For the last couple of months, we've been on a break from Tot Schooling, but we are VERY excited to get back in the swing! I like that using Tot School themes adds variety & creativity to our day to day activities, and also is an effective way to strengthen Beckett's vocabulary.
This week, we chose our theme based on our summer schedule! Since we were headed to the zoo, we filled the week before with zoo themed activities. The goal this week was to have activities with MINIMAL prep work, and lots of hands on fun!
Books
As usual, I started by digging out all of our appropriately themed books. Of course I also took the opportunity to grab a few new ones too!
Below is a hyperlinked list of our favorites, all available in board book if that's important to you (like it is to us!). Just click!
Put Me in the Zoo
I found this activity on Pinterest, of course. After reading Put Me in the Zoo together, I sketched out this cute guy on yellow construction paper and gave Beckett (2 and a half) some Q-Tips and paint. He's SUPPOSED to be doing polka dots, but of course he got tired of that nonsense after a few minutes. This was Charlie Grace's first time at the table and she was so thrilled!
After we finished our picture, I wrote the first part of the title across the top and Beckett finished by writing out "Zoo." He's just started understanding that letters strung together equal words, and he's getting a big kick out of being able to write them down!
After we finished our picture, I wrote the first part of the title across the top and Beckett finished by writing out "Zoo." He's just started understanding that letters strung together equal words, and he's getting a big kick out of being able to write them down!
Play Doh
We have this really neat Play Doh set. It comes with awesome little rollers that allow you to imprint animal prints into your play-doh. How fun! Beckett was completely entertained, which is funny because we play with play-doh A LOT. Does it ever get old, though? While we played, we talked about what colors would be most appropriate, we examined the prints on our animal creations, and talked about the animal names of the play-doh shapes we made. We also used play doh to imprint some of our animals & make little molds! During this time, Charlie mostly just got in the way until I enticed her to play with our play doh bin. Can we call that a sensory activity!? You can find this play doh set by clicking here.
Sticker Fun
Stickers are great for fine motor practice, plus provide another opportunity for chatting about your animal friends. In this activity, we also got to incorporate conversation about the word ZOO and its letters! Charlie (10 months) made the bottom masterpiece. We found our zoo stickers at Walmart, but you can also find a great variety on Amazon.
Counting Cards
When we started Tot School, I created these freebie counting cards. Nearly a year later, Beckett still enjoys counting items into the boxes. Of course, we counted our animal figurines. I got our animals at Walmart, but you can find similar ones here.
While we're playing, we stomp our animals around, make up sounds, and compare their sizes. Charlie uses this time to destroy everything we try to do. :)
Build a Zoo
We LOVE our Melissa & Doug blocks! This cute idea actually came from Buck & Chuck's Grandma. I was out of town for work and randomly received this picture! Grandma knew we were in the middle of a zoo theme, and so got creative with our blocks and animal figurines. Such a cute activity, inspiring imagination and practicing sorting skills all at the same time. Go, Grandma!
I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor
Have you heard the song, "I'm Being Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor" by Shel Silverstein? TOO CUTE. Grandma brought a CD and this cute little DIY snake from her own preschool days and we were all completely entertained. Plus it practices body parts. Here's a really cute version using stuffed snakes, which are probably easier to come by than our version!
Zoo Parade
Because washi is useful for so many fun things, I decided to pull out a roll and create a "track" for our Zoo Parade! Becket got a total kick out of watching me tape these letters. We had worked on how to spell, "zoo" so he narrated the letters while I taped away. Then we had fun making animal noises and marching them in this fun "zoo" pattern. Charlie played the role of King Kong for this one, coming through and scattering our animals all over the place. Ha. I guess it adds adventure. ;)
Zoo Trip & Scavenger Hunt
We finished out our week at the Knoxville Zoo with friends and family. Most of the time we just enjoyed the animals (and Knoxville's awesome splash pad!), but we also made sure to pull out this adorable (and FREE!) Scavenger Hunt by A Dab of Glue will Do!
Beckett did great with this activity! He was able to identify most of the animals in the zoo on his own, then did a great job finding them on his scavenger hunt page and marking them off. This was the first time we tried something list this but we will definitely do it again! (I'm thinking nature walk during our camping unit it September!).
To see other ideas for a Zoo Themed Tot School or Pre-K unit, visit my Pinterest Board!
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