Big and Small with Birds

This preschool worksheet is all about big and small: a child looks at birds shown at different sizes and finds the bigger one in each pair. Comparing two pictures and deciding which is larger — is this a robin, an owl and a duck bigger, or that one? — is one of a young child's first thinking moves. Weighing two sizes against each other and picking the larger is a quick, two-way comparison, with nothing to order and nothing to count.

Size comparison is the perfect first judgment task: a child looks at two birds, sees that one is bigger, and chooses it. There is nothing to order and nothing to count — just two sizes weighed against each other. Making that bigger-or-smaller call again and again builds the comparison sense, a preschooler's quick eye for which of two things is larger.

Children feel clever spotting the bigger picture every time, and a finished big-and-small worksheet is a small win. When this is easy, compare the sizes in big and small with more birds, or try big and small with christmas. You can also browse every big-and-small worksheet or the whole preschool collection — each sheet prints cleanly or plays online for free, and the more a child compares big and small, the surer their eye for size grows, one comparison at a time.