# Play-Doh Animal Habitats > Build simple play-doh homes for toy animals and insects (a bear cave, a barn, an ocean, a shore, leaves and an anthill), then talk about where each animal lives and what it eats. Kids make up short stories about each habitat, including prey and predator. - URL: https://www.funlittles.com/animal-habitats/ - Ages: 3–6 yrs · Difficulty: easy · Mess: low - Time: prep 5 min, activity 30 min - Works for: one-on-one, small group, whole class - Skills: animal-habitats, animal-diets, predator-prey, ecosystems, storytelling, vocabulary, fine-motor, imagination - Cautions: wheat-gluten ## Materials (one batch) - Play-doh in several colors (blue, orange, yellow, green, tan/pink) - 7 piece Toy animal figurines (bear, cow, horse, dolphins, shark, sea lion, turtles) - 1 piece Toy ant (or other insect figurine) - 1 piece Small stuffed bear (optional) (household) - 2 piece Wooden clothespins (optional) (household) - Craft pom-poms (optional) - 1 piece Baking tray or play tray (optional) (household) - 1 piece The Very Hungry Caterpillar (book) (optional) ## Substitutions - Instead of clothespins: Caterpillar figurines or play-doh caterpillars (Any caterpillar will do for the leaf habitat.) ## Safety - Play-doh is not food. Supervise so kids don't eat it, and wash hands after play. - Most play-doh, store-bought or homemade, contains wheat. Check the label or recipe if a child has a wheat or gluten allergy. - Small toy animals, pom-poms and clothespins can be choking hazards for children under 3. Supervise closely. ## Before you start - Let your child pick the animals and insects to use. - Jot down one or two simple facts for each animal: where it lives and what it eats. ## Steps 1. Ask: where do animals live? Pick the animals and insects to play with. 2. Bear: flatten a piece of play-doh and drape it over the bear to make a cozy cave. 3. Cow and horse: roll flat orange slabs, stand them up as barn walls, and add a yellow arch for the door and green grass. 4. Dolphins and shark: press blue play-doh flat to make the ocean. 5. Sea lions and turtles: shape a tan shore or rock next to the ocean. 6. Caterpillars: pinch green play-doh into leaves for them to munch. 7. Ant: mold tan play-doh into a tall anthill. 8. Talk about each animal: where it lives and what it eats. 9. Tell a prey and predator story, like the hungry shark and the sea lion. 10. Set all the habitats together on a tray and look at the whole animal world. ## Tips - Let your child choose the animals. We picked 7 animals and 2 insects to start with. Why 7 and 2? Just what she wanted! - Keep it to a few simple facts that go well with the kids: where the animal lives and what it eats. - Let the kids tell their own stories. My little one made up a barn tale: the cow and horse were best buddies and wanted a sleepover, so the farmer made a barn. - Story time is a great way to teach prey and predators, and that sometimes animals need to eat other animals for food. That's nature. - This was learning and fun, all in one! ## The original post by TurkeyMom (2012) World Animal Day **World Animal Day - Day 5** It all started with this question : Q: Where do animals live ? A: Mommy they live in the zoo. I couldn't believe my ears - I knew I had to correct that , but how do I explain? We decided to do animals and their habitats with our very own play-doh. We picked out 7 animals and 2 insects to start with - why 7 & 2 ?? Just what she wanted :-) - Bear - Cow - Horse - Dolphins - Shark - Sea Lion - Turtle - Caterpillar - Ant The goal here was to introduce the animals and give some insight into their habitat and their diet. Just some facts that will go well with the kids. ### We started with BEAR: Bears live in caves. They are just like us – they eat meat and plant food. Winnie-the-pooh bear likes honey! They hibernate in winter and sleep for 6 months . ### COW & HORSE: These are a farmers pets. “Domestic Animals” . They live in a barn. They eat plants and plant food. Big S's own Barn Tale : The cow and horse were best buddies and wanted to have a sleep over so, the farmer made a barn . The friends ate grass and had a really fun time. ### DOLPHINS: They live in big oceans. They eat smaller fish. Dolphin Story : There was once a dolphin and he was very lonely. He did not have any friends, then one day one friend came and they played and lived happily ever after. ### SHARK: They live in oceans and they have sharp teeth. They eat other fishes and animals. They are called “Predators” Learning Prey and Predators with a story: Once there was a shark swimming in the ocean. He was very hungry. He found a sea-lion swimming in the water. He waited and waited and then he grabbed the sea-lion and ate him. What we learnt : The shark is the Predator and the sea-lion is the prey and sometimes animals need to eat other animals for food. That's nature. ### SEA LION: They can grow into very big humongous animals. They eat fish and other sea creatures. ### TURTLE: They can live in sea and land. The ones that live on land are called tortoise. They eat plant food and some can live up to 100 yrs ! ### Learning Prey and Predators: Story time: Some turtles who live in the seas, came to the shore to lay eggs and have babies. There were some hungry sea lions on shore looking for some food. When the turtles came to land, the sea lions ate all the turtles . Now , the sea lions became the predators and the turtles the prey . ### CATERPILLAR: They are the insect form of a butterfly. They are always very hungry always and feed on leaves . They have lots of legs. Read : The very hungry caterpillar. ### ANT: They bite! They live in colonies in an anthill. They are very hard workers and gather food. They have 6 legs. - Different animals and habitats - Story telling - Words - Concept of ecosystem - Fine motor skills - Most of all, Big S learnt that we share our beautiful planet with some fascinating creatures and how important it is for us to save the beauty within. This was learning and fun , all in one ! **Thanks for reading** **Happy Sharing** **Please take a moment to comment**