Home > Preschool Ideas > FREE Printable Ocean Animal Comparing, Sorting and Matching Games for Toddlers and Preschoolers

FREE Printable Ocean Animal Comparing, Sorting and Matching Games for Toddlers and Preschoolers

“Under the sea, under the sea . . ..” My older kids are currently involved in a production of “The Little Mermaid” so that song has been in my head constantly!

And I am happy to share one of our favorite ocean books with you today and two printable ocean activities – sorting, comparing, and matching games.

printable games for kids

I’m the Biggest Thing in the OCEAN BOOK REVIEW

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It’s called “I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean” by Kevin Sherry.

The friendly giant squid on the cover is thrilled to discover that he is bigger than all the ocean life he sees around him.

He is proud of himself for being so large and doesn’t notice the blue whale coming up behind him. But this optimistic squid still sees the glass half full even while inside the belly of the whale.

child reading I'm the biggest thing in the ocean

This book is a great read-aloud for the preschool crew.

The pictures are large, bright, and colorful.

There are not many words on each page so reading it won’t take long (great for those nights you’re running behind but still want to read a book).

It also introduces kids to a variety of ocean life. And the kids will love the funny ending. This is one we read over and over at our house.

Ocean Themed Comparing and Matching Games

child sorting ocean animals

Comparing objects is a great activity for preschoolers and this book makes a great introduction for that skill. 

Talk about size differences with your child and then compare things! Ask these What is questions to your child

  • What is bigger than you?
  • Find the biggest thing in the room!
  • Name something bigger than the house!
  • What’s the biggest thing in your city?
child sorting sharks from biggest to smallest

I made some ocean cards you can print out and use to compare size also. Just download the file, cut along the lines, and have your child put the sea creatures in order from largest to smallest or the other way around. You can laminate the cards to make them last longer.

child playing with free printable ocean animal sorting cards

Other things you can compare with your child:

Compare other aspects of items other than just size – you can put things in order of hardest to softest, cleanest to dirtiest, fastest to slowest, or any other opposites you can think of.

ocean animal matching cards game for kids

I also made a set of ocean matching cards to play a memory game. Print the cards onto cardstock (and laminate for durability), mix them up and lay them out upside down. Take turns flipping over two cards and see who can make the most matches. This is a great game to develop memory.

Reading books with your kids is such an important thing to do and adding activities like this creates excitement about reading and learning. Please stop by my blog Chicken Babies for more ideas of ways to read and play with books.

Loved playing this FREE Printable Game with your Preschoolers, then why not print and download some of our other Free Printable Games to play with your kids.

More Ocean Themed Fun for Toddlers and Preschoolers

Why not try some other of these Ocean themed activities and crafts with your tots

sea turtle crafts collage for kids
simple ocean sensory play with kids
paper plate beach wreath to make with the kids
Ocean animal free printable games for kids
Author
Erin From Chicken Babies

Erin was a schoolteacher before becoming an at-home teacher to her 4 children. She loves coming up with creative ways to teach her kids and sharing those ideas on her blog, Chicken Babies.

There you will also find lots of birthday party ideas, book lists, educational tools and lessons, and thoughts about parenting.

You can find her on Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook

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