Early childhood is a period of rapid child development. For parents it is important to create an environment where the child can develop his/her basic skills: cognitive, physical and emotional. Educational games on the topic of animals will help to develop basic skills through learning activities with children from 1 year in a play-based form.

Popular educational games and materials for children

Educational games about animals are very attractive for children of all ages, because beginning from birth children meet animals interacting with toys, in picture books, cartoons or by observing the world around.

The choice of educational games and tasks is very important, because it should be interesting for the child. The games about animals are highly recommended, because they are

• pretty – cute images and photos of animals attract children's attention;
• simple – from the very early age children see animals, birds and insects, so this subject is close and interesting to them;
• adaptive — using printable templates of games you are not limited by strict rules, think up your own games and fun activities;
• interactive — children always try to repeat sounds, gestures or movements of animals that they're getting to know.

Types of educational games about animals

To conduct an effective preschool education, you should try to organize play-and-learn workshops regularly. Changing the type of activities is useful for keeping the child's attention, improving concentration, and developing creative thinking.

On WUNDERKIDDY you can print out variety of games with animals, which can help you to organize a wide spectrum of educational activities, without making your child boring. Here you can find:

1. Velcro games. The child must fix items on the game sheet with Velcro to indicate his/her answer.
2. Games with clothespins. While playing, the child indicates his/her answer using clothespins with pictures fixed on them. This activity is very good to improve kids fine motor skills.
3. Worksheets. You will need only print out the game sheets and take a pencil or marker. The child will indicate the answer by drawing a line from one object to another.
4. Sorting games. Your preschooler will need to identify a common feature for certain objects and sort the game cards into different groups accordingly.
5. Pre-writing tasks. They are useful for preparing the hand for writing. The child will need to carefully draw on dotted lines to practice drawing figures, letters and other elements.
6. Flash cards. These game cards suits well for the youngest students to tell them child animals, to demonstrate how they look like, improve thinking and visual perception.
7. Drawing and coloring books. Drawing and coloring is the best way to develop creativity and imagination in an early childhood. It also prepares the hand to the future writing.

Advantages of printable educational animal games

Printouts are much healthier than interactive games on a computer or tablet. They are not harmful to eyes and nervous system. From the age of 3, you can combine the types of activities and perform some tasks using gadgets, but no longer than 20 minutes a day.

What skills can be developed with printable animal games?

Fine motor skills. Almost every game requires your child to interact with small objects or cards: sorting, searching, gluing, cutting, or drawing. By performing fun tasks with cute animals, you can develop your child's basic skills from an early age.

Speaking skills. While playing, talk to your child, discuss what eat and where live the animals from your game. So the child can enrich his/her vocabulary and reasoning skills.

Math skills. Learning to count, compare quantities and sizes will be easy for kids with WUNDERKIDDY math worksheets. Colorful children-friendly design can help to turn learning into a fun game. Here you can find some examples of math tasks:

• help the bunny collect carrots;
• count the hedgehog's winter food supply;
• feed the giraffe some tasty leaves.

Thinking skills. Playing with animal printouts, preschoolers practice making logical connections between animals and their habitat, food, number, or other characteristics. It improves kid`s ability to analyze information, draw reasonable conclusions and make decisions.

Memory. Concentrating on small details and memorizing illustrations and new information is extremely beneficial for children of all ages. There are many game activities to train the memory of toddlers and preschoolers, for example:

• sorting animals into groups;
• comparing pictures and looking for similarities or differences;
• memory games that require the child to memorize and then repeat combinations of pictures;
• recognizing animals by their shadows or outlines.

Creative skills. Animal coloring books and craft templates help children develop imagination, creative thinking, and language skills. Write short stories together with your child while playing educational games about animals, make wonderful crafts with simple templates, or color simple coloring books with crayons and pencils.

WUNDERKIDDY animal games for children ages 1-7

On WUNDERKIDDY you can find variety of worksheets and games to download and print for preschoolers. The animal printouts can be used for kindergarten lessons as well as for home play-and-learn activities.

1. Shadow matching games. The child's task is to recognize animals and match their silhouettes or outlines with a colored picture.
2. Flashlight games. A simple, fun, but useful play for toddlers. The task is to shine a flashlight from the bottom of the play card to see the hidden image between two layers of paper and then name what is in the picture.
3. Simple puzzles. The task is to examine the cards and assemble a complete picture. Depending on age, you can choose puzzles with 2, 4, or more pieces.
4. Color matching games. Simple educational games for the youngest students to find pairs of the same color or set of colors.
5. Sorting games. The game task is to group objects according to a common characteristic. Children need to study the animals carefully and sort the game cards into groups: habitat, color, food, direction of movement, etc.
6. Flash cards. A type of activity for the youngest children to familiarize them with the diversity of the animal world.
7. Pre-writing activity sheets. Simple tracing sheets with variety of lines, circles, and other forms to outline and prepare for writing numbers and letters. Drawing and tracing activities require lots of attention and concentration, so cute colorful animal pages will help keep your child engaged in learning.

Fun educational games about

Educational games for children are not only a learning tool, but also a fun activity. WUNDERKIDDY materials can be easy adapted to different educational goals, way of learning and age of the child. In the form of games, children can broaden their knowledge of the animal world, develop basic skills and get an interest to the learning process, which is very useful for further education.

With WUNDERKIDDY printable games you can help children discover their talents and develop their skills. By making learning a fun game, you will get an active, motivated and engaged students.