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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

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


Z is for Zebra Activity for Kids with Free Printable

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


Counting Animals of Africa Activity for Kids with Free Printable

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


Animal Family Match Up with Free Printable

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


Adult and Baby Animal Match Up with Free Printable

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


Elephant Movement Activity

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


Lion Face Fork Painting Activity for Kids

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.

For those interested in the free printables, follow the directions below.

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3. Open the thank you message you receive after subscribing. (Be sure to check your spam folder, as sometimes it ends up there.)

4. Click the confirmation link in the thank you message.

5. Once the confirmation is complete, you will receive another message with the Subscriber Only Freebies Link and Password.

6. Click on link and type in password. (The password is cap sensitive.)

7. Find the printable pack you are looking for listed in alphabetical order, click on it, and viola!

We hope you enjoy your free printable.

Note: If you are already a newsletter subscriber, open your most recent newsletter. At the bottom you will find a link to the Subscriber Only Freebies page, along with the password in case you forgot it.


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

12 Months of Montessori
Amazing Blogs involved in the 12 Months of Montessori Learning:

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

Africa Unit with Free Printables Animals of Africa Activities for Tots and Preschoolers Montessori-inspired Green Activities for Tots & Preschoolers Continent and Country Activities Montessori-inspired Africa Unit Printable Pack Bundle Busy Bags for Animal Kingdom Montessori-inspired Zoo Scavenger Hunts

6 comments:

  1. How fun! We will be sure to come take a look when we are going to do our African animal studies! Very complete!

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  2. I had to laugh when you said Sunshine loves to move and you included the Elephant Movement cards! That is just so brilliant and so much fun!! And maybe my son is also 3 years old, so I found myself nodding to every activity you had out there. I agree, I understand, and it works! Some of them we've done as well, like Adult and Baby Animal matching, and others I plan on copying from your inspiration! Thanks so much for this!

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  3. I love the unique ideas you come up with. I know my youngest would love the Elephant Movement activity.

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  4. I LOVE so many of these activities -- and can I say how amazing it is that you credit where you came up with even the simple craft ideas? It's so wonderful to see in other bloggers :)

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  5. So many great ideas! Hen would love that elephant movement, going to have give that a try!

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  6. These are wonderful activities for a young child! I love the elephant movement cards and art activities. :)

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