Adding Up Animal Habitats

Use the Wild Kratts Creaturepedia to choose a local animal to explore (like blue jays, bullfrogs, or gray squirrels). If you know of a particular local animal that’s not in the Creaturepedia, you can choose that, too! Explain to your child that habitat is the home of an animal. Ask your child what types of animals habitats there are around your house, like forests or maybe a lake.

Create an exploration chart: Divide a sheet of paper into two columns by drawing a line down the middle. Label one column “Food” and the other “Shelter.”

Take a walk in the animal’s habitat. Encourage your child to look for items the animal uses for food and shelter. For example: leaves, flowers, sticks, pine needles, and nuts.

Ask your child to write the name, or draw a picture, of each item you find in the appropriate column of the chart. Note: Don’t remove anything from an animal’s habitat because the animal might need it!

After the walk, talk with your child about the different items on the exploration chart. Ask your child math fact questions that relate to the items, such as:

• There a 12 items on your chart. If we take away the ones that your animal uses for food (6), how many items are left? (12 – 6 = 6)
• A squirrel eats nuts and seeds. You have four acorns and two sunflower seeds. How many of the items on the chart would a squirrel eat for dinner? (4 + 2 = 6).
• A beaver builds homes out of sticks. You found three sticks, but your beaver needs ten. How many more does he need? (10 – 3 = 7)

Invite your child to create math questions for you to answer!