Hands-on Sorting Vertebrates and Invertebrates

If you have kids interested in animals, teach them about their body structure and expanded their learning of vertebrates and invertebrates with this simple hands-on sorting activity!

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We did this activity a couple of months ago when we were trying out a homeschool curriculum. The curriculum ended up being involving too much reading and writing for Caden at this time, but we still had fun with some hands-on activities I planned to go along with the lessons.

Sorting Vertebrates and Invertebrates

Materials Needed:

variety of animal figurines
cardstock paper
printer
printable pages download

How to Prep & Set Up:

Download and print Vertebrates and Invertebrates free printables pages.
Set out the printable sorting pages with a variety of animal figurines.

Sorting Vertebrates and Invertebrates Lesson:

For this lesson we read about skeletal structures of different animals in the Encyclopedia of Animals.

Then using the free printable sorting pages I made, we sorted a variety of miniature animal figurines. I made the printables with images for non-readers and words for readers. You can print them for free by clicking on the images below. You’re welcome!

I was quite surprised at how much my son understood that some animals have vertebrates or bony skeletons and some creatures are invertebrates or have exoskeletons. He was easily able to sort the animals and creatures to the proper page.

Welcome to another STEM Saturday! Every week we aim to share something related to science, technology, engineering and/or math. Below you’ll find more STEM ideas from the co-hosts!

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