The lion: a short text in English for kids, with questions

Aylara A.

Kids' teacher · founder of AylaraTalks

November 4, 2026 · 5 min read

The lion is the animal every class already has opinions about, which makes it the easiest text to teach: the children want to say things, and the text gives them the English to say them with. Ten sentences, present simple, one fact each, all true.

Level: Pre-A1 to A1, ages 6–11. Pairs with the kangaroo text: the same frame, a different animal, so the second lesson is half the work.

The text

This is a lion.
Lions live in Africa. Some lions live in India too.
A lion is big and strong. It has four legs, a long tail and sharp teeth.
A father lion has a mane. The mane is long hair on his head and neck.
Lions live in a family. A lion family is called a pride.
Lions eat meat. They hunt zebras and antelopes.
The mother lions do most of the hunting.
Lions sleep a lot. A lion can sleep for twenty hours a day!
A lion can roar. You can hear a lion from very far away.
A baby lion is called a cub. People call the lion the king of the animals.

"The mother lions do most of the hunting" is the sentence the class argues about. Let them: an argument in English is the lesson working.

Words to teach first

lion, cub — the animal and its baby
mane — the father's long hair; show it on the picture
pride — a lion family (not the feeling)
hunt — act it out: quiet steps, then a jump
roar — the whole class, once, then never again that lesson
sharp teeth — point at your own

Questions about the text

Where do lions live? (In Africa, and some in India.)
What is a lion family called? (A pride.)
Who does most of the hunting? (The mother lions.)
How long can a lion sleep? (Twenty hours a day.)
What is a baby lion called? (A cub.)

Three things to do with it

True or false, thumbs up or down: "Lions eat grass." (false) "A father lion has a mane." (true) "A lion sleeps two hours a day." (false)
Kangaroo or lion? Read a sentence from either text without the animal's name; the class shouts which one: "It eats meat." "It has a pouch." "It lives in Australia."
My animal, four lines: "This is a ___. It lives in ___. It eats ___. It can ___." Children who finish early add a fifth: "A baby ___ is called a ___."

The kangaroo text Animal games Lion in the picture dictionary

What your pupils will get wrong, and why

"Lions live in Africa" is a general statement, and three first languages handle it three ways. Spanish speakers add "the" ("The lions live"), as Spanish does. Russian and Arabic speakers lose the plural -s, because the number is already clear to them from context. Everyone says "he" for the lion: it is a he in Russian, Spanish and Arabic grammar, and "it" for an animal feels rude. It is not; say so once and move on.

Teachers also ask

Do lions really live in India?

Yes: a few hundred Asiatic lions live in the Gir forest in western India. It is the one fact in the text a child will check at home, so it is in.

Can I use the text with 5-year-olds?

Use the first five sentences only, with the picture, and stop at the questions. The second half is for children who already read.

Take this with you

The lion text is the kangaroo text's twin: same frame, same questions, same writing task, so the class learns the pattern as well as the facts. Ten true sentences, a minute to read, a lesson to teach.

Put it into play

Everything here pairs with our free classroom games — no prep, no accounts.

Open the games

About the author

Aylara A.

Kids' teacher · founder of AylaraTalks

Aylara is a kids' teacher who spent years hand-making every classroom game — cutting cards and drawing boards on paper sheets. She created AylaraTalks so no teacher has to start from a blank page again.

Read Aylara's story aylaratalks@gmail.com @aylaratalks