Free Animal Tracks Printable Cards | Nature Activity

These animal tracks printable cards are such a great way to get your kids outside and enjoying the great outdoors. There are so many fun ways to use these free printable cards, they are perfect for the little explorer in your life!

cut out animal track cards on table

These animal track cards are perfect for kids of all ages and a great introduction to animal track identification skills. You can also play some really fun games with these cards which I have listed below!

As you come across a grey squirrel, white-tailed deer or grey wolf you can now take out your animal track cards to identify the footprints and learn more about the animal that matches the track you found! 

These cards are perfect for all seasons. In the warmer months look in muddy areas or go out after a fresh rain to find some awesome animal footprints.  In the winter months it is so much fun to find animal tracks in fresh snow. As you go out keep note of the different animals you find and the season you found them in. You can have your child journal about the tracks they found including the size, identifying factors and where they found them at.

pairs of animal photos and animal tracks sitting on table

About These Free Animal Track Cards

This printable includes 14 different animal footprints and a picture of the animal that matches the track. The animals include:

  • Bear
  • Fox
  • Deer
  • Owl
  • Beaver
  • Moose
  • Dog
  • Squirrel
  • Wolf
  • Raccoon
  • Badger
  • Rabbit
  • Porcupine 
  • Skunk 

I printed a set on card stock and this seemed to be the perfect thickness to protect the cards from little hands that will be playing with them. If you print on regular printer paper I recommend laminating them.

animal track cards tied together with twine at top

Ways To Use Your Animal Track Cards

Take your cards and single hole punch the top corner and connect together with a clasp or string to take with you on your outdoor adventures. They are a great reference to turn to when you find an animal track.

When your child identifies an animal track have them look up an interesting fact about that animal.

Have the adult hold the animal track cards and when a child finds animal prints and is able to identify the animal it belongs to give them the matching animal card, see how many animal cards each child can get!

Practice matching the animal track to the animal card, the memory game outlined below is really fun for kids and a great activity for center time or independent play time.

Lay out each animal card and have your child put the matching foot print next to the animal it matches to. While doing this have them identify 3 unique things about that track (it has 3 toes, it has sharp claws, the foot is webbed). This matching game allows them to start identifying different tracks based off of their unique characteristics and understand the wide variety of different kinds of footprints.

animal track cards laid out for animal memory game

Animal Tracks Printable Memory Game

This is such a fun animal track game for kids! Just flip all of the cards over so you can’t see the picture or track. Then each child gets to take a turn to try to flip over the animal and right track card that matches with the animal. Keep going until all of the animals have been matched with their track. 

I have included the animal’s name on all of the cards to help with those early reading skills/word exposure. My kiddo in 1st grade loves playing this game. It is a welcome, fun break from day to day activities. If you are playing with younger kids they may need a little extra prompting but it is amazing how fast they pick up on the game!

For older kids take your laminated cards and black out the animal name with tape or a black erase marker to provide an added challenge. 

copy of all printable pages for animal tracks

Your Free Printable Animal Tracks Cards

Fill out the form above and the free printable PDF file will be emailed to you immediately. These animal track cards are for personal use or classroom use. I hope your kids love this interactive way to learn about animal tracking and identification!

animal track cards laying out together on table

Other Fun Animal Games & Activities

I would love to hear from you if you have used these animal track cards with your kids and what your favorite way to use them was!

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