Zoo animals. Ethan was a little disappointed at first and kept asking for the train books, but by the end of the week he decided he likes animals too. Last week during train week Brielle kept wanting the zoo books, so she was excited for this week. I try to alternate our themes to focus on kids interests while also introducing new ideas.
Learning Activities
counting animals and identifying the numbers
first letter sounds (we used this idea last week with trains)
We talked about carnivores and herbivores, it was still a bit hard for the kids to grasp the concept of what ate what and that plant eaters didn't just eat leaves but the fruit and vegetables could be plants.
And also a lot of zoo worksheets. (Brielle requests them)
Games
Zebra Dominoes. A fun way to review colors. Because it was so easy to throw in an envelope and take with us, it kept us entertained while out and about this week. It was a great distraction at the Doctor's office.
We also played a lot of Hungry, Hungry Hippos and a new favorite game that Ellie got for her birthday Where is Sock Monkey. Ethan of course hides the monkey in the same place every time and LOVES to find it.
Pretend Play
a lot of time was spent playing zoo keeper and feeding all the animals. My backyard was filled with zebras, giraffes, lions, tigers and bears. Oh My!
We acted out being different animals and guessing what they were. Ethan loves pounding on his chest like a Gorilla.
Playing with Food
Animal cookies were the top snack of the week. We spread peanut butter on graham crackers and trapped the animals in their cages.
We also played a lot of 'don't feed the animals!' (played like Don't Eat Pete, for those that know that game.) You are supposed to shout out when they pick up the food item from the square that you had decided on. Brielle however asked me not to shout because it scared her, so we had to just ask politely to not eat that animal's food.
Paper Plate Masks
my idea was for the kids to make something like this elephant or monkey mask, but I let them use their own ideas to create. They didn't look quite how I envisioned, but the kids enjoyed it more than if I made them do it my way.
We looked at some of our zoo books and the kids decided which animal they were trying to make. Ethan wanted a crocodile (because it was green), Lissy a blue peacock (although sometimes her favorite color is yellow, so she wanted both), Brielle an elephant, and Gavin was still focused on the 'ghost snake' idea that he kept creating two weeks ago when we were talking about insects.
Books
Brielle loved Never EVER Shout at the Zoo by Karma Wilson. Because of the way the story ends, it has sparked an interest in Dinosaurs (which we will learn about later this summer).
A Trip to the Zoo by Alison Jay was another favorite. It is a wordless story, but has pictures of stories to follow (i.e. what happens to this hat through the book) I love that you can look at it over and over focusing on something different each time.
LA ZOO
And of course, what would a week of learning about zoo animals be without a trip to the zoo? We went on Saturday so that James could join us, which allowed Papa Finlay to come as well.
It was a fabulous day.
Preschool Packs (for printable worksheets/games)
http://www.2teachingmommies.com/2011/03/zoo.html
http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/2011/03/z-is-for-zoo.html
http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2010/01/prek-letter-z.html
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