just stumbled across your post & blog ~ winter art project. Thank you for sharing what I am sure will be a big hit with my Kindergarteners. Your blog is inviting and filled with engaging attainable activities with a purpose. (How refreshing!!). I also appreciate how you have shared a variety of possible extensions which can be used within your chosen theme. Looking forward to visiting your blog on a regular basis!!

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