Animal Antics – Lesson and Game Ideas

Congratulations on printing or buying the Animal Antics Card game for English tuition. They are an adapted version of the trumps card game with easier English for younger and ESL learners and have some added features. If you haven’t seen them yet you can check them out here

These cards can be used in schools and homes and provide easy, simple sentences to practice English and where the words are a little longer we have put a phonetic spelling next to them to help students with segmenting and syllable recognition.

Below you will find a printable rules sheet for tables ( if you have multiple sets) and are using this as a lesson. There are lesson ideas for alternative versions and there are large PDF copies for teachers to use in the classroom or as flashcards either printed or on screen.

We will also highlight the different game or activity ideas here for those who need them on tablet or online. Below you will find some ideas and links to activities you could try.

30 Reading Comprehension Worksheets

These follow the text, mostly, on the cards and ask both simple and higher order questions. so you can assign to your students as you see fit. Although these worksheets work better if you have Animal Antics Trump game they are also able to be used as a stand alone activity. If you need to edit the worksheets there is an editable version in the shop for a dollar. https://makingenglishfun.com/portfolio/animal-antics-reading-comprehension-worksheets-30/ this links to the free one though.

Animal Antics Fun Fact Matching Game

On each Animal Antics Trump card there is a fun fact about each animal, this can be anything from a Whale Shark living for 100 years to a tiger wee smelling of butter popcorn! These facts can be matched with the cards above as part of an whole class exercise, either reading for information or as a guessing game. It can also be used in smaller groups as a matching exercise which encourages reading.

Details are here https://makingenglishfun.com/portfolio/animal-antics-fun-facts-matching-game/

Animal Antics A4 printable instructions

This is an A4 Printable instruction card for use in classrooms or to put on the table so students can read and use it to learn how to play. it can of course be scaled down to use individually if needed. Just download from here 🙂

Animal Matching game.

This can be used with or without the Animal Antics Trumps cards. Here we have the description of the animals and the photos. these can be cut out and played as a simple.matching exercise. We have included all 30 animals here for you to use and 4 templates in case you want to make your own cards or matching activity!

the link to the page is here. https://makingenglishfun.com/portfolio/animal-antics-animal-matching-game/

Classification Activity Animal Antics

On each of the cards we have placed a image of a leaf or a bone, or both. this simple activity ask students to classify which animals are carnivores, herbivores and omnivores. all they have to do is place the cards on the correct paper. We have here 3 A5 printables so students have somewhere to put the cards once they have decided. One each for carnivore, herbivore and omnivore. Simple but effective.

you can download it here

Creative Writing Prompts

Very simple but useful Worksheets. We have placed the images and the names of the animal on to a writing sheet and students can choose or be assigned an animal to research and write about. this works great with the Animal Antics cards.

these can be found here https://makingenglishfun.com/portfolio/animal-antics-30-writing-worksheets/

Classification and superlative activities.

One big advantage of the Animal Antics Cards are the statistics on each card. They can be great for discussion for higher levels, is an orangutan really cuter than a dolphin?, and they can be used for fact hunt activities and superlative games. We have prepared both these in the links below with a series of cards that can start discussions or writing prompts and have tasks for teachers to ask their students. You can download these 20 questions and 4 templates so you can photocopy and create your own, or ask your students to make questions as well!