For this lesson you will need:
Pictures for story (see number of the day)
Bottle of lotion
Counting item/counting jar
Letter Z (on piece of paper)
Hat and/or fake mustache
Stuffed Animals or pictures that resemble zoo animals (tiger, chimp, elephant,
snake,penguin)
Cut-outs of: Insect, Plant, Fish, Steak, and Mouse (drawn on piece of paper and cut
out)
Bowl
Cardstock (1 piece per child)
Scissors
Brad
Markers or crayons
Banana
Chocolate chips
Books: The Day Before Zoo Day: by Catherine Ipcizade
Zoo by Gail Gibbons
Never Ever Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson
Welcome Song: (To tune of Old MacDonald):
Welcome, welcome everyone
So glad that you are here.
Today we’re gonna have some fun
So let’s give out a cheer
Woo hoo!!
Clap clap clap clap
Slap(legs) slap slap slap
Clap clap clap let’s go! (when you shout “let’s go!”, do a group high five in the center)
Question of the Day: If you could be any animal for a day, what would you choose to be?
Number of the Day ‘26’: Gather 4 pieces of white paper and a bottle of lotion. On 2 pieces of white paper, draw a picture of a girl’s face (big enough to take up most of the page) On one of the faces, draw 26 red dots. Leave the other face as it is. On the third piece of paper, draw 26 balloons and 26 presents. On the fourth piece write the number 26.
Tell the following story:
“Once there was a woman named Dottie (hold up the face without the dots). Dottie was very excited because tomorrow was her birthday. She was going to turn 26! (hold up the number 26) Her family and friends were going to come to her house for a big birthday party. She was so excited for the party, she could barely sleep that night!
In the morning when she got out of bed, she looked in the mirror and realized she was covered in spots! Red spots all over her face!! (Hold up picture of face with spots.) She couldn’t celebrate her birthday looking like this! “The doctor will know what to do,” she thought
She called the doctor right away and told him about the red spots on her face
“Well, Dottie,” the doctor said, “The first thing I need to know is how many spots you have.” So she counted. (Ask children to count aloud with you as you point to each of the spots on Dottie’s face)
“I have 26 spots!” Dottie told the Doctor.
“Twenty Six!! Wow, that’s a big number. Let’s see if I can get some medicine to help you with your spots!”
(Present the bottle of lotion to the children) “ ‘This is a very special kind of medicine called Dottie Spotty Cream!” the doctor said, “Put a little bit of it on each of your 26 spots and they will disappear in no time at all!”
“So Dottie Did.”
Allow each child to dip the tip of their finger in the ‘medicine’ and take turns putting it on Dottie’s spots while counting aloud to 26.
“After Dottie put the Dottie Spotty Cream on, she closed her eyes. (Have children close their eyes.) When she opened her eyes and looked in the mirror, the spots were all gone! (hold up the picture of face without the spots) She was so glad she didn’t have to go to her birthday party with red spots all over her face! She had a wonderful time with her friends and family and had an evening full of music, dancing, laughter, treats and presents!”
(Hold up picture of balloons and presents.)
“Can you count the number of balloons at Dottie’s party?”
“Can you count the number of presents Dottie was given for her birthday?”
For further counting practice have children count 26of a designated item and place it in the counting jar. Hopefully the jar has been filled by now in which case they are due for their reward!!!
Letter of the Day ‘Z’:
Display the letter Z and demonstrate the sound that it makes.
Have each child take turns coming up and saying a word that you whisper into their ear. If they say a word that begins with the letter Z the other children will clap their hands. If they say a word that does not begin with the letter Z, the children will put their thumbs down and say boooooooo (think boo-ing at a football game :)
Here are some Z words you may choose to use: Zinnia (flower), Zebra, Zig-zag, Zucchini, Zipper.
Demonstrate how the letter Z is written and allow them to practice in their writing notebooks. Teach ASL sign for letter Z as well as the signs for Zebra and Zoo!
Introduction to Topic: If you have toys or stuffed animals that resemble zoo animals, place them in different locations around the house. You may also print and use the animal pictures below….
ALSO: on a piece of paper, draw the following : Insect, Plant, fish, steak, mouse
Cut the pictures out and put them in a bowl
Tell children to close their eyes, and proceed to put on a hat (and/or fake mustache) and introduce yourself as _________ the zookeeper.
