Has your child ever asked what the difference is between a turtle and a tortoise or between a crocodile and an alligator? Children are curious and often notice similarities and differences in the things around them. Sometimes looking at similarities and differences means looking closer, paying attention to the smaller, finer details.

When asked about turtles and tortoises, the only difference I could think of is that turtles like water and tortoises don't.  I also didn't want to give my child the answer; I wanted us to find out the answer together.  Pursuing the idea of similarities and differences, I've put together a few activities for us to work on together. I will read the story/book, and we will look at each example in the book and look at the model animals. 

We use model animals that we already have at home - except for the Luna Moth lifecycle, which is new.  I want to do something similar for frogs and toads, we don't have any model toads, so I will print some images of frogs and toads that I've found online.

Here we've used the Butterfly or Moth? How Do You Know? book and pieces from a Butterfly and Luna Moth lifecycle set. I've learnt so much about butterflies and moths from reading this. 

This book is really lovely and has lots of big beautiful images. 

I've included the chrysalis and the cocoon here as they are also featured in the book. 

This one is tricky! 🐆 We've used a Cheetahs or Leopards spotting the differences book and cheetah and leopard models. 

An easy way to tell the difference between a leopard and a cheetah is the cheetah has these black lines on the face! Now we know! 

We are using this simple Turtle or Tortoise Spot the Differences book and model turtles and tortoises. I don't know why but we had three different tortoises in our animal collection.

Even if the child doesn't get it right when deciding if it is a turtle or a tortoise, they can still learn a lot in the process. 

Here is the Alligator or Crocodile Spot the Differences book and a model alligator and crocodile. Otto (4yrs) loved all of these activities but especially the alligator or crocodile as he is really interested in dinosaurs. 

Other animals that are similar include:

• Bee or Wasp?
• Llama or Alpaca?
• Frog or Toad?
• Hedgehog or Porcupine?
• Octopus or Squid? 
• Seal or Sea Lion?
• Rabbit or Hare?

While this book isn't only about animals, it looks fun - What's the Difference?: 40+ Pairs of the Seemingly Similar by Emma Strack and Guillaume Plantevin, it includes clementine and mandarin,  sorbet and ice cream, crocodile and alligator, and bacteria and virus. 

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