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.
Sorting
Activity:
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.
Matching Game:
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?
Dramatic Play:
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?
Matching
Game:
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
Animals
and Predators:
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 6:
Animals have different kind of bodies.
Q:
Why do animals have different bodies?
A: Adaptation to the environment. Just like humans adapt to the weather
and our living conditions so do animals.
Comparing
Animals:
Observe with the children images of animals. Why does a giraffe have a
long neck? Why does a zebra have stripes? Why does an elephant need a
trunk?
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?
Activity:
Where should I live?
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.
Classifying
Game:
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.
Remember
it is the concepts
behind each fact about animals that we are teaching the children. If
you have any other preschool science activites ideas relating to
animals please fill out this form
and share them with our readers.
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