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Home > Homeschool > Early Learning > Discovering Animals & Animal Sounds
Discovering Animals & Animal Sounds
I wasn’t sure, for the longest time, whether I should make this a subject of its own or incorporate it into the other subjects, but finally decided it was worth creating a subject out of.
Children have a very special place in their heart for animals, which is why so much of children’s literature and learning activities feature different animals.
There is so much your child can learn about the world around them by observing and learning about the animal kingdom.
Printable Farm Animal Movement Cards
These Animal Movement Cards are great for both teaching your child the different things that animals do as well as getting your child up and moving about acting out the different motions.
At the Zoo Emergent Reader
This cute little At the Zoo Emergent Reader is great for both preschool animal studies or early reader sight words.
Build a Miniature Zoo
Building a Miniature Zoo can be lots of fun, and if you really engage with your child during this activity it can be a really great opportunity to discover and learn about the different animals.
Good Night, Gorilla
Good Night, Gorilla: Building the Story with Lego. If you’re not familiar with the book “Good Night, Gorilla”, it is a really cute children’s story about a zoo keeper that is so tired he doesn’t notice the monkey getting a hold of his keys and letting out all the animals in the zoo. There aren’t a lot of words in this book, just very simple diologue of “Good night gorilla”, “Good night elephant”, etc. The minimal dialogue leaves a LOT to the imagination and parents can tell the story any way they like.
Reading this book together and engaging in the activity of Building Your Own Lego Zoo can be a great opportunity to teach children about the different animals and about life a zoo, with fun and play built right into the lessons.
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Zoo Animal Reports
Whether you take your child on a field trip to a real zoo or make your own little zoo at home, these Zoo Animal Reports can be a great educational addition to the experience.
Printable Animal Masks
These Printable Animal Masks add a degree of pretend play to any zoo or animal study.
Paper Plate Animal Crafts
Paper Plate Animals make for a very fun and fairly easy children’s craft. You could give your child a choice of making their favorite animal, or you could choose which animal craft to do depending on the study or theme you are doing at the time.
Zoo Animal Stick Puppets
These Zoo Animal Stick Puppets can be a lot of fun to play with, but this collection can also be used in several educational activities. The artwork is great, and there is a nice collection of jungle and rainforest animals, polar animals, safari animals, and even sea animals. And as if that isn’t enough, this website also has collections of dinosaurs and circus animals too.
YouTube: Curious George Goes to the Zoo
Curious George Goes to the Zoo. This is a fun little read-
YouTube: Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals (Baby Einstein)
Baby Einstein Neighborhood Animals. This is a cute little video that introduces very young children to the basic animals. I really appreciate the fact that Baby Einstein videos do not “over stimulate” children, but teach in a very calm, gentle way.
>> Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals Part 1
>> Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals Part 2
>> Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals Part 3
>> Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals Part 4
>> Baby DoLittle Neighborhood Animals Part 5
We also really like the Baby Einstein Old McDonald video featuring animals on the farm!
YouTube: Baby Animals (Toddler Fun)
Baby Animals. This short video clip teaches children about different animal names, with a special focus on what the baby animals are called.
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Animal Habitat Sorting Mats
Learn about different types of animals and where they live with these fun Animal Habitats Sorting Mats, which include rainforest, ocean, desert, polar, woodland and wetland habitats!
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>> Preschool Animal Habitat Sensory Bins
>> Animal Habitat Mini Sensory Tubs
YouTube: I Got a Habitat
I Got a Habitat is a cute little music video that introduces kids to animal homes and what the word “habitat” means.
Ten Free Printable Play Scenes
These Printable Play Scenes can be laminated and used as playdough mats, finger puppet backgrounds, or animal play mats. Featuring the beach, forest, farm, under the sea, and more!
Animal Continent Sheets
These Animal Continent Sheets aren’t free, but the $5 cost is pretty reasonable. This is a great way to introduce children to the different continents on the map and the different animals that live there.
If you don’t want to pay for the pre-
You may also like: Continent Coloring Pages.
Animal Pattern Matching
I found this picture on Pinterest, but unfortunately there was no link attached to the picture so I went ahead and compiled some animal pattern pictures of my own for doing a similar matching pattern activity.
>> Download Free Animal Pattern Matching Cards <<