Animal Play Overview Between the ages of 2-3 our children are sponges. They soak up so much information. I am always amazed at

their capacity for learning. This program is designed to make learning the basics fun. The books and activities

were chosen to stimulate little minds and encourage learning. This program will give your child a love for

learning that will carry over into school.

BIBLE

The Bible program is made up of 3 different parts. The first is Scripture memory. Each week will have a

different Bible verse that coordinates to the letter of the alphabet that is being studied. Each verse is taken

from the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV) of the Bible, unless otherwise noted. Repetition is the key

to teaching scripture memory. I do not give daily reminders to review the verses. Use the method that works

best with your child. Have them repeat it after you, make up motions, or put it in a cute song to help them

remember. The second part is character development. Each week your student will study animals

coordinating with the letter of the week and the outstanding traits that we can learn from them. The third part

of this is Bible stories. Each story is put in rhyme to make listening fun and easy to remember.

Suggested Books for Bible

My Big Book of 5-Minute Devotions by Pamela & Douglas Kennedy – A wonderful book that uses

animals to share character traits. It includes thoughtful questions and Bible verses.

The Rhyme Bible Storybook – A delightful overview of 36 stories from the Bible that are all told

in rhyme and pictures. This Bible can be substituted for one you already own, or by reading the

stories directly from your Bible.

Bible Animals is a DK board book that takes 5 of the Bible stories and gives little games and

activities. It is a lot of fun. This book is optional.

PHONICS

The phonics portion of this program focuses on recognition of letters and their sounds. Two sounds are

introduced for the letters that have more than one sound. Although mastery of both sounds isn’t necessary,

recognizing that some letters have more than one sound will help the reading process later on. One letter is

focused on each week. There are activities given for each letter. You may find that some activities are

repeated frequently. Repetition at this age is a wonderful tool. You will want to use the activities more often

that work best with your child. It is encouraged to keep a 3-ring binder that you can add each week’s letter to.

It is a wonderful way to review with your child.

Suggested Book for Phonics

Alphabet Art by Judy Press – This is a wonderful collection of animal art, letter activities, rhymes

and fingerplays. All of the phonics activities are from this book, unless noted specifically in the

Instructor Guide.

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MATH

Math concepts in this program focus mainly on numbers 1-10, colors and shapes. Other concepts are

introduced. Size, measurement and place value are a few that will be covered. No book is needed for this

portion. Worksheets are provided for extra reinforcement. Each week a page is going to be completed that

has the number being learned and objects showing the number. You can keep these in the back of the same

binder that the letters are in.

ANIMAL STUDY

In the animal study portion, students will learn about animal’s homes and habitats. They will learn special

characteristics about animals. The set of books used are perfect for young learners with large colorful pictures

and bits of information. These books are suggested and scheduled, but it is easy to supplement with other

books. You can use any books with factual information about animals. Choose animals that begin with the

letter of the week and look up some books in the library. Branch out from the books suggested and find as

many different books about the animals as you can.

Scheduled Animal Books

These First facts and pictures books are colorful books full of information for young learners.

I Love Rainforests by Lisa Regan

I Love Animal Homes by Lisa Regan

I Love Farm Animals by Lisa Regan

I Love Oceans by Lisa Regan

Other Animal Books Not Scheduled

Encyclopedia of Animals

My First book of Animals from A to Z Illustrated by Turi MacCombie

MUSIC

Music is crucial for Toddlers. The music chosen for Animal Play is a delightful collection of songs, poems and

fingerplays about animals. They will get your toddler dancing and singing along. Many songs are repeated in

the Instructor Guide, but please listen to them as much as you can!

Animal CD Collection

Wee Sing Animals, Animals, Animals by Pamela Cann Beall and Susan Hagen Nipp

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Suggested Book List for

These are suggested books for Read-Alouds.

A You’re Adorable by Martha Alexander

Arty Facts Animals & Art Activities by Crabtree Publishing

Crafts to Celebrate God’s Creation by Kathy Ross

The Tell-Me Stories Vol. 1: Parables Jesus Told by Ella K. Lindvall

Creature by Andrew Zuckerman (a beautiful collection animal photos arranged by the alphabet. Uses

large & small letters and animal words)

The Animal ABC by Leslie Baker (IncludesLarge and small letters and animal name)

Count Me a Rhyme by Jane Yolen (Counts animals by using beautiful photos and poems)

1,2,3 To the Zoo by Eric Carle (Counts animals in train cars)

Chica Chica Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. (Teaches alphabetical order with small letters)

