Walk into almost any preschool room and you will find the same thing: children who light up at a picture of a bear or a fox. These free woodland animals preschool printables use that love to practice real skills. There are ten black and white pages, from a forest coloring scene to name tracing, counting and beginning sounds.
Every page is its own PDF, so you can print one for a quiet moment or the whole set for a forest animals preschool week. They also work as simple woodland animals worksheets for early kindergarten, because the harder pages stretch a little further than the easy ones.
Free Woodland Animals Printables to Download
Look at each preview, then press its Download PDF button. The pictures are only previews, so the button does the downloading.
1. Woodland Animals Coloring Page
A forest scene with a tree, deer, rabbit, bear, fox and squirrel ready to color.
2. Woodland Animal Names Tracing
Trace the dotted names of six woodland animals on handwriting lines.
3. Woodland Animals Shadow Match
Draw a line from each animal to its matching shadow for visual discrimination practice.
4. Count the Woodland Animals
Count the deer, raccoons, foxes and rabbits and write each total in a box.
6. Big and Small Woodland Animals
Compare three sizes of the same animal and circle the biggest one.
9. Woodland Animal Cards
Twelve cut-out cards with a picture and a name for matching and memory games.
10. Draw Your Favorite Woodland Animal
A big drawing frame plus writing lines to finish the sentence about a favorite animal.
Want everything in one go? This single PDF holds all 10 pages in the order shown above:
How to Use These Woodland Animals Printables
I like to start with the coloring page and a short talk. Ask where these animals live, what they eat and which ones sleep through the winter. Children who have just talked about a hedgehog draw and write about it with far more to say.
The name tracing page uses dotted letters on proper writing lines, so children see where each letter sits. Let them start at the top of every letter and say the animal word as they go. The shadow match and the different-one pages train the eye to notice shape, which helps later with telling letters apart. Count together on the counting page, pointing to each animal once so nothing is counted twice.
Beginning sounds is the page most children ask to repeat. Say the animal slowly, stretch the first sound, then let them pick the letter. The puzzle and the cards give scissor practice and a game afterward: lay the twelve cards face down for memory, or sort them by size, color or where the animal lives.
Differentiating for Preschool and Kindergarten
For three and four year olds, stay with coloring, shadow match, big and small, and the drawing page. Cover half of a busy sheet if it looks like too much. For kindergarten, add name tracing, counting, beginning sounds and the writing lines on the last page, and ask for a second sentence about why they chose that animal.
Answer Key
Page 3, shadow match: deer goes to the fourth shadow, bear to the fifth, rabbit to the first, raccoon to the third and squirrel to the second. Page 4: deer 3, raccoon 5, fox 4, rabbit 6. Page 5, the different one by column: moose 3, beaver 3, skunk 1, rabbit 4, bear 2. Page 6, the biggest animal: first, second, second, first, third. Page 7: bear b, deer d, fox f, rabbit r, moose m, owl o.
Frequently Asked Questions
What age are these woodland animals printables for?
They suit children aged 3 to 6. Preschoolers can enjoy coloring, matching and size pages, while kindergarteners can add name tracing, counting and beginning sounds.
Do I need a color printer?
No. The pages are black and white and made for crayons, markers or pencils, so any printer works.
Do I need to print all 10 pages?
No. Each page is its own PDF, so print only what you need. The bundle holds all 10 pages in one file.
Can children cut out the puzzle and cards themselves?
Yes, with child-safe scissors. Cut the large puzzle pieces first, since the straight lines are easy to follow, and keep the cards for later.
Can I use these worksheets for free in class?
Yes. Print as many copies as your class, daycare or co-op needs, with no sign-up. Please link back to this page rather than posting the PDFs elsewhere.
Related Free Printables
- Wild animal coloring pages: more animals to color after the forest scene.
- Free animals flashcards printable: extra picture cards for naming and matching games.
- Phonics for kindergarten worksheets: more beginning sound practice once children know their letters.
- School readiness worksheets: a wider set of pre-writing and early skill pages.
- Free autumn activities worksheets: seasonal pages that pair well with a woodland theme.
- Apple worksheets for preschool: another themed set of free printables for the same age.
Print a few pages and let the forest come to your table. These free woodland animals preschool printables keep small hands busy for several days.
