Have you found that toy that seems to engage and excite your child, no matter what? For us, it is ALL ABOUT the animals! Animals with loose parts, animals with play dough, animals in a sensory bin, animals with blocks, even animals in a box; my kids will take them in any form! They are always my go-to when I need something quick that I know will hold the attention of my tiny humans.
This particular activity was one of those super quick set ups that kept my 5 year old engaged while his brothers napped. It held his attention for over an hour. Yes, I said it! OVER AN HOUR!!! And it would have been longer, but his 1 1/2 year old brother woke up early and bulldozed most of what he had done (insert face palm here).
My favorite part of this activity is the amazing blanket that we used as our play base. It was kindly gifted by Birdy Boutique and we are obsessed!
It is super soft and light weight. Not to mention, it is also jam-packed with an unbelievable amount of animals on each continent! AND, there is a huge surprise with this blanket… it’s double sided! Right?! Mind blown! And the flip side is full of, get ready for it… DINOSAURS! Could this thing get any better?! I think not!
Do yourself a favor and GET ONE OF THESE AMAZING EDUCATIONAL BLANKETS, like now!
Let’s break this activity down so you can get to playing and enjoy some quiet time!
This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Affiliate, I earn on qualifying orders at no additional cost to you. This post also contains a gifted item. However, all opinions are my own!
Materials
- Birdy Boutique World Map/Dinosaur Educational Blanket
- Small animals from around the world. We love Safari Ltd for these!
- Large soft dice
- Paper and marker (to write numbers on)
- 3 Baskets (to hold the animals)
How To
Like I said before, this is a super simple set up! The most time consuming part is writing numbers on paper for the dice. Not bad!
- Grab your paper and marker. Now, write the numbers 1, 2 and 3 spaced apart on the paper 3 times each. Let me break down how we will use each number:
- You will place the numbers 1-3 on your die, 2 times each. You need two of each number because a die has 6 sides and we are only using 3 numbers!
- You will place the last set of 1-3 in the 3 baskets for the animals. This will tell your kiddo which basket to choose out of after rolling.
- Now that your numbers are set, it’s time to gather the animals! Feel free to use your blanket for inspiration. It is jam-packed with animals! Try to make sure you have a few for each continent (or just focus on 1-2 specific continents). Place your animals evenly in the 3 baskets. I mixed ours up so the animals for one continent were not grouped into one basket together.
- Lay your blanket out and invite your kiddo to come and play!
Give yourself a break and let your little play!
Be sure to layout the ground rules before you unleash your preschooler on this activity. Ours were:
- Roll the die and match the number to the correct basket
- Choose one animal out of that basket and place it on the correct continent
- Roll again!
Pretty easy, right?!
Related: Looking for another easy activity that will occupy your littles so you can take a break?! Check out one of our favorites!
I swear, this activity was truly magical! My 5 year old wanted to talk to me about the animals as he chose them, but he didn’t move from this blanket for OVER AN HOUR!
And that allowed Mommy to kick her feet up and just take a minute to herself. No one asking for a snack or running around the house…just a moment for me.
What if my kiddo isn’t into the game?
Now, what if rolling the die and choosing from a basket isn’t working for your little? No sweat! Once my preschooler was over rolling and choosing one animal at a time, he switched into full open ended imaginative play.
The animals were migrating and ‘visiting friends’. They were forming families and moving to new continents. It was just precious to watch!
Even if your little isn’t into the game aspect of this activity, he can still have a ton of fun using the blanket to match animals or as a play base for imaginative play.
Birdy Boutique is such an amazing small business, and their educational blankets are simply incredible. We couldn’t love ours anymore! And I’ve got my eye on this one next!
Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by and check out our activities. Don’t be a stranger! Connect with me on Instagram and Pinterest to say Hi and see what we are up to!
And check out our extremely popular Balancing Dinos Activity!
