12 Activities of Christmas 6: Six Geese A-Laying

Teach your children about animals and their young, all while exploring their development and progress. It is best suited for groups of 2-5.

What you will need:

Print and cut out pictures of animals and their young. If you need it, there’s a handy resource here.

Preparing the activity:

Lay the animal images out in a random order on the table.

Doing the activity:

Pick up one of the adult animal images and ask the children if they know what the baby would be called. Can the children find them on the table?

Discuss with the children the similarities and differences between the different animals, e.g. the chick and gosling both have beaks and wings, but one is yellow and one is grey. How have the adult animals changed from when they were babies?

Have the children seen any of these animals in real life before? As a follow-up activity, once the world has returned to normal, perhaps a trip to a farm could be arranged?

Tracking the activity:

30-50 months

Understanding the world: The world; “Can talk about some of the things they have observed such as plants, animals, natural and found objects. Developing an understanding of growth, decay and changes over time.”

­­­­­­40-60+ months

Understanding the world: The world; “Looks closely at similarities, differences, patterns and change.”