Big and Small with Zoo Animals

Find the big one! This preschool worksheet shows zoo animals at different sizes, and a child spots the biggest. Weighing the sizes and picking the largest — which a lion, a zebra and a giraffe is the big one? — is the simplest size judgment there is, a comparison a child makes well before counting. Each pick sharpens a young child's eye for the bigger of two pictures.

Comparing sizes is one of a child's earliest reasoning moves: holding two things side by side and judging which is bigger. A preschooler can tell a big zoo animals from a small one well before counting, and picking the larger each time sharpens that judgment. The whole task is a single, clear comparison — bigger or smaller — repeated until a child's eye for which of two things is larger is quick and sure.

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 fourth of july things, or try big and small with household things. 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.