Discovering the Animal World

11 minutes ago

5 min read

Large Group

We began our circle time by singing our Hello Song and warmly greeting one another. We then introduced the topic of animals, encouraging our children to name different animals and do the sounds they make. The children enjoyed making animal sounds, sharing their ideas, and listening to one another.

After that, we talked about the weather and the day of the week, giving our children an opportunity to observe, respond, and participate in our daily routine. We also read the storybook Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, which introduced different animals and colours. Our children were excited and engaged throughout the story, showing interest in the pictures, identifying familiar animals and colours, and joining in as we read together. It was a lovely opportunity to develop their language.

Small Group

Monday

Gymnastics – Exploring Animal Movements and Poses

In our gymnastics session, we took our activity outside, giving our children more space to move, explore, and enjoy different physical movements. Since we are learning about animals this week, we connected our gymnastics activity to our animal theme by exploring how different animals move their bodies. We started by introducing a few familiar animals and discussing how they move. We then encouraged our children to use their bodies to imitate different animal movements and create their own animal poses.

Our children pretended to be frogs by bending their knees and jumping forward, birds by spreading their arms like wings and moving them up and down, bears by walking on their hands and feet, and cats by stretching their bodies and moving gently. We also explored how snakes move by encouraging the children to stretch their bodies and move from side to side. As they tried each movement, we gave them time to observe, practice, and repeat the poses while having fun together.

Tuesday - Literacy

In our literacy session, we continued exploring our animal theme through sounds, animal names, and puzzles. We introduced different familiar animals and encouraged our children to identify and name them by looking at pictures. We talked about the animals and the sounds they make, inviting our children to imitate sounds such as a cow saying “moo,” a dog saying “woof,” a cat saying “meow,” and a duck saying “quack.” Our children enjoyed making the different animal sounds, repeating the names, and sharing the animals they already knew.

We also introduced animal puzzles, where our children were encouraged to look carefully at the pictures, identify the animals, and find the matching pieces to complete each puzzle. As they explored the puzzles, they practiced recognizing different animals, matching shapes, and placing the pieces in the correct spaces. We supported them by asking questions such as, “What animal is this?”, “What sound does it make?” and “Can you find where this piece belongs?”

Our children showed interest and excitement throughout the activity. They enjoyed naming familiar animals, copying their sounds, and working to complete the puzzles. Some took their time observing the pictures and trying different pieces until they found the correct match.

Through this activity, our children developed their vocabulary, listening and speaking skills, picture recognition, concentration, problem-solving, and fine motor skills. It was a fun and meaningful way to build early literacy skills while learning more about animals.

Thursday

Math – Counting Animals and Exploring Numbers

In our math session, we continued exploring our animal theme through a hands-on counting activity. We placed different toy animals in the middle of the group, allowing our children to observe and explore the animals before beginning our counting game. We introduced the activity by asking our children to identify the animals, name them, and share the sounds they make. This helped us connect our math learning with language development and animal recognition.

We then encouraged our children to practise counting by giving them simple instructions. For example, we asked, “Can you pick one animal?” and gave them time to choose one animal from the middle. Next, we increased the number by asking, “Can you pick two animals?” and encouraged them to select two animals. We continued with different numbers, giving our children opportunities to listen carefully, recognize quantities, count, and match numbers with the correct number of objects.

As we explored the animals, we also introduced counting their body parts, especially their legs. We selected different animals and counted their legs together, asking questions such as, “How many legs does the cow have?”, “Can we count the elephant's legs?” and “Do you think the bird has the same number of legs?” Our children enjoyed touching and pointing to each leg as we counted together. We also revisited the animal names and sounds, making the activity more interactive and enjoyable.

Work Time

Art – Creating Animal Drawings with Crayons

In our art session, we continued exploring our animal theme through a creative drawing experience. We prepared paper and a variety of colorful crayons for our children and invited them to draw different animals they know or have been learning about. Before beginning, we had a little discussion about animals, looking at their different features, colors, and body parts. We talked about animals such as lions, elephants, birds, fish, cats, and other familiar animals, encouraging our children to share their ideas and choose which animals they would like to draw.

Our children were given the freedom to explore the materials and express their creativity in their own ways. They selected their favorite crayon colors, experimented with making different marks, and used lines, circles, and shapes to represent the animals. We encouraged them to think about what their animals look like, how many legs they have, whether they have tails, wings, or ears, and what colors they might use. As they worked, we engaged them in conversations by asking questions such as, “What animal are you drawing?”, “What color would you like to use?”, “Does your animal have a tail?” and “What sound does your animal make?”

Library – Enjoying Stories Together

During our library session, we created a cozy and enjoyable reading experience for our children by dividing them into two groups. Half of our children enjoyed their reading time while sitting on the trampoline, while the other half gathered comfortably on the mat. This gave everyone a chance to enjoy the books in a relaxed and welcoming environment.

We encouraged our children to choose books, look through the pages, explore the pictures, and listen as we read the stories together. As we read, we asked simple questions about the pictures and characters, encouraging them to share what they noticed, identify familiar objects, and talk about what they could see. We also gave them opportunities to turn the pages, point to interesting pictures, and express their thoughts.

Our children enjoyed exploring the books in their different reading spaces. We encouraged them to listen to the stories, participate in conversations, and share their favourite parts with their friends and teachers.