Rainy Day Fun: Animal Habitats

With the onset winter comes rain. Most days kids love to play in the pouring rain and stomp in the puddles. On the days the kids are stuck inside create a magical forest to host a tea party or fight off the bandits.

We made a zoo animal habitat. We had a lovely time learning about the way different animals live. We used the animals we made in a puppet show. The cave was their favorite place to hang out.

Use plastic animals or create your own from paper.

For the desert we set up a bowl with sand and used a work lamp to simulate the hot sun. We discussed the purpose of a camels humps and how some of the dessert animals dig a hole in the sand to keep cool.

For the jungle we used brown paper found at a teacher supply store or the shipping supplies section of target. We stapled leaves to yarn for the vines.

In the cave we talked about what animals hibernate and why. We read the book “Old Bear” by Kevin Henkes.

We jumped over the river made of blue construction paper. You could also use a sheet or towel. Have your child sit in the center while you make ripples by flapping the sheet up and down. We sang a song about the five little monkeys teasing Mr. Alligator.

In the savanna we crept like lions and jumped like kangaroos.