Animal defenses are the ways animals stay safe. This printable lesson teaches two of them, the armadillo’s armor and the skunk’s warning, with tests and crafts a Kâ2 child can do at the kitchen table.
Take a look inside this animal defenses set
How an animal defenses lesson goes
1
Read together
Two short pages: how the armadillo’s armor works, and what a skunk does before it sprays.
2
Test it, make it
An egg under an egg-carton cup, a striped cup that stinks, then a bending armadillo and a skunk whose tail swings up.
3
Narrate, draw, recall
Your child tells it back, draws it, and answers one question the next day.
SOCRATIC QUESTIONS IN EVERY SET
You don’t need to know the answers. Just ask.
The guide has them. Read it once and you’re ready to talk about the lesson with your child, not just check their work.
- A question for every page
- The answer they’ll likely give, and others you might hear
- A follow-up to ask next
- The real answer, in plain words, for you
FROM THE PARENT GUIDE
“You are a small animal, and a fox wants to eat you. What do you do?”
Likely: I run away.
Or: I hide. / I fight. / I climb a tree.
Follow-up: What if you are slow? What else could keep you safe?
The answer: Every answer is a real defense. Running, hiding, fighting, and climbing all keep animals safe. This set is about two more: armor and a stink.
What’s inside
- Two read-together pages: The Armadillo and The Skunk
- The Armor Test and The Stink Test, two pages each: directions, then dots to color and a drawing box
- Narrate, draw, and recall pages
- A four-line poem to learn by heart, and the same poem as a song (MP3)
- A bending armadillo and a skunk that warns: card-stock pieces joined with brads
- Four coloring pages
- A 6-page parent guide with Socratic questions and sample answers
What you need
- Crayons or colored pencils, and a pencil
- For the Armor Test: two hard-boiled eggs (or two grapes), an egg carton, a spoon, a small towel, and a plate
- For the Stink Test: two paper cups, two cotton balls, vinegar, and a black crayon or marker
- For the crafts: card stock, scissors, a hole punch, and six paper fasteners (brads)
Good to know about these animal defenses
- This animal defenses set goes deep on two animals rather than skimming ten: armor, warning colors, and predator and prey. It does not cover camouflage.
- The tests use kitchen things. Vinegar stands in for the skunk’s smell, and a grown-up handles it.
- No brads? The guide shows how to tape the joints instead. No hole punch? A pencil point through each dot works.
- Print the two pages of craft pieces on card stock, one side only.
- Two PDFs and one MP3 in one download: full color, low-ink, and the song Stay Away!
- Want to meet the real animals first? See the striped skunk at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and the armadillo at the San Diego Zoo.
- More sets are on the Printables page, and a free sample is on the Free page.
Grades: Kindergarten to 2nd, and homeschool. Secular. Licensed for use by one family.