“Does anyone know what a zookeeper does?”
“A zookeeper has a very important job because they are in charge of all the animals at the zoo! (a zoo is a place where people can come see and learn about many different kinds of animals,) It is the zookeeper’s job to know all about the animals, and what they need to eat to keep healthy! Zookeepers also help to keep the animal homes clean and take care of the animals when they’re sick! Would you like to learn about some of my favorite animals at the zoo?”
Lead children around the house where you have placed each animal. Introduce the animals and give a few facts about each one. Allow them to ask questions, then ask children if they would like to help you feed the animal. Show them the bowl of food
options (paper cut-outs) and have them choose which one would be the best choice for each animal.
Tiger: Largest cat in the world! How many of you would like to have this cat for a pet? It is a carnivore, which means that it eats other animals. This is why they have such sharp teeth and claws. In the zoo, they can’t hunt other animals, so we bring them lots of meat to eat. They come from the forests of Asia.
What kind of food should we give the tiger today?
Chimpanzee: Chimpanzees have short legs and long arms. They eat insects, leaves, fruit, stems, buds, and bark.. They use small sticks to get termites or ants from the ground. They push the stick into the ant or termite nest and the insects climb on to it. The chimps then pick the insect off the twig with their lips. They talk to each other using lots of different sounds. (Demonstrate what a monkey sounds like. Allow children to practice their monkey sounds too!) Lots of times you’ll see chimpanzees picking things out of another chimp’s fur. Since they don’t get to take baths like we do, this is their way of cleaning each other!
Time to feed the chimps! What do you think they would like?
Elephant: Comes from Africa! They eat 200-300 lbs of food (plants) EVERY DAY and drink more than 100 gallons of water. When an animal only eats plants, we call it an ‘herbivore!’ Elephants like to stay in groups, called ‘herds’ (which is kind of like a big family) They love to take dust and mud baths! Can anyone guess what they use their trunks for? (Picking things up, sucking up water to put into their mouths, bathing themselves)
The elephants look hungry! What shall we feed them?
Penguin: They’re birds, but they don’t fly! They don’t walk very fast either, but they are very excellent swimmers. They spend about half of their life on land and half in the oceans. They love to eat small sea animals like krill, fish, and squid. Some penguins come from very cold places and live on the ice. Others come from warmer places. Can you walk like a penguin?
What do you think we should feed them today?
Anacondas: They come in lots of different colors, but all of them have black patches on their backs to help hide them from their enemies. They live in South America and eat fish, reptiles, birds, small animals and even big animals. Their mouth is different than a lot of other animals because it can open VERY wide which lets them fit large animals in their mouths. Show me how wide you can open your mouths! They don’t chew their food like we do, they just swallow! What would happen if we tried that? We’d probably choke! Anacondas have long, very strong bodies. Sometimes they wrap their bodies around other animals and squeeze really hard. This is one way they catch their food!
What should we feed the Anaconda today?
Lead children back to the circle and have them tell you about the different animals they’ve seen at the zoo. You may want to expound on the lifestyle of different animals and explain the difference between mammals and reptiles (There’s obviously too much information to fit into this lesson plan!) Explain that all animals have a different way of living, and all animals are very important. Ask how they think these animals should be treated and how we can do our part to keep them safe.
Stories: Read and discuss the following stories:
The Day Before Zoo Day: by Catherine Ipcizade
Zoo by Gail Gibbons
Never Ever Shout in a Zoo by Karma Wilson
Activity: Play animal charades. Take turns acting out an animal and see if the others can guess which animal you’re trying to be!
OR
Play “I’m thinking of an animal”: Have one person think of an animal while the others ask questions about it to help them guess what it is. “Does it live on land? Does it have four legs?” Etc.
Craft: click herefor snake craft
Snack: Animal crackers or frozen bananas dipped in melted chocolate (you can call it monkey food )
Service: Surprise the birds with a treat today! Make a bird feeder by spreading peanut butter over a pine cone, then rolling the pinecone in bird seed.
Good bye song: To the tune of “If You’re Happy and you Know it”
If you’ve learned a lot today, clap your hands (clap clap)
Here’s the letter of the day (sign the letter Z), clap your hands (clap clap)
Oh, we’ve had a lot of fun,
Now our preschool time is done (tap index finger to wrist)
See you next time (wave) and we’ll do it all again! (Clap clap.)
