Learn where big cats live, what they look like, and what they eat in this big cats lesson plan for children with big cat map printable and journal pages.
Big cats lesson plan for children
Let’s learn about big cats, with a printable map of where big cats live and a printable big cats journal page.
This lesson is part of our Cats Unit Study, one of our ready-made thematic units.
In this article, you can:
:: learn about big cats and wild cats: where they live, what they eat
:: learn about the biggest and fastest big cats
:: take pictures of the big cats you see with a printable paper camera
:: write about and draw your favourite big cat
:: play a big cats quiz, to develop language skills and consolidate your learning
:: Play Academy members can download the complete Cats Unit and get all the ready-made lessons and bonus printables, ad-free and all in one place. Find out more and join us here.
Printable paper camera to take photos of the cats around the world
As you read this lesson and the others in Cats Unit Study, pretend you’re going on safari around the world to the different habitats where the cats live.
Use our printable paper camera to take photo of the cats you see. Choose from a phone camera or a traditional camera and start snapping!
See how to print and use our printable paper camera here.
What are the different types of big cat?
The animals of the big cat group include lions, tigers, jaguars, leopards, snow leopards, cheetahs and cougars.
All of big cats, except the snow leopard, can roar. The voice box (larynx) and bones in their throat are specially shaped to make the sound movements (vibrations) which make the roar. The lion has the strongest roar, which can be heard up to 10 km (6 miles) away.
The cat family also includes wild cats, which are smaller than the big cats, and include bobcats, lynx, ocelots, servals, sand cats.
And of course there are many domestic cats too, which lots of people have as a pet.
Where do big cats live?
Big cats live in North and South Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe.
You can download a printable map showing where wild cats live from the Play Academy’s ready-made Cats Unit. Use it to draw lines from the animals name to a place in the world where they live:
African lions (Panthera leo leo) live in Africa, south of the Sahara desert. One small population of Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica) live in the Gir Forest National Park in western India.
Tigers live in forests South and Southeast Asia, China and Eastern Russia.
Jaguars live in the thick rainforests of the Central and South America, in the countries of Brazil, Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, and French Guiana.
Leopards live in northeast and sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, India, and China.
Snow leopards live in central Asia, including southern Russia, Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
Cheetahs live in Africa, mostly in Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia and Botswana.
Cougars live in Canada, the United States of America, through central and South America.
There are four species of lynx. The Eurasian lynx lives in Europe and Asia. The Iberian lynx lives in Spain and Portugal. The Canadian lynx lives in Canada. The fourth species is also know as the bobcat, and lives in southern Canada, the United States of America and in Mexico.
Ocelots live in southwestern United States of America, Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Margarita.
Servals live in most parts of Africa.
Sand cats live in sandy and stony deserts in African Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Chad, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East.
What do big cats eat?
All big cats are carnivores, which means they eat meat.
They are predators and hunt other animals for food.
Most big cats hunt for food by themselves but lions live and hunt together in a group called a pride. Typically it is the female lionesses who are the hunters.
Big cats don’t have to eat every day. Jaguars usually eat daily, but the other big cats only eat every 2 to 5 days.
Jaguars have the strongest jaw of all the big cats. Their bite is twice as powerful as a tiger.
What is the biggest big cat?
The biggest big cat is the tiger. Siberian tigers are the biggest in the world. Measured from the floor to their shoulder, tigers are around 80 – 110 cm (2 ft 7 inches – 3 ft 7 inches). They can be over 3 meters (10 ft long) from their nose to the tip of their tail.
In order of size, from largest to smallest, the bigs cats are: tiger, lion, jaguar, cougar, leopard, cheetah, and snow leopard.
What is the fastest big cat?
The fastest big cat, in fact the fastest land animal in the world, is the cheetah. It can run at over 60 miles per hour, and move with four strides every second.
The cheetah’s body shape is built for speed. Their light, streamlined body can accelerate quickly and change direction easily when they are running. They use their tail to help them balance when turning. They need to use their claws for grip when running and so, unlike the other big cats, they can not retract their claws all the way (pull them back into their paws).
What is your favourite big cat?
Download the printable journal page from the Play Academy’s Cats Unit Study to write and draw about your favourite / favorite big cat.
Big cat quiz questions
Come and see how to use a KWL chart with children to organise what you already know about big cats and what you’re learning, as well as learning even more interesting facts about cats.
Then use our question mark lesson plan to host your own cat quiz. Asking and answering questions is a great skill for children to develop, and a good way to re-cap and consolidate their learning.
Ready-made Cat Unit lesson plans
Save time and teach better by using our ready-made Cat Unit Study. You’ll get a complete week of lesson plans to learn about cats and a collection of activities, arts, and crafts all planned for you: instant download, printables included, no prep needed, and all ad free.
See more details of our Cat Unit and join the Play Academy to access this and all our 50+ ready-made teaching units.
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