On the second month of our homeschooling adventure, we focused on the safari animals. Like most toddlers, my twins have a keen interest in animals. They are always eager to go to the zoo and visit the horses and rabbits in @gallopstablepasirris.
Thus I capitalised on their interest in animals and created learning activities that revolve around animals. We started off with safari animals, subsequently went on to farm animals, marine life, birds and currently bugs.
I mentioned before that my intent in homeschooling the toddlers is to focus on developing their gross and fine motor skills and cultivate their interest in learning and arts. We also seek to develop their language skills and develop their cognitive ability and focus. We will try to stay away from rote learning where possible because I believe that children, especially the little ones, learn more by having fun.
Safari Animal Theme Related Activities
Sharing some of the activities we did here.
FlashCards and Matching
I never like the idea of solely using flashcards in learning, at least not for the 2-year-olds.
Young children are kinesthetic learners. They can’t sit down to do work for long periods. Anything more than 5 minutes is a humongous achievement for them. Thus they learn best when they can move around at the same time.
We have incorporated physical matching activities into their flashcard learning by:-
- Playing scavenger hunt. We ran around the house looking for soft animal toys to match the animal on the flashcards. It was the tots’ idea actually, and our scavenger hunts were always full of glee;
- Matching the animal flashcards to the wild animal figurines*. Occasionally, we would hide the little toys into a tray of kinetic sand* for an additional sensory touch;
- Matching the flashcards or animal figurines to the corresponding animals on books. We used our Kumon Zoo Sticker Book*to do the same.
Art and Crafts
I discovered along the way that getting the tots involved the theme-related craft activities is fabulous. It not only keeps them interested in the learning but also helps in achieving the objectives that I have listed earlier.
The craft activities were joint efforts by the tots and myself. They handled the easy-to-do tasks such as applying a single colour on the paper plates, cutting random pieces of paper (see giraffe below for an example). I guided them through cutting simple straight lines and attaching facial features or parts of an animal body. As for cutting sharp curves and thin strips, I am taking on the task myself for now in consideration of my fingers’ well-being.
These exercises enhance their fine motor skills and ability to focus. The tots also gradually learned to take instruction, increased their spatial awareness, picked up new vocabulary, and became increasingly aware of colours and dimensions.
These are some of the animal crafts we made and the books we read earlier.
Lion
Giraffe
Elephant
Hippopotamus
More Fingerworks
The tots’ first proper introduction to colouring using Kumon’s My First Book of Colouring*.
Animal Theme Fun
Puzzles
We have a ton of puzzles which are great for cognitive development and fine motor skills.
Stickers
High-quality reusable stickers from Melissa and Doug* which the tots peeled and reused over and over again. From the sticker book, the tots gradually moved to the laminated cupboards and window panes.
These stickers not only helps develop the tots’ fine motor skills, but it also promotes creativity and imagination.
Books
My tots love the following books as well:-
Clare Beaton’s Animal Rhymes* (we borrowed this from the library a couple of times)
Old MacDonald Had a Zoo* (The tots were crazy over this book. Retelling the Old MacDonald had a farm story, the farmer’s peaceful farm was invaded by zoo animals. The illustrations were hilarious and tickled my children throughout).
Baby Bear, Baby Bear, what do you see?*
My other resources, as seen in this post:
Animal Flashcards and Puzzle by 童悦坊. You can find them in Bras Basah Popular.
Elmer’s School Glue* for crafts
Googly Eyes* for crafts
Like this post? Please share with your friends.
You may also be keen in the following post:
Homeschooling the Twins – 25 months old – Fruit Theme
Toddler Scissors Work – They love it!
My toddlers’ activities – 18 months to 24 months
Activities we do with the twins at home – 12 months old to 15 months old
Prepping Our Kids For Their Exams With Lao Xie Zhen
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