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PSPKK12318 Comments

Math Activities with Animals for Preschoolers – simple and fun!

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preschool math with toy animal figures - the measured mom

(This post contains affiliate links).

So do you have any toy animal figures at home?  Here are just a few options for you on Amazon:

We’re big fans of Schleich animals and the Learning Resource sets.  We’ve spent several years of birthdays and Christmases accumulating a large set of toy animal figures.  If you’d like to go the less expensive route, I’d recommend the Safari Ltd. Toob sets.  The animals are much smaller and not as life-like, but you can get certainly get a larger set for less money.

What kinds of preschool math can you do with toy animals?  The activities are endless, but in the spirit of keeping things simple we kept it to five.

1 – Ordering – Order toy animals by size

animal math for preschoolers - 1 - the measured mom

I started with just three animals and had my Three put them in order from tallest to shortest.  At first he put the largest animal first (the elephant) before the giraffe (the tallest).  But he soon got the hang of it and was able to do larger sets in no time.

2 – Shapes – Put toy animals on shape print-outs 

animal math for preschoolers - 2 - the measured mom

I created a set of simple shape outlines and had my boys put animals on them, naming the shapes as they did so.  I didn’t expect my Three to remember the harder shapes, but I included the hexagon, pentagon, and octagon for the sake of my Five.  After we had an animal on each shape, I asked questions like, “Which animal is on the triangle?”  This activity was a big hit!

3 – Measuring, Estimating – How many cubes long is each toy animal? 

animal math for preschoolers - 3 - the measured mom

My boys really got into this one!  Not too long ago I purchased  a set of Unifix cubes.  These are really worth the money (if you can keep track of the cubes and not let your kids leave them everywhere…ahem…).  One great use for unifix cubes is measuring length.  My boys guessed how long each animal was and then checked their estimation using Unifix cubes. They got very good at it!

unifix cubes worksheet

We used this recording sheet. You can write it all yourself or have your preschooler help you if he’s able and willing. My Three actually wanted to fill his own in — he didn’t get anything on the correct lines, but he loves for me to tell him how to spell things so he can write them.  (Don’t ask if you can read it or not!)  Get the free recording sheet here: Measuring with cubes recording sheet – the measured mom.

4 – Sorting – Sort the Animals

This is a fun activity that you can make easy or challenging depending on your child. Simply tell your child how to sort the animals according to a certain rule.  For example: “Put the animals who live on land here, and the animals who live in water, here.”  If you have props, like a toy barn, or a big piece of blue felt to represent the ocean — even better.  Here are some ideas for sorting:

a. big and small animals
b. farm animals, wild animals, and pets
c. animals with fur, feathers, or neither
d. sea and land animals
e. animals with stripes, spots, or neither
f. reptiles, mammals, birds, etc.

animal math2

Here my Five is putting the animals into two groups: ocean animals and zoo animals.  Animals that didn’t fit either group were set aside.

5 – Problem Solving-  Guess My Sort & How are they the same?

This is going to require some higher level thinking for your child. This time you put together a group of animals who have something in common, and your child determines what that thing is.  Start simple by putting the giant animals in one pile and the tiny animals in another.  Gradually create more challenging problems… like pets and zoo animals, or dangerous animals and gentle ones.

I decided to make this activity a little more challenging by showing my Five just a single set of animals. He had to determine what they had in common.  Of course, sometimes there is more than one correct answer.  Your child may surprise you.  I grouped together a horse, donkey, and zebra and actually wasn’t sure how to name what they had in common. My Five noted that they all had manes.

animal math3  In this case, all the animals were pets.

Here are ways you could group the animals:

a. zoo animals
b. wild animals
c. pets
d. animals who feed babies their own milk
e. reptiles, mammals, insects, birds, fish, or amphibians (depending on your child’s knowledge)
f. animals with feathers (or fur or scales)
g. animals that fly
h. animals that swim
i. animals that have four legs (or two or six)

There’s really no end to the possibilities!

 

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Filed Under: Math Tagged With: problem solving, Pre-K, ordering, Sorting, preschool, measurement, shapes

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Reader Interactions

18 Comments

  1. Nimerlika

    February 28, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    Hi Anna,
    Thank you for sharing these interesting activities! I was searching for new animal activities and came across your site. I like how you have used the cubes to measure the animals, and how you have incorporated shapes too. Can’t wait to try some of these activities with my students.
    Nimerlika

    Reply to this comment
    • Heather Groth, Customer Support

      March 1, 2021 at 3:25 pm

      We hope that your students will love them, Nimerlika! It’s such a fun way to incorporate math and animals together!

      Reply to this comment
  2. Guiying

    October 28, 2018 at 9:30 pm

    Anna ,You are so great ! Thank you for sharing these wonderful resources!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      October 30, 2018 at 5:33 pm

      You’re welcome, Guiying!

      Reply to this comment
  3. asiya

    August 10, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    Beautiful and helpful resources thank you soooooo much.

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna G

      August 19, 2017 at 3:25 pm

      You’re very welcome, Asiya!

      Reply to this comment
      • Lindiwe

        September 22, 2017 at 3:43 am

        Very helpful thanx

        Reply to this comment
  4. Bethany

    April 5, 2015 at 11:23 pm

    Wow, thank you for this amazing website. It has made the overwhelming (to me) task of teaching my 2 and 4 year old so much more manageable. I am interested in purchasing some of the Schleich animals. Did you buy them in sets? And do you buy them directly from that website you have listed above?

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      April 7, 2015 at 4:00 pm

      Hi Bethany! I actually did not purchase them from Amazon or the store I linked to, but I can’t remember the site. It started with an R, I think, but I can’t find it. I think I just searched for a place where they were on sale. I think we bought them all individually rather than in sets. Another idea is to check ebay. They are not inexpensive, even on sale, but they’re great! Another option is the Lakeshore animal sets, which are not quite the same but are still excellent (and less expensive). We have this ocean animals set and really like it: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C893%2C249&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1428440370334

      Reply to this comment
  5. brenda

    January 29, 2015 at 9:39 pm

    Thank God for people like you that care about kids learning and not afraid to share it all!! Xoxo from my class !

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      January 31, 2015 at 2:41 pm

      Thank you so much, Brenda!

      Reply to this comment
  6. Wafa

    November 9, 2014 at 1:43 pm

    I love ur math activities with the letter A….the crafts are great too! Thank you for sharing!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      November 11, 2014 at 8:08 pm

      You’re very welcome – thanks for reading!

      Reply to this comment
  7. Vana G

    September 26, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    Your site is great! Thanks for all your resources!

    Reply to this comment
    • Anna Geiger

      September 29, 2014 at 7:58 pm

      You’re very welcome, Vana!

      Reply to this comment
  8. Misty Nicole Overstreet-Roberts

    March 12, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    Very, very cute! Team elephant, here!

    Reply to this comment

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  1. Big and small activities - The Measured Mom says:
    September 21, 2020 at 1:29 pm

    […] Math with toy animals […]

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  2. Free & Affordable Math Manipulatives - Stir The Wonder says:
    May 3, 2015 at 3:01 am

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