Get ready to create a zoo!
Start by introducing the theme to your child through reading a book about zoos and animals. Then invite them to create their very own zoo on paper and add their own toy animals and blocks to create their habitats. By combining artwork and physical props, children will have a great time really exploring their imaginations and creativity. Let the playing begin!
📚 Books to explore: The View at the Zoo by Kathleen Long Bostrom; If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss; and 1, 2, 3, to the Zoo By Eric Carle.
💡 So many possibilities! This activity can be extended and is open to so many options. Let your child run with it and be creative to keep the play going.
🌎 Explore different worlds. Divide the paper into different habitats to draw and group the animals into.
Materials
For this activity you will need:
Craft paper
Blocks
Toy animals
Crayons
Painter’s tape
Scissors
Learning Outcomes
Domain
Cognitive
Skills
Self-regulation
Indicators:
Maintaining attention for increasing periods of time
Instructions
Step 1:
Cut a large piece of the craft paper. If you don’t have craft paper then you can take several pieces of paper and tape them together.
Step 2:
Tape the paper down on the floor with the painter’s tape.
Step 3:
Start with deciding what habitats you want to create and start drawing a layout (for example: jungle, artic, or rainforest).
Step 4:
Sort your toy animals according to their habitat and place them in the corresponding areas.
Step 5:
Add blocks to the zoo to create homes for the animals.
⬆️ For older preschoolers: Let them create the zoo floor plan layout and do the placements of the areas.
⬇️ For younger toddlers: You will probably have to do the layout and start with 1-2 animal habitats, expanding as needed.
Playful Questions
What animals do we see at the zoo?
What do these animals eat?
What kind of environment do they live in?
What kind of sounds do these animals make?
What other animals does this one remind you of?
