These animal tracks printable cards are a fun way to get kids outside and turn a walk, hike, or backyard adventure into a hands on nature activity. The free printable includes 14 common animal tracks, making it easy for kids to compare the footprints they find outside with the cards and start learning how to identify animals by their tracks.
Whether you're exploring fresh snow in the winter, looking for muddy footprints after a spring rain, or simply heading outside for a nature walk, these are a great resource for little explorers, and don't forget your toilet paper roll binoculars! You don't need to be an expert at animal tracking to make this a fun learning experience, just grab the cards, head outside, and see what you can discover together.
Quick Look: Animal Tracks Printable Cards
- 🌲 Activity: Animal Track Identification & Nature Activity
- ⏱ Activity Time: 20-30 minutes, or as long as you want to explore
- 👧 Recommended Age: Preschool through elementary age
- 🐾 What You Need: Free printable animal track cards and optional cardstock or laminating supplies
- 🍂 Best For: Nature walks, outdoor learning, classrooms, homeschool, camping, and independent play
- 👌 Difficulty: Easy and adaptable for a variety of ages
- 💡 Why this Works: Kids get to use observation and matching skills while exploring the outdoors and learning that different animals leave behind different kinds of footprints.
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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 as well!
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.
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About These Free Animal Track Cards
This free printable includes 14 different animal footprints, along with a picture and name of the animal that made each track.
The animals included are:
- Bear
- Fox
- Deer
- Owl
- Beaver
- Moose
- Dog
- Squirrel
- Wolf
- Raccoon
- Badger
- Rabbit
- Porcupine
- Skunk
I printed a set on cardstock, which seemed to be the perfect thickness to hold up when thrown into a hiking pack. If you print the cards on regular printer paper, I recommend laminating them so they hold up better when you're taking them outside.
You can also hole punch the cards in one corner and connect them with a binder ring, clasp, or piece of string. This makes it easy to turn them into a little animal track identification guide that kids can carry along on your outdoor adventures.
How to Use These Animal Track Cards
There are so many ways to use these cards, both indoors and outside. Here are a few of our favorite animal track activities for kids.
Take the Cards on a Nature Walk
The simplest way to use the printable is to take the cards outside with you!
Look for animal tracks in places where animals are likely to travel. After a fresh rain, muddy areas can be a great place to look for footprints. In the winter, fresh snow makes it especially easy to spot tracks.
When your child finds a footprint, compare it to the animal track cards and see if you can figure out which animal made it.
You can keep track of the animals you find throughout the year and make note of what season you saw the track, where you found it, and what the footprint looked like.
Look for Track Clues
Once your child finds a track, encourage them to look closely at its characteristics.
Ask questions like:
- How many toes does it have?
- Are there visible claws?
- Is the footprint wide or narrow?
- Are the front and back feet different?
- Does the animal have webbed feet?
- How large is the track?
This helps kids understand that animal tracks aren't just random footprints. The shape, size, and details of a track can give us clues about the animal that made it.
Learn About the Animals You Find
Once your child identifies a track, take some time to learn something new about that animal.
You could look up where the animal lives, what it eats, what time of day it is most active, or another interesting fact. This turns a simple nature walk into a larger animal science activity for kids.
Animal Tracks Printable Memory Game
You can also use these cards to play a fun animal tracks memory game!
To set up the game, turn all of the cards face down so the pictures and tracks aren't visible. Players take turns flipping over two cards at a time, trying to find the animal card and matching track card.
Keep playing until all of the animal and track pairs have been matched.
I've included the animal's name on the cards, which also gives younger kids some early reading and word-recognition practice. My first grader loved playing this game, and it was a fun break from our usual day to day activities.
Younger children may need a little extra prompting at first, but they tend to catch on quickly once they understand how the matching works.
For older kids, you can make the game a little more challenging by covering the animal names with tape or blacking them out with a dry-erase or black marker after laminating the cards. This takes away the written clue and encourages kids to rely more on the animal's picture and their memory.
