How to Teach Animals to Preschoolers

Co-authored by Kathy Slattengren, M.Ed.

Last Updated: January 27, 2023 References

If you're wondering how you can best teach your preschoolers about animals, you've come to the right place. We've compiled an extensive list of different ideas and games you can use to introduce animals to your kiddos. There are options here for every learning style, so feel free to pick and choose your favorites or even try them all. To get started, scroll on down!

1

Sing songs about animals.

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Go with an animal-themed nursery rhyme. Try singing some of the classic songs like “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “It’s Bitsy Spider,” and “Mary Had a Little Lamb.” Look up new songs online that you can sing with your kids to make learning about different animals a playful activity.^{[1]
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- You could even try making up a new song with your preschoolers. Even if it’s silly, they’ll love it!

2

Use animal flash cards.

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You can buy packs of animal flash cards from a local department store. You can also print out your own or try drawing your own on notecards. Hold up the image of the animal and ask your preschoolers to identify it. If they get it right, give them lots of love and praise. If they get it wrong, gently correct them and keep up positive energy.^{[2]
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3

Read children’s books about animals.

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Choose books with lots of pictures of different animals. Read the story out loud and point to the images in the book. Ask the children to identify the animals in the book and gently correct them if they guess incorrectly.

4

Make animal art projects.

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Have some fun with paint and construction paper. Draw different animal shapes on construction paper and cut them out so your kids can make a fun collage. Have them paint different animals on drawing paper or construction paper with markers, crayons, or non-toxic paint. The art doesn’t have to be perfect, just keep it fun and relaxed and talk about the different animals while your kids work on their art projects.^{[3]
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- There are a ton of different art projects you could use. Have your kids trace their hands to make the outline for a turkey. Turn toilet paper tubes into adorable penguins by painting them with black and white paint.
- Try looking up different animal-themed art projects you can try out with your kids.

5

Give your kids different animals to color.

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Print out coloring sheets or use a coloring book. What kid doesn’t like to color? Break out some animal-themed coloring books or print out a bunch of blank animal templates. Let the children use their imaginations and use whatever colors they want to fill in the images. While they color, use the time to talk to them about the animals they’re working on.^{[4]
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- For instance, if they’re coloring a lion, you could talk about where lions live, what their mane is for, and what kind of food they eat.

6

Put on a puppet show.

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Print or cut out some simple animal designs and let your children color or paint them. Then, glue the designs to the ends of large craft sticks. Let your children act out different scenarios with their stick puppets and talk to them about the animals so they’re learning while they have some fun.^{[5]
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7

Try a game of blindfold guess.

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Gather some plastic or stuffed animal toys and put a blindfold over your children’s eyes, or have them close their eyes. Give them 1 animal and let them feel it out and try to guess what it is. After they guess, let them check to see if they guessed correctly!^{[6]
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8

Hold animal races.

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Call out an animal and have the kids imitate it as they run. Talk about a few different animals with your children so they know what they are. Line them up outside or somewhere with lots of room for them to run. Call out an animal and have them run a race pretending to be that animal to make it fun and challenging.^{[7]
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- For instance, you could say, “Run like an elephant!” and have them run like they have a trunk, or “Run like a wolf” and have them run on all fours.

9

Take a trip to the zoo.

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If you can take a field trip, check out the local zoo or aquarium. Show your kids lots of different animals and tell them a little bit about each one. Seeing the animals up close can make learning about them fun and exciting.^{[8]
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10

Watch an animal show on TV.

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If you can’t go to a zoo, a TV may be the next best thing. Put on an educational children’s show about animals or an animal documentary and let your kids watch. Talk to them about the different animals that they’re seeing to help reinforce the things they learn on the program.^{[9]
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11

Visit websites that teach animals.

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There are a bunch of different educational sites you can use such as ZooBorns, National Geographic Kids, Walking with Dinosaurs, and Kids Planet. Visit the sites with your kids and look around at the different animals to learn all kinds of cool and interesting facts that your kids will love.^{[10]
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Tips

Some zoos have sections where your kids can touch the animals. But if there isn’t one, you can look for a petting zoo in your area that you can visit with your children.

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