Preschool Science Activities - The Animal World

I put together these preschool science activities based on the following eight facts children must know about animals.

Fact 1: All animals are living things.

Begin by discussing with the children about animals: Q: How do we know that animals are living things? A: They can breathe, they eat, they move, they sleep.

Sort card images of animals and other objects.

Fact 2: All animals grow become adults and have babies.

Q: What would happen if animals did not have babies or if animals never died? You can use this opportunity to discuss the circle of life.

Match the parent animal to the baby animal and teach the children their proper names. (Cow Bull and a Calf)

Fact 3: All animals can move around.

Q: How do animals move around?

Call out the name of an animal and the children need to act out the movement of the animal and the sound it makes.

Fact 4: All animals need food to survive.

Q: What do animals eat? Q: Why is food and water important?

Match up the right food item to the animal. Discuss with the children what would happen if an animal eats the wrong food? Optionals: Classify the animals by their groupings: Carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.

Fact 5: All animals protect themselves.

Q: What do animals need to protect themselves from? Q: What are some ways that animals protect themselves? A: Smell - Skunks Camoflagues - Lizards Hard Shell - Turtle

This is a great way to introduce children to the food chain. Using animal card images or toy animals create the food chain from weakest to strongest.

Books: (to help support your preschool science activities)

Fact 7: Animals live in different habitats.

Animals live in a forest, a farm, the desert, a jungle and the ocean. Q: Why can't a pig live in the desert? Why can't a monkey live on the farm?

Give the children drawings of different habitats and let them draw the right animals in each page.

Fact 8: There are different kind of animals:

• * Insect and spider - insects have six legs, spiders have eight legs.

• * Birds - have feathers and wings. They can fly and walk

• * Fish - have fins and they can breathe under water.

• * Reptiles and amphibians - Reptiles such as lizards live in the desert. Amphibians such as frogs live near water.

• * Mammals - Have hair or fur. Their babies drink milk. Some have two legs some have four.

Give the children pictures of animals and ask them to classify them to the right group: insects or spiders. Bird, fish. Reptile or amphibians and mammals.