Here are some fun animal themed games and projects that will keep the grandkids amused and generate lots of fun. The games can be adapted in terms of difficulty to suit various ages.
If you have any ideas we can pass on to other grandparents use our CONTACT US form to share it with us and we'll share it with our readers.
If you have any ideas we can pass on to other grandparents use our CONTACT US form to share it with us and we'll share it with our readers.
LION MASKYou will need:
Method: 1: Cut the center hole out of a paper plate. 2: Glue the paper strips around the circle leaving an open hole faces. 3: Roll the end of the paper around a crayon to curl (good motor skill practice for kids). 4: Let your grandchildren start their pretend play, lion-theme singing and have a ‘Rooooaaarrringly’ good time.! |
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MOUSE MASK
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You will need:·
Method:
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Mouse mask left. Cat mask right. (See below for details)
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CAT MASK
You will need:
Method:
- Plain cardboard party masks from a supermarket or the cheap store·
- Felt in two colors of your choice
- 2 chenille stems (pipe cleaners) trimmed into thirds
- Hot glue gun
- Scissors
Method:
- Cut a basic cat face out of one color of felt. The simplest method is to draw an oval that is just a bit larger than the cardboard mask and add circles to the top corners.
- Lay the cardboard mask on top of the felt and trace ovals in the appropriate spots for eyes. Cut those out and test to make sure your child can see. If not, adjust accordingly.
- Cut triangles from the second colour of felt for the ears and nose.
- Hot glue the chenille stems to the front of the cardboard mask. Placing them on the front of the mask will keep them from poking kids and hide them once the felt is glued on.
- Hot glue the cat face to the front of cardboard mask on top of the chenille stems.
- Hot glue the ears and nose to the cat face.
- Wear and let the puurrring begin!
ZOO BABIES |
WILD LIFE TRIVIA |
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This is a great educational game for kids of a variety of ages. Animals often have different names as babies. A baby dog is called a puppy, for example. The idea is to match the animal in Column 1 with its baby name in Column 2. You could do this with a white board, large piece of paper, even toy animals for more visual representation.
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This is definitely an educational game for older children and to put your animal knowledge to the test, too!
Match the animal with the word that describes it.For the answers to this quiz, look up the first set of words in the dictionary to see how much you knew. |
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WALK LIKE THE ANIMALS
This is a fun activity to do with a group of friends at a park or beach. Or you can hold the races indoors with younger children along a passage or cleared space where they can circle. Remember to check with COVID restrictions on numbers.
What You'll Need:
Group of friends
Once you've gathered all your friends together, decide on a starting and finishing line, and try the following animal races:
Crab Race: Racers are on all fours (hands and feet) and must move sideways.
Chimp Race: Racers hold their ankles with their hands or drag their knuckles on the ground.
Frog Race: Racers squat in frog position and hop.
Get the children to think of other animals to imitate in the races. Let their imagination run wild and may the fastest animal win!
What You'll Need:
Group of friends
Once you've gathered all your friends together, decide on a starting and finishing line, and try the following animal races:
Crab Race: Racers are on all fours (hands and feet) and must move sideways.
Chimp Race: Racers hold their ankles with their hands or drag their knuckles on the ground.
Frog Race: Racers squat in frog position and hop.
Get the children to think of other animals to imitate in the races. Let their imagination run wild and may the fastest animal win!
ANIMAL CHARADES
What you'll need:
A pen
Strips of paper
A container to hold the strips of paper
What to do:
Decide on how many rounds you want to play. Prepare a strip of paper for each player for each round. Write the name of an animal on each strip of paper. Fold the strips in half with the animal word on the inside and then in half again. Put them into the container.
Each player then takes a turn to blindly pick one of the strips of paper. He or she then has to act out the animal on the slip until someone guesses it. If you want to make the game competitive, time each turn and the player with the least amount of time wins. Or, set a timer to limit the time for each turn. If no-one guesses correctly, the player does not gain a point. The player with the most points wins. To make it even harder, get the players themselves to write the animals on the strips of paper. All the strips are still placed in the same container so players may pull out a strip they have written which makes the games even more fun if they have written an obscure animal on it.
A pen
Strips of paper
A container to hold the strips of paper
What to do:
Decide on how many rounds you want to play. Prepare a strip of paper for each player for each round. Write the name of an animal on each strip of paper. Fold the strips in half with the animal word on the inside and then in half again. Put them into the container.
Each player then takes a turn to blindly pick one of the strips of paper. He or she then has to act out the animal on the slip until someone guesses it. If you want to make the game competitive, time each turn and the player with the least amount of time wins. Or, set a timer to limit the time for each turn. If no-one guesses correctly, the player does not gain a point. The player with the most points wins. To make it even harder, get the players themselves to write the animals on the strips of paper. All the strips are still placed in the same container so players may pull out a strip they have written which makes the games even more fun if they have written an obscure animal on it.
