# 13 Easy Animal Activities
> A roundup of 13 animal-themed crafts, sensory bins, small world setups and games for toddlers and preschoolers, made for World Animal Day. Each idea links to the full Fun Littles post.
- URL: https://www.funlittles.com/13-easy-animal-activities/
- Ages: 2–5 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: medium
- Time: prep none, activity varies
- Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class
- Skills: fine-motor, creativity, sensory-exploration, pretend-play, habitats, patterns, matching
- Cautions: ingestion-risk

## Safety
- Supervise all sensory and small world play: small toy animals, seeds, googly eyes and play dough bits are choking hazards for toddlers.
- Plaster of Paris: an adult mixes it. Avoid breathing the dust, and never cast hands or other body parts in it, because it heats up as it sets.
- Soap-based sensory play is not taste-safe. Keep it away from mouths and eyes, and rinse hands afterward.
- The pantry 'zoo' uses food items. Check each ingredient for allergies before play and treat it as play material, not a snack.
- Clothespins can pinch small fingers.

## Ideas
- **Create Bugs with Propeller Seeds**: We used propeller seeds to create butterflies, dragonflies and a few other bugs. Great for fine motor skills, creativity and talking about bugs.
- **Animal Resist Painting**: Simple resist painting with animal outline cutouts, a hit with toddlers and preschoolers. Switch the cutouts to anything that interests your child.
- **South Pole Small World with Ivory Soap**: Sensory play combined with a small world setup while learning about the Antarctic habitat.
- **Pantry Zoo**: Create a zoo with things from your pantry: a quick and easy way to spend time with your kids in the kitchen.
- **Molded Plaster Sea Horses**: Mix plaster of Paris, pour it into a mold, then paint the sea horse. Mixing and pouring was our favorite part.
- **Animal Face Masks**: Easy homemade animal masks for extended pretend play. Masks made our learning extra fun.
- **Who Lost His Tail?**: A kid-made matching game that puts a twist on a classic: match animal heads to their tails.
- **Observing Patterns in the Wild**: Challenge the kids to closely observe and draw animal patterns like tiger, zebra, leopard and giraffe.
- **Manatee Poster with Cotton Balls**: A different, 3D poster craft showing manatees, sand dunes and their sea grass diet.
- **Easy Clothespin Animals**: My toddler's favorite non-toys are clothespins, so we built a butterfly, dog, giraffe and dragonfly with craft sticks.
- **Play Dough Animal Habitats**: The famous play dough makes an appearance as habitats for toy animals on a tray.
- **Homemade Animal Puzzles**: A homemade puzzle for the puzzle and animal (especially cheetah) lover in the house.
- **Animal-Pattern Pumpkins**: To wrap up, with Halloween around the corner, we painted animal patterns on pumpkins.

## Tips
- The resist painting is so versatile that you can easily switch the cutouts to anything that interests your child.
- With the plaster sea horses, mixing the plaster and pouring it in the mold was the best part. That part alone is worth it for us.
- Bug crafts with propeller seeds are great for fine motor skills and creativity, and they give us moms new topics to talk about.

## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012)

Here is our round up of all the animal activities we did for World Animal Day.

1. [Create with propeller seeds](https://www.funlittles.com/propeller-seeds-bugs/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/propeller-seeds-bugs/)

We used propeller seed to create butterflies, dragon flies and few other bugs. Great for developing fine motor skills and creativity while giving us moms to talk about new topics– in our case bugs.

2. [Animal Images resist painting](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-resist-painting/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-resist-painting/)

Our simple resist painting with animal outlines will be a hit with your toddler and your preschooler. It is so versatile that you can easily switch the cutouts to anything that interests your child.

[3. South Pole small world play using Ivory Soap](https://www.funlittles.com/animals-of-antarctica/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/animals-of-antarctica/)

My pre schooler had a fun time with this sensory play combined with a small world setup while learning about the Antarctic habitat.

4. [Create a zoo with things from your pantry](https://www.funlittles.com/edible-zoo-for-world-animal-day-2012/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/edible-zoo-for-world-animal-day-2012/)

Quick and easy way to spend time with your kids in the kitchen.

[5. Mold Sea Horses](https://www.funlittles.com/molding-seahorses-with-plaster-of-paris/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/molding-seahorses-with-plaster-of-paris/)

We had a great time mixing the plaster and pouring it in the mold. That part alone is worth it for us.

6. [Easy Animals face mask for extended pretend play](https://www.funlittles.com/make-your-own-animal-face-mask/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/make-your-own-animal-face-mask/)

Masks made our learning extra fun

7. [Who lost his tail? Twist on a classic game.](https://www.funlittles.com/pin-the-tail-on-the-animal/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/pin-the-tail-on-the-animal/)

Kid made quick matching game.

8. [Observing patterns in the wild](https://www.funlittles.com/preschooler-pattern-activity/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/preschooler-pattern-activity/)

Challenge the kids by inviting them to closely observe animal patterns

9. [Poster making with cotton balls](https://www.funlittles.com/manatee-craft/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/manatee-craft/)

Different 3D craft

10. [Easy clothespin animals for](https://www.funlittles.com/easy-clothespin-animals/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/easy-clothespin-animals/) My toddler's favorite non toys are the clothespins.We created some animals with those.

11. [Play dough animal habitats](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-habitats/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/animal-habitats/)

The famous play dough makes an appearance in the form of animal habitats

12. [Homemade puzzles](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-puzzles/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/homemade-puzzles/)

I have a puzzle and animal (especially cheetahs) lover in my house. Need I say more?

13. [To wrap up, we painted animal patterns on pumpkins.](https://www.funlittles.com/halloween-animal-activity-for-world-animal-day/)

[](https://www.funlittles.com/halloween-animal-activity-for-world-animal-day/)

With Halloween around the corner, we painted animal patterns on the pumpkins.

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