Free Hedgehog Printables: 6 Fall Worksheets for K & 1st Grade

These free Hedgehog Hollow printables bring a cozy woodland scene to fall lessons. The six worksheets cover counting, phonics, handwriting, patterns, coloring, and writing, built around a sleepy hedgehog and the things it finds by a mossy log: ferns, a ladybug, a bird nest, and berries.

Kindergartners and first graders are the target age, though preschoolers can join in for the counting and coloring pages. Each worksheet is one page, so it fits into a fall unit or a single afternoon.

Free for your family, co-op, or classroom. Prints on regular letter paper. Every page is checked for mistakes before we post it.

What's in the hedgehog printables

1. Counting hedgehogs

Five rows of the same little brown hedgehog, two to six per row, in mixed order. Kids count the hedgehogs in each row and write the total in the box.

Make it easier: Set out that many small buttons or snacks as your child counts each row.
Make it harder: Ask which row has the fewest hedgehogs, or how many are in the last two rows together.

2. Word match

Five pictures, a ladybug, a nest, a fern, a log, and berries, sit on the left, with the same five words in a different order on the right, ready to match with a line.

Make it easier: Read all five words together before your child starts drawing lines.
Make it harder: Cover the pictures and have your child read each word on its own first.

3. Tracing

The words log, fern, bug, nest, and berry, each beside its picture. Kids trace the dotted gray word, then write it again on their own.

Make it easier: Trace just the first letter of each word together before the whole word.
Make it harder: Cover the dotted word and have your child write it from memory, then check it.

4. Patterns: what comes next?

Four rows built from berries, a leaf, and an acorn, each with its own rule: a simple back-and-forth swap, a repeat with one picture doubled, and a three-item repeat. Kids draw what comes next in the box.

Make it easier: Line up real (or drawn) berries and leaves to build the first row before your child answers.
Make it harder: Have your child name each pattern out loud and invent a new one.

5. Coloring page

A curled-up hedgehog resting beside a mossy log, with ferns, two mushrooms, a bird nest with three eggs, and scattered leaves around it. Thick, simple outlines make it easy for small hands to color.

Make it harder: Have your child name everything in the scene before picking up a crayon: hedgehog, log, ferns, mushrooms, nest.

6. Draw and write

Kids draw themselves with a pet hedgehog in the big box, then finish the sentence “If I had a pet hedgehog, I would ___” on the lines below.

Make it easier: Your child tells you what to write about their pet hedgehog, you write it lightly, and they trace over it.
Make it harder: Write two sentences and read them back, checking for a capital letter and a period.

What kids practice with these hedgehog worksheets

• Counting and writing numbers. Five rows of hedgehogs, two to six each, practice counting a group and writing the total.
• Phonics. Fern and berry both start with the r-controlled er sound. Nest ends in the consonant blend st. Log and bug are short, regular CVC words.
• Handwriting. Tracing the dotted word log, fern, bug, nest, or berry, then writing it again alone.
• Patterns. Spotting the berry-leaf-acorn repeats, early practice for math sequences.

A simple 5-day hedgehog plan

1. Monday: Talk about where hedgehogs like to hide, then do the counting page.
2. Tuesday: Say ladybug, fern, log, nest, and berry out loud, then do the word match.
3. Wednesday: Do the tracing page and point out the er sound in fern and berry.
4. Thursday: Take a short nature walk for a leaf or an acorn, then do the patterns page.
5. Friday: Color the hedgehog scene and finish the draw-and-write page.

Using the set in preschool, kindergarten, and first grade

Preschool: Focus on counting, coloring, and the first pattern row. Have your child point to log, fern, and nest instead of writing them.

Kindergarten: This set needs no changes; go through it page by page.

First grade: Try the harder version of each page and ask for two full sentences on the last page.

How a hedgehog stays safe

A hedgehog’s back is covered in five to seven thousand short spines. When it feels threatened, it tightens a muscle around the edge of its back, curling into a tight ball with its stomach tucked inside and only spines facing out. Hedgehogs are nocturnal: they sleep by day and hunt for food at night. When it turns cold and food is scarce, many hedgehogs hibernate, letting body temperature and heartbeat drop to save energy until spring.

Hedgehog books to read with this set

• The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle by Beatrix Potter
• The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett
• Hedgehog Needs a Hug by Jen Betton
• Hedgehog for Breakfast by Ann Turner

Printing tips and answer key

• Print at full size, not “shrink to fit,” so the pictures line up with the boxes.
• Slip the counting and patterns pages into a sheet protector for reusable, dry-erase practice.

Answers: Counting, top to bottom: 5, 2, 6, 4, 3 (in mixed order). Patterns, top to bottom — Row 1: berry, leaf, berry, leaf, berry (next: leaf). Row 2: leaf, leaf, berry, leaf, leaf (next: berry). Row 3: acorn, berry, berry, acorn, berry (next: berry). Row 4: berry, leaf, acorn, berry, leaf (next: acorn).

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