Your Free Printable Animal Tracks Cards
Fill out the form above and the free printable PDF file with the animal tracks cards will be emailed to you. Please note that this email can take up to 15 minutes to send, please check your junk or spam folders if you don't see it in your inbox. 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 Tracks Cards FAQs
Start by encouraging kids to look closely at the footprint and notice its size, shape, number of toes, claws, and other unique features. Then compare what they see with the animal track identification cards. You can also talk about where the track was found and what other clues might be nearby.
Mud and freshly fallen snow are two of the easiest places to spot animal tracks. After a rain, look for muddy areas where animals may have passed through. In winter, fresh snow can make footprints especially easy to see. You can also look along trails, near water, around gardens, or in other areas where animals are active.
Animal tracks can help kids practice observation, matching, critical thinking, and early science skills. Looking closely at footprints can also introduce children to animal identification and help them understand how scientists use clues to learn about animals.
These printable animal track cards can be used for a science center, matching activity, memory game, nature study, or animal identification lesson. You can also laminate the cards and keep them available for independent learning or take them outside for a nature walk.
Other Fun Animal Games & Activities
If your kids love learning about animals, here are a few more activities to try:
If you tried these Animal Tracks Printable Cards or any other activity on our blog please let us know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Wow! Beautiful! In our yard we need to include kitty and chicken prints too, haha!
Thank you Jen! It sounds like you have a fun backyard 🙂
What an adorable game we actually bought a similar match the tracks card game. Very beautiful and fun!
How fun! So glad you like them!
Hi 🙂
I have entered my email address to recieve the beautiful free printable animal cards but unfortunately it doesn‘t work. Would you please send it again to my mail address? [email protected]
That would be awesome! The printable looks so great, my kids would love these ❤️ thank u!
Hi Eva-Maria! Thanks so much for reaching out- I just sent you an email with the link- be sure to check your junk/spam folders as sometimes our emails get caught in spam filters. Thank you so much for your kind words- I hope your kids enjoy these fun cards! 🙂
I would love to use these beautiful animal track cards at the outdoor preschool I work at.
Thank you
Hi Laurea- that sounds like a perfect use for these! You can put your information in the green box towards the end of the post and we will get the PDF file emailed to you. I hope the kids you work with enjoy these!
Bonjour
Magnifique travail ! Les dessins sont si doux !
C'est possible de l'avoir sur mon adresse mail : [email protected]
Merci et bonne continuation
I'm not able to find where to sign up so i can get the printable emailed to me. Please send to my email.
[email protected]
Hi Janell- There is a box under the section "Your Free Printable Animal Tracks Cards" that you can fill in with your email address and the cards will be sent to you immediately, sometimes the box takes a few seconds to load. Please let me know if you still don't receive them after completing that form. I hope you enjoy them!
I have signed up, but didnt receive the animal tracks. I even checked my junk mail
Hi Teresa- Thanks so much for reaching out about the animal tracks cards. I was able to look in our back end and it looks like the email was sent but sometimes they get filtered out by email providers so I'm glad you reached out! I just sent you a personal email with the link- please let me know if you don't get it!
Hello. I have subscribed but have not received the flashcards yet. Can you resend them?
Hi Karen- I just resent them to you. Be sure to check your junk/spam folder as sometimes our emails get filtered out by some servers. I hope you enjoy them!
Hello,
I signed up for your newsletter by filling out the green box to get the PDF of the animal footprints. I confirmed my email address but I have not yet received a copy of the PDF. I have checked my spam folder as well. Would be able to please email that to me? Thank you so much for you help and for the animal track cards!
Hi Kriby, I just sent you an email with the PDF for the animal tracks cards. Thanks so much for letting us know you didn't get them!
Hello,
I haven't received the PDF. I have confirmed my email, but it's not in Spam either. Could you please send it to me? Thank you.
Hi Silvia- I just sent you an email with the link to the animal tracks cards. Be sure to check you junk and promotion folders as well as some email carriers filter our emails into those folders. I hope you enjoy them!
Hello, I have not received an email with a printable! Wondering if you could resend it?
Hi Jenna- I just resent them to you, be sure to check you spam and junk folder as some email providers filter our emails out into those folders. Please let me know if you still didn't get them!
