Zoo Learning Activities for Kids

June 20, 2024 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Summer seems like the perfect time to think about (or visit!) the zoo, but it’s great to add in a zoo-themed unit or a fun zoo day or week any time of year. Here are some fun printables, activities and other ideas for kids to do related to the zoo.

First off, if you are actually planning a zoo visit, I found several zoo scavenger hunt printables you might want to check out:

You could even find pictures of the zoo animals to print out and do a scavenger hunt at home if you’re not heading to the zoo right away. Or check out these other zoo themed activities and printables you can use at home.

Homeschool Preschool has printable writing worksheets with zoo animals like dolphins and monkeys. ABCs of Literacy has lots of great zoo themed activities, including a beginning sounds bingo game, syllable sort and color by letter, to name a few.

You’ll also find lots of great stuff at Parenting Chaos, such as printable zoo STEM challenge cards, two-piece animal puzzles and habitat clip cards (there is a charge for their activities or they have a membership that gets you access to tons of resources).

At Homeschool Share you can find cute count and clip cards with a zoo theme, as well as a roll and cover dice game.

Confidence Meets Parenting has some fun zoo jokes for kids (my favorite: what kind of snake would you find on a car? A windshield viper!) Coffee and Carpool has a super cute set of A to Z animal alphabet pages that’s also a story about how the animals are kind to each other (like elephant makes sure everyone gets invited).

If you have small beads that are shaped like animals (if not you can get them here) you can play this animal counting game for preschoolers from The Educators’ Spin on It.

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Beach Crafts Kids Can Make — No Vacation Required

Last month I shared a collection of beach crafts that used items from the beach like seashells and sand. This month’s collection is all about beach animals and things you might see at the beach that don’t require beachy materials to make. In fact you’ve probably got what you need to make most of these beach crafts in your house already.

How about paper plates? With a paper plate you can make this cute watercolor seashell from The Educator’s Spin on It, or an adorable seagull like this one from Glued to My Crafts.

Add some white beans and you can make paper plate sand dollars like Crafts by Amanda. Or use a paper plate as a frame for a sweet beach scene like this crab and turtle one from Artsy Craftsy Mom, which includes a downloadable template and instructions to make it super easy.

Or grab a paper plate and some bubble wrap to make a jellyfish like this one from Happy Toddler Playtime. If you have paper bowls instead of plates, you can also make a jellyfish from one of those, like Natural Beach Living did.

Use your stash of craft sticks and googly eyes to make crabs, fish, sharks and more with this craft idea from The Keeper of the Cheerios.

I love this little crab made with a cardboard tube from Hunny I’m Home. With this same idea I’ll bet you could make lots of different creatures.

Grab some construction paper to make the loopy tentacles on this watercolor jellyfish from Craftsy Hacks. Or make a stained glass jellyfish like this one from Life Anchored.

Make easy puffy paint to make these fun fluffy starfish from I Heart Crafty Things, or use cupcake liners to make cute little crabs (also from I Heart Crafty Things).

Turn an old pool noodle into some super cute fish with this tutorial from Happy Toddler Playtime.

And if you’ve got some leftover yarn lying around, make pompoms and turn them into turtles like these from Craftsy Hacks. (And check out my post on different ways to make pompoms if you need a refresher!)

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