Animal Parade Toddler Activity

Table of Contents:

1. Have an animal lover? Make an Animal Parade IMMEDIATELY.
2. What’s the deal with this animal parade?
3. I loved the idea so much – I made it an activity!
4. Here’s how I set this up
5. Getting started was easy!
6. But what’s she learning here?
7. What happened when she was done?
8. Look for what they like!
9. When will you make an Animal Parade?

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Have an animal lover? Make an Animal Parade IMMEDIATELY.

There are two loves in my daughter’s open-play life: tiny animals and lining those animals up. From the outside, it looks like a simple activity and a simple game that she’s come up with. But her animal parade is so much more…

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What’s the deal with this animal parade?

The deal is that my daughter (age 3.5) came up with this activity on her own.

She meticulously and carefully lines her toys up, organizing them, classifying them, and arranging them so very delicately. She’s always done this with toys.

But lately, she’s slightly altered her line-up game by calling it an “Animal Parade” and organizing them in a very clear marching line.

I loved the idea so much – I made it an activity!

Wanting to honor her style of play and recognize how wonderful it is, I built her an activity entirely based off her game.

Spoiler alert: she loved this. LOVE IT.

RELATED: Wanna try this activity with dot stickers? It’s so much fun making a Sticker Line-Up.

Here’s how I set this up

Materials:

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• Animals (this is the set that we used)
• Butcher paper
• Tape
• Giant Sharpie marker

I rolled out a 3-foot-long section of white butcher paper and taped it to my floor.

On top of it, I drew two animal parade “routes”. Since Kate has so many animals, I knew she could make at least two line-ups. We definitely could have done a third.

Getting started was easy!

There was no “selling” her on this activity – she went right into playing with it just like she always does with her beloved animals.

Carefully and with precision, she lined the animals up.

Once she finished both lines, she carefully removed them all and started AGAIN. That’s what good activities do – they keep kids playing.

But what’s she learning here?

She’s learning a ton, actually!

• Spatial awareness – the understanding of how objects are placed in relationship to another
• Hand-eye coordination
• Fine motor skills
• Concentration

Just because it looks like a simple activity, doesn’t mean it is a simple one!

What happened when she was done?

She moved her line-up into her imaginary world and just kept building and growing the play scene around her. She kept the animal parade world alive and played within it.

Look for what they like!

One of the best pieces of advice that I can give with kids activities is to tailor make them. Make them fit the child. Find what works for their personality and run with it.

My daughter loves animals. And she loves making parades. So it was a natural fit for me to build her an Animal Parade activity.

When will you make an Animal Parade?