Bottom line – My kids love animals. Not like. Not are interested in. But LOVE! So much so that I have had a giraffe and a panda for the past 2 Halloweens AND we have thrown 4 animal-themed birthday parties in the past 2 years. It’s been great for saving money, I just keep reusing the same decorations, haha!
Because of our obsession general love for animals, it comes as no surprise that we have a large collection of small animal figures. As I was brainstorming some new activities, I decided that I had to include the animals! And this animal sort most definitely fit the bill.
Since we have a baby in the house, I’ve been collecting different baby food and snack containers and thought this was the perfect opportunity to use some of them!
Materials
- Small animal figures
- Recycled containers (or small bins)
- Sticky notes and markers
This activity was extremely easy to set up and took virtually no time at all to pull together! I asked my kiddo to round up a bunch of small animals, and by the time he came back with them, I already had the sticky notes and containers ready to go!
I went ahead and sorted through the animals he brought me to narrow it down to farm animals and wild animals. We have quite a variety, so I wanted to make sure I only had two categories for him to focus on. You could certainly choose other categories (ocean animals, Arctic animals, African animals, flying animals, etc.). You could even do more than two categories if you wanted. This activity is pretty open-ended in that regard!
My sweetie got right to sorting and did it over…and over! The first time, he went straight to sorting and was very focused on which animal belonged where. After that, he started developing stories and conversations between the animals. It was so much fun to watch!
That to me is the beauty of these little animals. They provoke so much imaginative play, which is crucial at this age. Before I had kids, my plan was to go completely natural with all of their toys and only have the best wooden animals. Three kids later, I realize that although those hand-crafted wooden animals would be amazing, it doesn’t have to be fancy or expensive to spark the imagination. And that, truly, is all that matters in my book!
Any activity starring animals is sure to be a winner in our house. As I write this, all of the little animals are currently boarding a rocket ship to take a trip to the hidden city! Who knows, maybe I’ll work that into our next activity!
Do you have an animal lover in your house?
For more animal focused fun, have your little create a house for all of their friends and buy yourself an entire afternoon! I’m not kidding! Check it out here.