Sesame Street ABC and 123

Z is for Zookeeper by Smith (A Zoo Alphabet)

W is for Woof by Strother (A Dog Alphabet)

Plant a Rainbow by Ehlert

Freight Train by Donald Crews (Teaches colors)

Richard Scarry’s Colors

A Color of His Own by Lionni

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Eric Carle

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle (Teaches animals and their sounds and activities)

Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle

Animals, Animals, Animals by Eric Carle ( A collection of animal poems)

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle (Teaches body parts by comparing to animals)

Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister(teaches the concept of sharing and having friends)

I’m as Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood

I Went Walking by sue Williams

Little Loon and Papa by Toni Buzzeo

Fluffy and Baron by Laura Rankin

The Wild Little Horse by Rita Gray

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming

Verdi by Janell Cannon

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter by Joseph M. Parramon

Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming

I Had a Cat by Mona Rabun Reeves

Edward the Emu by Sheena Knowles

Koala Lou by Mem Fox

Animal Strike at the Zoo by Karma Wilson

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Steven Kellogg

Little Golden Books Collection

o Animal Tales, Baby Animals, The Fuzzy Duckling, Color Kittens, Farm Tales, My First Counting

Book, The Little Red Hen

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As for me and my family,

we will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15

Animal Play

Week 1

Extra Activities Call-Out Game pg. 5 of Alphabet Art

Snack on Animal Crackers (Tell a story about each animal)

Observe an anthill

Watch an athlete or interview one

Be an acrobat

Week at a Glance

Letter – Aa

Math – Number 1

Animal – Alligator, Ant

This Week’s Supplies – carrot, red poster paint, markers, paper towel

tube, green construction paper, tape, blank paper or construction paper

NOTES

When teaching the letters, the cue words on the

back of the flashcards should be done in a sing-

song voice.

Add the letters from the alphabet project and

the numbers to a 3-ring binder. Keep a divider

between the 2 projects. Use the binder to

review.

The Alphabet Art book has projects decorating

letters each week. Instead of cutting them out

of paper plates each week, you can use the letter

templates in this program and add them to the

book. If you do cut them out, you can paste

them to paper to add to the binder.

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Animal Play Week 1

Subject Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Bible

Rhyme Bible – p. 6-21; Discuss the different days

of creation.

Review the story from the Rhyme Bible or read it

again. Act out Creation. Read about Ants p. 92 in 5-

min. Devos

Read about Aardvarks p. 24 in 5-min. Devos

Do the creation activities

in Bible Animals.

Introduce the letter A by showing the flashcard.

Teach the motion and cue words. Do “Amazing

Apple” pg. 2-3 in Alphabet Art. Put it in the binder.

(see notes)

Look at the Animal A sheet. Use your finger or a

crayon to trace the A letters inside the lines

starting at the dot. Color. Review the A flashcard.

Review the A Flashcard. Look at the rhyme on pg.

2. Point to the A letters in the rhyme. (Copy the

picture to color and circle the A letters if you can.) Choose an activity p. 4.

Draw a big number 1 on a

piece of paper. Find objects and count them as

you place them one at a time on top of the number 1. (1 toy, 1 pencil, 1 cup)

Show the number 1 with your finger. Say, “This is 1

finger!” Count things throughout the day. Color

the Silly 1 math page.

Write the Number 1 at the top of a blank piece of

paper. Trace it with the finger. Find one object to glue on the page. You can

use a sticker or picture from clipart.

Animal Study

Do the Alligator fingerplay on pg. 5 of Alphabet Art.

Read about Ants in Animal Homes pg. 8

Review the Alligator fingerplay on p. 5 and

make Allan, the Alligator p. 6-7 in Alphabet Art.

M U S I C

Animals, Animals Animal Song

Animals, Animals Animal Action

Animals Animal Action

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Be kind to one another and

forgive as God forgives.

Ephesians 4:32

Animal Play

Week 2

Extra Activities Masking tape letter Bb on the floor

Build with blocks

Make a big or blue book (Fold a few pieces

of paper in half and staple the fold. Glue

in pictures of big or blue things)

Make a beanbag & throw in baskets

Visit the bakery

Play with bubbles

Play with a balloon

Bounce a ball

Week at a Glance

Letter – Bb

Math – Color Blue

Animal – Beaver, Bear,

Butterfly

This Week’s Supplies

Bubble paper

Markers

Clear contact paper

Colored tissue paper

Pipe cleaner

NOTES

Unless otherwise noted, the phonics projects

will always come from the Alphabet Art book.

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