Living things and their habitats
Grade 1 · Science
Look closely, sort your discoveries and ask why things happen.
Choose a game
Take your time, try a game and collect stars.
Food chains: who eats what?
Put grass, rabbit and fox in order. A free Grade 1 science game about simple food chains, with a printable worksheet and answers.
Play Food chains: who eats what?Habitats: where do animals live?
Does a polar bear live in the Arctic or Antarctica? A free Grade 1 science game about habitats and microhabitats, with a printable game and worksheet.
Play Habitats: where do animals live?
Learning about living things and their habitats
In this Grade 1 science collection, you can practice Food chains: who eats what?, Habitats: where do animals live?. Choose a game above for a short activity, or explore the examples below before you play. The full guide for each game explains its controls, gives more examples and includes a free printable for practice away from the screen.
Talk it through
Start with something you can observe. Ask your child to describe the evidence for a choice, then compare a second example. A game practices vocabulary and reasoning; practical observation and investigation matter too.
Ask: “What clue helped you decide?” Give your child time to explain. Return to an example after playing and ask whether they would approach it differently.
Food chains: who eats what?
In this game, children see the parts of a food chain mixed up and put them in order, starting with the plant. The chains use plants and animals from British gardens, woods and ponds, plus one from the African grasslands, so children can talk about habitats at the same time. The arrow in a food chain means "is eaten by", and saying it aloud helps children check each step.
Try an example: Put in order: fox, grass, rabbit.
Start with the plant: grass. A rabbit eats grass. A fox eats rabbits.
Show the answer
grass → rabbit → fox
What to look out for
Starting with the biggest animal. Remind children that the chain starts with what gets eaten first: the plant.
Habitats: where do animals live?
This game names an animal and asks which habitat it lives in. Each wrong answer is a habitat the animal really does not live in, so children have to think about how the animal is suited to its home. Look out for the classic trap: polar bears live in the Arctic (the north) and penguins live in Antarctica (the south). They never meet in the wild.
Try an example: Which habitat does a polar bear live in?
Polar bears have thick fur and fat for the cold. They live near the North Pole.
Show the answer
The Arctic.
What to look out for
Putting penguins and polar bears together. Use a globe: polar bears at the top (Arctic), emperor penguins at the bottom (Antarctica).
Practice away from the screen
- At dinner, make a food chain for something on your plate: grass → cow → you.
- Lift a log or flowerpot in the garden and see who lives underneath, then put it back gently.
Curriculum connections
Food chains: who eats what?
Suggested grade 1 practice, selected by skill and reading demand. US states and schools teach these topics in different grades; this is not a state-standards alignment claim.
Next Generation Science Standards teaching connection: Science observation, models and explanations. Use this vocabulary or sequencing game before observing a real example, drawing a model, or explaining an idea with evidence. This is a teaching connection to the NGSS approach, not a claim that the game meets a particular performance expectation. Read the framework.
Habitats: where do animals live?
Suggested grade 1 practice, selected by skill and reading demand. US states and schools teach these topics in different grades; this is not a state-standards alignment claim.
Next Generation Science Standards teaching connection: Science observation, models and explanations. Use this vocabulary or sequencing game before observing a real example, drawing a model, or explaining an idea with evidence. This is a teaching connection to the NGSS approach, not a claim that the game meets a particular performance expectation. Read the framework.
Questions families ask
Where should we start with living things and their habitats?
Start with Food chains: who eats what?. Look at the worked example together, then try a round. If the task feels unfamiliar, use the full game guide or its free printable before trying again.
Does this cover everything taught at this level?
No. These games provide focused practice. Grade suggestions do not replace your school’s curriculum, and any Common Core connection applies only to the skill described.