10 Fun Ways to Teach Children How to Identify Different Animals

10 Fun Ways to Teach Children How to Identify Different Animals

10 Fun Ways to Teach Children How to Identify Different AnimalsLast September when I was out shopping for preschool materials for my youngest son, I picked up some animal flash cards. He was already learning about animals and the different sounds that they make at daycare when we decided to pull him out. If you are just starting a home preschool or teaching your child at home, you should add animals to your curriculum. Children love learning about animals because they are cute, fun, and make lots of noises that fascinate them.

Why Teaching Kids About Animals Is A Good Idea?

Animals share the world around us. We all know that some animals are safe for children to be around. However, there are other types of animals that we want to teach our child to stay far away from. Showing your child photos of the different animals can help your child to be able to recognize them. As you are teaching your child how to recognize them, you can even go a step further and teach them a few facts about them including safety, caring for them, and what type of sound they make. For example, you wouldn’t want your child to bring home a poisonous snake or a skunk. If you own pets, you can use this opportunity to teach your child how to properly handle and care for their animals.

 

10 Fun Ways to Teach Children How to Identify Different Animals

Learning doesn’t have to be a boring task, there are plenty of fun ways to teach kids about animals. They learn and recollect better when they are having fun.

  1. Animal flash cards are a great way to teach your child about a wide variety of different animals. You can find a variety of flash cards at Dollar Tree, Target, Walmart, and Cram.com. Along with the flash card you can incorporate sounds associated with the respective animal thereby teaching the child about animal sounds at the same time.
  2. Visit your local library and find a wide variety of books that you can use to teach your child about the different animals.
  3. Take a field trip to the Zoo, such as the Fort Worth Zoo.
  4. Find online printables for the different animals and print them off for your child to color. As your child is coloring, you can easily discuss each animal with your child. Ask your child questions about the sound that the animal makes, are they safe to handle or touch, where do they live, what they eat, ect.
  5. Enjoy making animal crafts of different animals with your children.
  6. Visit a local petting zoo. Interacting with the animals will give them a whole new perspective. It a wonderful experience for the child to interact in a friendly manner with the animals.
  7. Take your child to the state fair. Most state fairs have livestock and other farm animals. When they can relate a story associated with the animal they identify it better. Seeing and experiencing something first hand is a sure shot way to build memory relating to the thing.
  8. Find a local farm in your area and plan a visit. A day out in the company of animals, seeing them in their natural habitat helps the kids learn better about them.
  9. Plan a trip to a wildlife refuge.
  10. Watch animal planet together. Let’s face it, we can’t really take them to all the places we want to but we can surely not let that become a handicap. Also, it is not always possible to see the animals in their natural habitat so TV serves a great alternative. Sit with them, explain them and see them enjoy and learn!

 

Muddpuppy Ring Flash Cards ABC AnimalsFarm Animals PuzzleBrown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See Book of Animals

 

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Did you have fun teaching your kid about animals? What is your child’s favorite animal? Do let us know you if you know of any more creative and fun ways to teach children about animals.

Comments

26 responses to “10 Fun Ways to Teach Children How to Identify Different Animals”

  1. Echo Avatar

    Great ideas! We love Brown Bear and we also love the Animal Alphabet Song!

    1. Christy Avatar

      I love Brown Bear too. I know that my youngest son loves listening to silly toddler songs on Pandora.

  2. Shannon Avatar
    Shannon

    What great ideas. Thank you for sharing with us.

    1. Christy Avatar

      Your welcome. Have a great day Shannon.

  3. Mileecyrus Avatar

    Quite interesting article dear,..and thanks for the valuable tips

    1. Christy Avatar

      Your welcome. 😉

  4. Nikita Avatar

    These points you have mentioned here, reminds me of my childhood days.
    The ideas you have shared here, can really be helpful for children to identify animals.

    1. Christy Avatar

      Thank you for visiting, I am glad that my post reminded you of your childhood days. Where was your favorite place to visit with animals?

  5. Ashley Avatar
    Ashley

    These are great ideas! Thank you!!

    1. Christy Avatar

      Your welcome.

  6. Debbie Bills Avatar

    Hi Christy,

    I agree that teaching your toddler about animals is very important. Great ideas you have here for doing just that. Did you also know that it is very important to teach them animal sounds,. When they learn the animal sound it is much easier for them to learn to talk. If they don't learn the animal sound they have a very good chance of being slow and talking.
    I like the puzzles with animals most because they do make the sound of the animal also,
    Have a great day.
    Debbie

  7. Emma @ P is for Preschooler Avatar

    Books are a great way to learn different animals if you don’t live near a place where you can see them in person, or you just don’t like going to zoos or circuses. And if you really get into it, with animal noises and everything, all the better!

    1. Christy Avatar

      I didn’t even think about the circus when I wrote this post but I agree books are a great way to teach children about animals. My youngest son loves our animal flash cards and enjoys making the animal sounds.

  8. Christy Garrett Avatar

    My youngest son love making the animals sounds. He always smiles when I pull out the animal flash cards. Thank you so much for contributing and adding your knowledge.

  9. Dominique Goh Avatar

    We use a lot of flashcards, interactive storybooks and storybooks too to talk about animals. My kids don’t really like “real” animals so we don’t visit zoos.

    1. Christy Avatar

      Real animals can be scary for some kids. I haven’t taken my youngest son to the zoo yet, maybe one day.

  10. patricia Avatar
    patricia

    i used to have one of those crank thingies that spins and lands on the animal and thats how I learned them!

    1. Christy Avatar

      I remember those toys, they were called See and Say. My grandmother had several different ones at her house for the kids to play with (she had a home daycare center). I don’t know if they are still available on the market.

  11. Shakilah Daniel Avatar

    Such great ideas! I LOVE Brown Bear. Thank you for sharing this and I will be passing it on.

    1. Christy Avatar

      Brown Bear is one of my favorites. I need to pick up a copy for my youngest son. 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing Shakilah.

  12. Marry An Avatar

    What great ideas. Thank you for sharing with us.

  13. Marry An Avatar

    reat ideas! We love Brown Bear and we also love the Animal Alphabet Song!

  14. merry christmas Avatar

    I LOVE Brown Bear. Thank you for sharing this.

  15. WHITLEY OLGA Avatar

    so cool ideas.
    appreciate that.

    for my son, animals song did work.

    The pigs are pink and plump,
    The pigs are pink and plump.
    They keep cool in mud all day,
    The pigs are pink and plump.

    Sung to the famous nursery tune of ‘The Farmer in the Dell,’ this is another one of my son’s favourite animal description songs.

  16. Amanda Drew Avatar

    My kids love animals, but they’re too young to actually know anything about them. I like your suggestion to take kids to state fairs so that they can see and interact with the animal first hand. I’d like them to be able to touch a number of animals too, so maybe I should try to find an animal program in addition that specifically teaches about a lot of animals.

  17. Sarah Palmer Avatar

    great ideas. Thank you for sharing this and I will be passing it on.