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June 13, 2017 | 4 Comments

13 Ways To Use Animals Figurines for Learning

how to use animal figurines for learning I was at Micheal’s when I overheard a woman say to her daughter ” I just don’t get what people use these for.” As she grabbed a Safari Toob. I couldn’t help it, I yelled down the aisle, ” As a preschool teacher I use animal figurines in a million ways!” Which was only a slight exaggeration, and named a few animal learning activities. On the way home I thought she must not be the only person who wonders what animal figurines are good for so I complied a list of my ten favorites ways to use animal figurines for animal learning activities in your preschool classroom, but you can do these activities at home too!

This list contains affiliate links

Animal Learning Activities with Animal Figurines

bug painting ant

  1. Paint with them. Leave the paint brushes in the cupboard grab some figurines. You will see your preschoolers be more careful, use their imagination and marvel at how horse or pig or puppy figurines can be used to make art too! play dough bug imprints for preschool
  2. Add them to play dough. The activity shown is making fossils, but in my class, a favorite is to add farm figurines to play dough along with some toothpicks and let the children create barnyards. Another favorite is to make prints in the snow ( white play dough). IMG_1348 2
  3. Use them for sorting, we did this a lot at preschool, and we didn’t use anything special, we just dumped the basket of animal figurines and groupings would slowly emerge. Sometimes we’d count things, arrange them by size or color. This is probably one of my favorite things to do! house pet or wild animal sorting activity
  4. Use them for more specific classifying lessons like deciding if an animal is a domestic pet or a wild animal. The lines aren’t always clear but being able to manipulate and hold the figurines helps to bring this activity to life. discovery bottle find and match mat activity for preschool
  5. Add figurines to discovery bottles to turn them into more dynamic activities. animal babies matching activity for preschool no time for flash cards
  6. Instead of matching up pictures to pictures try matching up photos to figurines like in this Mother and baby farm animal activity. carnivore herbivore omnivore sorting
  7. Use figurines to classify animals into herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores!winter activities for kids
  8. Freeze some water and make your own mini Arctic by adding in arctic animal figurines. This is easily one of the most played with items I have ever made for a classroom.
  9. Play hide and seek with larger figurines like these, games like this are a great way to fit gross motor activities into a classroom space. farm circle time activity for preschool
  10. Use the figurines for circle time; this animal sounds game is always a hit! hands on reading tray the very hungry caterpillar
  11. Use the figurines to prompt storytelling! animal letter sounds matching game for kindergarten and pre-k
  12. To make letter sound activities more dynamic
    syllable matching tray for literacy centers
  13. Or to practice syllable counting!

How do you use figurines in your classroom or at home for learning?

Filed Under: Age Preschool, Age: Kindergarten, Animal Activities, Preschool Activities | 4 Comments

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4 Comments

  1. Paige says

    June 13, 2017 at 11:02 am

    These are all awesome and creative ideas!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.com

    to Paige" aria-label='reply to this comment to Paige'>reply to this comment
  2. Rebecca says

    June 14, 2017 at 7:01 am

    Where is the best (cheapest) place to purchase these?

    to Rebecca" aria-label='reply to this comment to Rebecca'>reply to this comment
    • Allison McDonald says

      June 20, 2017 at 7:54 pm

      So sorry last week of school I am NUTS – the cheapest place is Micheal’s when you have a coupon! Do you get coupons in the mail? If not sign up, it’s the one coupon I always use.

      to Allison McDonald" aria-label='reply to this comment to Allison McDonald'>reply to this comment

Trackbacks

  1. Create and Conserve with Paper Mache - PaperPapers Blog says:
    August 16, 2018 at 10:34 am

    […] Paper Mache which literally translates to mean chewed paper is a composite material made of paper pieces, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound together with an adhesive, such as glue or starch to create a workable consistent paste. Like clay, the resulting mixture can then be fashioned into several different shapes like masks, bowls, jewellry and animal figurines. […]

    to Create and Conserve with Paper Mache - PaperPapers Blog" aria-label='reply to this comment to Create and Conserve with Paper Mache - PaperPapers Blog'>reply to this comment

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