Animals of Africa Activities for Tots & Preschoolers w/ Free Printables

Sunshine's older siblings are studying Africa right now.  She has decided that she needs to study the same thing as they are.  LOL.  It's really quite cute.  

Since she's already studied Africa as part of her Green Unit, I thought we'd focus on Animals of Africa this time around.  My plans correspond perfectly with the 12 Months of Montessori Zoology theme this month!  (I love it when that happens.)

This unit is perfect for tots and preschoolers. It has so many great free printables too!

Animals of Africa Activities for Tots and Preschoolers with Free Printables

Sunshine loves zoology more than any other subject of learning and play.  It's through the study of animals that I'm able to teach her concepts she would otherwise not understand.

When we study zoology, we don't just keep activities science related.  Instead we widen horizons and incorporate zoology into every subject area.  You'll notice this with many of our activities this week.  I hope you enjoy!

Z is for Zebra

Sunshine will glue squares of zebra stripes on to the letter Z.  For those kiddos ready for scissors, the zebra striped squares are created in strips (in the printable), for cutting practice.  Also included in the printable is a G is for Giraffe paper with spot print strips.

I know the "g" sound in giraffe is not the first sound taught to little ones, but in Sunshine's case, I'm more concerned about her ability to glue and place squares in between the lines, than I am her learning letter sounds.  Hopefully this make sense.

Source:  I created the printable for this activity. The Animals of Africa Activities for Tots & Preschoolers Printable Pack is a Subscriber's Only Freebie.  For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Counting Animals of Africa

We've been working on counting to 4 and 5 for quite some time now.  My apologies.  Sunshine still doesn't seem to understand the concept of numbers.  I promise once she does, we'll progress to bigger numbers.

This week we'll continue to work with the sandpaper numbers and add some adorable animal cards to match up with them.  If Sunshine can't successfully count the animals on her own, we'll at least have fun identifying them in each picture.

Source:  I created the printable for this activity. The Animals of Africa Activities for Tots & Preschoolers Printable Pack is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Animal Family Match Up

Sunshine does an amazing job identifying animal names and sounds. She's also very good at pretending she's an animal.  (You should see her pace like a "boy lion."  Yikes!)

I thought this week would be the perfect time to introduce her to animal families and very specific animals in each of those families.  To make sure the activity isn't too overwhelming, I'm introducing only two families.  I'm hoping we have a lot of fun with the activity.

Source:  I created the printable for this activity. The Animals of Africa Activities for Tots & Preschoolers Printable Pack is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Adult & Baby Match Up

Sunshine knows her African animal names quite well, however she does not know the proper names for baby animals.  This activity will teach that.

There are cards for each of the adult and baby animals.  Sunshine will match up animals to their cards, paying close attention to the age of the animal on each card.  We will then review the names of African animals and their babies.

Source:  I created the printable for this activity. The Animals of Africa Activities for Tots & Preschoolers Printable Pack is a Subscriber's Only Freebie. For your free copy, follow the directions at the bottom of this post.

Elephant Movements

Sunshine LOVES to move around.  In fact, it is rare to ever see her sit still for more than 10 seconds.  When I came across these elephant movement cards, I just knew I had to include them with her activities.  

I can't wait to see her trying out all the moves on the cards!  And, if she'd like to pretend to have an actual elephant do the moves, I've provided one.

Source:  The free printable for this activity can be found at Training Happy Hearts.

Fork Painted Lion Face

I'm always looking for art activities for Sunshine.  Besides learning about animals, art is her second favorite thing.  This activity combines both passions, so I'm hoping it's a hit.  It also incorporates some fine motor skills.  

Sunshine will use the brown marker to draw a face on the lion.  Once her face has been drawn, she will use orange paint and a fork to paint on the lion's mane.

Source:  More detailed instructions and pictures of the completed project can be found at Crafty Morning.

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This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning Series.

Amazing Blogs involved in the 12 Months of Montessori Learning:

Natural Beach Living ~ Living Montessori Now

The Kavanaugh Report ~ Grace and Green Pastures

If you enjoyed this post you may also enjoy the posts below.