Last Updated on September 4, 2024 by Sheryl Cooper
Inside: Discover new toddler and preschool animal activities to keep your children busy including sensory activities, fine motor building activities, matching games, and more.
When you ask a toddler or preschooler what sorts of topics they would like to learn about, the answer is commonly some sort of animal. Can you blame them? There are so many to learn about!
Animals are an amazing topic to focus on because they are a large part of their natural world.
Whether your children interact with their pets, observes wild animals while on walks, or simply sees animals in books or movies, they are likely to be thinking about this topic often.
Setting up activities based around this subject provides children the opportunity to discuss their preexisting knowledge of animals while also taking in some new information about how they live.
Fun Toddler and Preschool Animal Activities
Art
Muddy Pigs Art – Paint paper pig cut-outs with brown paint and shaving cream to make mud.
Comparing Animal Tracks – Stamp plastic animals with paint onto paper and compare the tracks that are left behind. (Teach Preschool)
Shredded Paper Sheep – Glue shredded paper down onto a paper plate to make a textured sheep craft. (Housing A Forest)
Cardboard Tube Penguin – Turn toilet paper tubes into cute penguins using black and white paint. (Creative Family Fun)
Lion Portraits – Print off a photo of the child for them to glue strips of yellow paper around their face as a lion’s mane. (Having Fun at Home)
Dramatic Play
Forest Animal Puppets – Paint or color these printable puppets to host a forest puppet show.
Sensory Play
Wash the Animals – Work fine motor skills while scrubbing animals in the water table.
Bird Nest Sensory Bin – Fill a bin with seeds and nature materials to build a nest for the birds. (Fantastic Fun and Learning)
Sensory Habitats – Put together sensory bins themed around different animal habitats, such as the desert or arctic. (The Pinay Homeschooler)
Fine Motor
Animal Rescue – Pull the animals away from the tape using the fingers. (Busy Toddler)
Large Motor
Zoo Animal Movement – Download the free printable cards and do the animal actions. (Elemeno-P Kids)
Circle Time
Farm Animals in the Barn – Download the free printable and invite your children to add their farm animals to the barn.
Brown Bear Story Time Props – Create animal stick puppets to use while reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (Free Printable)
Music
Songs About Pets – Get the kids singing and moving! (Pre-Kinders)
Math
Farm Animal Counting – Download the free printable puzzle to work on numbers 1-5.
Zoo Animals Counting – Create your own zoo using sticks, number each building, and add that many animals. (The Educators Spin On It)
Dramatic Play
Veterinarian Office – Pretend to take care of sick animals.
Animal Safari – Download the printable packet to make your own animal safari tour!
Playdough
Jungle Play Dough – Add natural materials for some fun jungle play. (Picklebums)
Cooking
Animal Tracks Snacks – Invite your children to help create these fun snacks. (Loreen Leedy)
Table Activities
Matching Animal Parents – Preschoolers will match the animal cards together, putting together the adult animal and their baby animal. (123 Homeschool 4 Me)
Bingo Cards – Print out these cards to play a game of bingo featuring various animals. (Kori at Home)
Matching Toys to Pictures – Gather animal toys with real life photos of those animals to be matched together. (I Can Teach My Child)
Sorting Animals – Help preschoolers sort out animals into groups of animals who walk, animals who swim, and those who do both. (Fun Learning for Kids)
Science
Giraffe Skin – Do you know what color giraffe skin is? Try this giraffe science experiment! (Preschool Powol Packets)
Animals Activity Plans
I’ve teamed up with other early childhood teachers and homeschoolers to put together these hands-on animals activity plans for toddlers and preschoolers!
Easy to follow activities that include modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners.
Note: This is a digital product. That means when you make a purchase, you will be emailed a link to the activities.
For more information, click on the graphics below:
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