Are you planning a visit to the zoo or studying zoo animals with the kids? Then let the kids play with tons of animals as they learn and sort through this Who Lives in the Zoo activity!
This activity came about after we read the book 
Miss Moo Goes to the Zoo-affiliate link, which is a funny story about a cow who is looking for a change of scenery from her home at the farm. She finds herself at the zoo
To set up the activity I grabbed two bins and labeled them Zoo and Farm and then I grabbed some toy animals and stuck them in a bin. If you don’t have farm animals you could use ocean animals, insects, or whatever you have on hand–keep the activity easy and simple :).
I was originally thinking each of my kids could take turns doing the activity on their own but they were having fun playing with each other so I turned it into a two person activity.
To do the activity they each took turns picking out an animal from the bin and putting it in the area, farm or zoo. Toward the end of the activity Little Dragon thought he would be a silly and started putting the farm animals in the zoo and the zoo animals in the farm. Then a whole food chain reenactment took place between my two kids. Thank goodness the zoo has everything under control with separate areas :).
As kids sort through the animals ask them questions like:
- What does the animal eat?
- Where does the animal live when it’s not at the zoo?
- What does the animal say?
- How does the animal move? (jump, walk, crawl) My kids loved demonstrating their answers to this question.
More Zoo Activities by the Creative Preschool Team
Giraffe Finger Puppet Craft by I Heart Crafty Things
Z is for Zebra Alphabet Craft by School Time Snippets
Recycled K Cup Lion Craft by Artsy Momma
Zoo Creative Drawing Ideas by Hand Made Kids Art
More Resources
Learning Resources Jumbo Jungle Animals-affiliate link
That book sounds adorable! And I love those big animals– perfect for little hands!
Hi Kristina, Thanks so much! I love the animals too and I am so bummed I can’t find the same set anymore because we are missing large ocean animals from our collection.
I have got to check out that book! It looks so cute! I love your sorting activity to go along with it!
Thanks Rachel! It’s a silly one and perfect for this activity.