Children learn all the time and using a theme they enjoy is a useful way to engage and inspire them, so what will my child learn when learning about animals?
We have put together information using ‘Tiny Tim’ as an example – Activity Sheets, videos and words to the song referred to in this post can be found on our Animals page.
Motor skills – Children are developing their fine and gross motor skills, when using scissors, painting and dancing when following the Tiny Tim activity or singing songs.
Hand Eye Co-ordination – It takes practice to link up the eyes and hands in order to accurately cut out Tiny Tim’s eyes.
Language and communication skills – Talking about the instructions when making the turtle and singing the animal songs supports children’s developing language and communication skills. Learning about their favourite animals will teach new words about habitat, colour and size.
Problem solving – Children will be thinking about what the best way to make and decorate their turtle. They can also think about how animals solve problems such as getting enough food, where to live or how to stay safe.
Early Maths – Children will be measuring out the size and shape of their Tiny Tim, counting how many eyes and legs their turtle has. Finding out about animals introduces opportunities to count numbers of spots, number of eyes and pattern recognition.
Early writing skills – Children will be using early writing skills while decorating their turtle or whilst naming and drawing their favourite animals. This also helps to develop their fine and gross motor skills.
Conservation & the Environment – When children learn about different animals and where they live it may encourage them to protect their habitats in the future.
Emotional Learning – Learning about animal families or having experience with animals helps to children to develop their empathy skills.
You can find other activities by heading over to our main website activity page.
