What will my child learn when learning about animals? 

Here are activities for you to do together and what children will learn from these activities:

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. Check out ZooBorns website and see baby animals from Zoos and Aquariums from around the world.

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. The RSPB have some great activities and information to explore on their website.

You can also listen to Haylee tell us the much loved Dear Zoo story