Hello, although i singed up, still haven't received the printable cards.
Hi Anna- Thanks so much for reaching out! I just resent you the animal track cards, make sure to check your spam, junk or promotion folders as often email carriers will filter out our emails into one of those folders. I hope you enjoy these!
Hi, Could you please email the tracks and the nature workbook to me too ([email protected])? I registered for both, confirmed the email and checked spam but nothing there. Thanks so much for these beautiful resources!
Hi Christina- Thanks so much for reaching out! I just resent you the animal track cards & nature journal, make sure to check your spam, junk or promotion folders as often email carriers will filter out our emails into one of those folders. I hope you enjoy these!
Hello! Would love to use these for a summer camp I'm doing next week. I filled out the form, but haven't received the cards...not in spam, promotional, etc...can I please get the file emailed to me? Thanks!
You bet! I just resent them to you- please let me know if you still didn't receive them!
I received your email to sign up for the newsletter but no link for the animal tracks printables? Am I missing something? Thanks!!
Hi Cynthia- once you confirm your email a 2nd email will be sent to you with the link to the PDF file of the animal tracks cards- sometimes this second email will fall under a promotions folder depending on your email provider (and sometimes even falls into junk/spam folders). It does take a few minutes for that 2nd email to come after confirmation. Please let me know if you don't get it after confirming your email and I'll personally send it to you! 🙂
I would love these cards for my classroom camping unit! I filled out the green box, confirmed my email, and checked the spam folder. could you please send again to [email protected]
thank you
I'm so glad you reached out! I just sent the animal tracks cards your way and included a few extra activities that may be fun for your camping unit! 🙂
Hi! I filled out the form and did not receive the cards in the email. I'd love to get them for my classroom. My email is [email protected]
Thanks so much for letting us know! I just sent you an email with the animal tracks cards- I hope they work well for your classroom!
Hello! I filled out the form and never received an email. Would love to use them for my class! My email is [email protected]
We just sent an email your way- I hope your students enjoy these!
Hello - have signed up for the news letter but unfortunately have not received the pdf (have checked junk and spam). Would love to use these with my kids. Thanks! [email protected]
Hi Molly! I just sent the link your way- let me know if you didn't get it 🙂
Hi! I signed up for the news letter but unfortunately have not received the pdf, and I checked both junk and spam. I would love to use these with my students. Thanks! My email is [email protected]
Hi Kateriina- thanks so much for reaching out! I just sent you an email with the cards, I hope your students enjoy them!
Hi, Could you send me the links? I have checked spam and junk. I would love to use these with my students. They are adorable!!
Of course! I just sent an email your way- I hope your students enjoy them! 🙂
Hello! These cards are absolutely perfect for my 4K classroom when we explore our woodland animal theme. However, I filled out the link and I have not received an email with the PDF download... I have checked my spam and junk folders also. Could you please send it to me at [email protected] ? Thank you so much!
I just sent an email your way with the link- thanks so much for reaching out and I hope your students enjoy these!
Hi!
I just subscribed to your newsletter for the animal track printable but it did not work. Could you please send me a link to download?
Hi Gina! It looks like the email with the link was sent after you left this comment (sometimes the system lags a little bit) but I just sent you an email with the PDF file just incase that initial email didn't make it to you- I hope you enjoy them!
Hi I filled in my information for the animal track cards. They are amazing and I can't wait to use them. Do you care to send them to my email?
Hi Leslie- It looks like the email with the PDF file made it to your inbox, please let us know if you need anything further, we hope you enjoy these!
Hi! I filled out the form and did not receive the cards in the email. I’d love to get them for my classroom. My email is [email protected]
Hi Kinga- Thanks so much for reaching out! I just resent an email to you with the link to the printable cards, be sure to check your junk and spam folders as our emails can sometimes get filtered out by email providers. I hope your classroom enjoys these!
This are so cool thank you so much
Absolutely! I hope you enjoy them!
Hi,
I filled out the form for the beautiful cards. I have checked my spam/junk but I haven't received anything. Is it possible to resend them please?
