Animals

Take your child’s small plastic animals and hide them in some rice or sand. Have your child dig to get them out. Using a spoon or shovel makes it a little harder. Name each animal or make the sound once you find it. Works on motor skills and self help skills like feeding if you are using a utensil. Works on cognition and communication as you label the animals and imitate the sounds. Also works on spatial awareness and communication like under the sand, in the bucket, etc.

Take a walk and look for neighbors' pets. Name them and make the animal sound when you see one. Works on motor skills by sitting in the stroller independently or walking independently, building communication vocabulary and oral motor imitation, and visual and auditory perception by spotting animals in yards or windows.

Take a box or laundry basket and make a bed for your stuffed animals. Pretend to feed and care for the animals. Works on social skills by treating animals gently and kindly. Works on communication by adding action vocabulary such as petting, feeding, eating and sleeping. Works on spatial relationships like in/out and on.

Take out your toy or stuffed animals and talk about them. Find ones that are the same. You can match by color, size or type (cat, dog, etc). Works on cognition and vocabulary by noticing similarities and differences.

Pretend being a pet with your child. Crawl around and bark/meow, etc. Make a special pet bed to nap in or a pet room under the table with a blanket (also known as a fort). Works on social imitation and pretend play/creativity which is important for vocabulary building.

Visit the Heritage Park Petting Farm in Taylor to see live farm animals.

12803 Pardee Rd, Taylor, MI 48180

Opens at 10 am

Admission Fee

Taylor Residents: $3, Non-Residents: $4,

Animals play on the farm, but they all come home when it is time for bed.

A silly, rhyming book about animal sounds

Asking each colorful animal what it sees, and ending with children and a teacher.

This friendly puppy is hiding. Can you find him?

This curious little cat can get into big trouble

These fun books have buttons to push that make a popping sound as you count the farm animals

A fun, silly story about animals playing and helping each other.

Soft, bumpy, shiny, fuzzy? All different types of textures and colors to explore

Five little ducks went out to play

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck called quack, quack, quack, quack

But only four little ducks came back.

Repeat with each number

Sad mother duck went out one day

Over the hill and far away

Mother duck said quack quack quack quack

And all of the five little ducks came back

Old MacDonald had a farm, E,I,E,I,O

And on that farm he had a cow, E,I,E,I,O

With a moo moo here and a moo moo there

Here a moo, there a mo

Everywhere a moo moo

Old MacDonald had a farm, E,I,E,I,O

Pig - Oink

Sheep - Baa

Dog - woof

I have a pet. He is a dog,

And he says woof woof woof woof woof.

Cat- meow

Mouse - squeak.

Fish - glub

Bird - tweet

Lion - roar

The ducks on the farm say, "Quack, quack, quack."

The mice on the farm say, "Squeak, squeak, squeak."

The chickens on the farm say, "Cluck, cluck, cluck."

"Quack. Squeak. Cluck."

The pigs on the farm say, "Oink, oink, oink."

The goats on the farm say "Meh, meh, meh."

The sheep on the farm say "Baa, baa, baa."

"Oink. Meh. Baa."

The horses on the farm say, "Neigh, neigh, neigh."

The cows on the farm say, "Moo, moo, moo."

The roosters on the farm say, "Cock-a-doodle-doo"

"Neigh. Moo. Cock-a-doodle-doo."

Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb.

Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.

Big giraffe - neck was very long

Rhinoceros - horn was very sharp

Kangaroo - pouch was very warm

Camel - hump was very round