Hi Abi- I just resent you an email with the link- hoping this one gets to you! 🙂
Hello! These look gorgeous!I am having the same problem. I haven't received anything and they are not in my spam folder. Could you resend, please?
Thank you! I just emailed you 🙂
Happy New Year! Thanks for the awesome animal prints printable! Do you have a link to the matching plastic animals? Thank you!
Hi Missy- I'm so glad you like these cards! I unfortunately do not have a link to matching plastic animals but what a great idea to pair with these cards!
Hi there,
I seem to be having the same problem that a few users above are having of not receiving the e-mail after subscribing.
I have also checked spam, trash and confirmed my email as well. Thanks in advance for this great resource!
Hi Subbu- it looks like the initial email was sent but I know things can get lost in the email world so just sent you a personal email with the link! 🙂 I hope you enjoy these cards!
Hello!
I have subscribed using my email address, but I haven’t received the email. I’ve also checked my spam folder, but it’s not there. Could you please resend it? Thank you very much for your work, it’s incredible.
Hi Olatz- I'm so glad you like the cards, we enjoy them so much at our house too! It looks like the email got to you and you were able to open the link, but please let me know if this is not the case and I'll send them your way again. : )
I have been reading previous comments and it seems maybe im not the only one with these problems, but i havent received the link to the cards yet. I did receive the email to confirm my email. Thanks so much for your time in making these resources.
Hi Abigail-Thanks for reaching out! It looks like the initial email was sent but just in case it didn't make it to you I just sent you a personal email with the link to the animal track cards. I hope you enjoy them!
Hi! I just wanted to say thank you so much for making sharing these cards! Also, I saw other comments about not receiving the email and wanted to mention that it did not appear in my Inbox or Spam folders for some reason, but it did show up in my "All Mail" folder. Hopefully this will help others!
Hi Kayla! I didn't even think of that folder as a place for our emails to land but that makes a lot of sense! I hope you enjoy using the cards!
Can I get a copy please
Hi Jane- If you fill out the green box that says "Download Your Free Animal Track Cards" towards the end of the post an email will be sent to you with a link to the animal track cards. Be sure to check you junk and spam folders if you don't see the email in your inbox!
Sorry to bother, if you could email to me as well. Have checked all folders. If you could email a copy to [email protected] I would be much appreciative. Thanks for doing this!
Hi Austin- thanks for letting us know- it looks like the initial email was sent to you but I just sent you the link again because I know some email providers can filter out our emails. Please let me know if you don't get it!
Never received the game via email.
Hi Lindsay! It looks like the cards made it to you, I'm so glad 🙂 I hope you enjoy them!
I filled out the form to receive the download in my email, but have not received it. I have checked my junk folders as well, and it isn’t there either.
Hi Taylor! It looks like the email made it to you (yay!), sometimes our email server can take up to 10-15 minutes after you confirm your email to get it sent your way. So glad you got it and I hope you enjoy these. 🙂
I have tried a few times to get the pdf sent to me but it is not working. Could you send them to me as well please?
Hi Nicole! It looks like the cards made it to you (sometimes our emails take up to 15 minutes to send after you request them), please let me know if you have any issues getting them printed off. I hope you enjoy them!
Trying to use this for a project today but signed up for emails and you sent the email confirmation but no printable. I see in the comments many other people had the same issue. I checked my spam and other folders and it's not there.
Hi Kimberly! I just looked on our email backend and it looks like the email made it to you and you were able to get the cards, sometimes there is a little lag between confirming your email and it being sent so I'm glad you got it! I hope the cards worked well for your project! 🙂
Hello!
Love the idea of the game! I did try to subscribe using my email a few times but for some reason I have not received the download link for the Animal Tracks Printable Cards. However I did recieve the Bingo game download link.
If it's possible would you please send the Animal Tracks Printable Cards to my email as I would love to use them with the kids at my work place.
Thank you.
Hi Huda! I'm so glad the BINGO game made it your way, I just sent you an email with the animal track cards. I hope the kids you work with enjoy them!