Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Weekly Theme: Down on The Farm – More Activities
Animal Babies on the Farm
Children learn the names of farm animals and to match them to their offspring’s' names.
What You Need


Flash cards of ten farm animals
Signs with animal names, as needed for games
What to Do
1. Prepare ten cards with the names (and, if possible, pictures) of the following animals that
might be found on a farm. On the back of each card, write the name of that animal's
baby and the sound the animal makes:
cow/calf moo, chicken /chick cluck, dog/puppy bow wow, duck/duckling quack, goat/kid
baa, sheep/lamb baa, pig/piglet oink, cat/kitten meow, goose/gosling honk, horse/foal
heee
2. Introduce the animals on the cards to the class. Then choose from four games that
children can play to gain familiarity with the names. (The last two or three can be used
as indoor activities when weather won't allow outdoor play at recess.)
o Flash! Children flash cards at a partner, who must name the baby and make the
sound.
o Mix & Match Have children form two teams of five each. Write the names of
mother and baby animals on pieces of paper and distribute them randomly.
When you give the signal, mothers and babies must find each other, raise their
hands together, and make the correct sounds.
o Living Tic-Tack-Toe Make a tick-tack-toe pattern on the floor with masking tape.
Have children form teams of X's and 0's. As you call the name of a mother
animal for a team, the player who is up must correctly name the offspring. If the
player answers correctly, she or he takes a place in the boxes. The first team to
make a line of three gets to make all the noises at once. Games continue until all
children have had at least one turn.
o Back to the Barn Establish where the barn is (for example, at the front of the
room) and randomly hand out names of mother and baby animals. When you
says, "The barn door is open," all the baby animals can escape the barn and
scatter to various spots in the room. The adults must stay in the barn. To get
everyone back to the barn safely, the baby animals must say their mothers' name
correctly as you call on them. The baby animal must then find its mother in the
barn. The two the raise their hands together and make the right sound.
To get more children involved in the games, make duplicate names for mothers and
offspring.
August 2010
1
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
On the Farm or at the Zoo?
In this activity, children will discuss the relationship between people and different kinds of
animals. Then they will categorize animals into two groups, farm animals and zoo animals.
What You Need


Pictures of various wild and domestic animals (optional)
Farm Animals and Zoo Animals (print and copy)
What to Do
1. Discuss with children the fact that people have different relationships with different
animals. For example, because cows are more tame, they can be kept on a farm, while
tigers and other wild animals cannot. Ask children to think about the kinds of animals
that can live on a farm and the kinds that may live in a zoo. You may want to discuss
why some animals live on a farm (horses help farmers do work, cows give milk, hens lay
eggs, etc.) and other animals may be kept in a zoo (they are wild and most people might
not see and learn about them otherwise.)
2. Then write Farm at the top of a piece of chart paper and Zoo at the top of another. Name
each animal from the list below and ask children to tell you whether it lives on a farm or
in a zoo. If you have a matching picture, hold it up as you say the animal's name.
cow, tiger, lion, horse, hen, bear, rooster, giraffe, elephant, duck, rhinoceros (rhino),
sheep, goat, hippopotamus (hippo), pig, kangaroo
List the animals on the chart that the children indicate. If they are having trouble deciding
where a particular animal should be listed, revisit your initial about farm animals and zoo
animals.
3. Next, tell children that they will play an animal roundup game. Divide the class into three
groups: zookeepers, farmers, and animals. Explain that some children are going to
pretend to be animals that have wandered away from the zoo and the farm, so the
children who are zookeepers and farmers must bring the animals back to their
respective homes. Designate one area of the classroom to be a farm and another to be
the zoo. Pass out the labels from the Farm and Zoo Animals sheet (helping children to
read words as necessary). Then have the farmers and zookeepers round up their
animals. Repeat the activity with new farmers and zookeepers.
Milk Carton Barn
What You Need:
Small Milk Carton (make sure to clean the milk cartons thoroughly)
Paint
paper or cardboard
What You Do:
Cut the milk carton to make doors. Then give the children the milk cartons and let them paint
them as a barn. You might want them to do this on paper or cardboard as it can get messy.
August 2010
2
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
Above and Below Vegetable Garden
Materials: 12x18" white paper, sharpie, crayons
Bring in several root vegetables. Discuss the textures and
colors.
Ask students to pretend they have a magical camera - the
camera is very thin, and you can slide it into the ground.
Take a picture, and you can see what is going on below the surface.
Draw a horizon line and below it we draw the vegetables.
Have students do a rubbing on a cement wall with brown crayon-- on the bottom half -- to show
dirt
Paper Lunch Bag Cow Puppet
What you will need: White paper lunch bags, white typing paper, tape, glue sticks, and black
crayons.
What to do:
1. Before class print out the cow head pattern and the cow leg pattern and make copies.
2. Have students cut out the patterns.
3. Show the students how to fold down the corners of the bottom of the bag and tape them
down.
4. Glue the cows head onto the bottom of the bag.
5. Color the tongue and glue it under the folded bottom of the bag.
6. Glue the legs to the back of the bag and color spots on the cow.
August 2010
3
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials
Guilford County Schools ACES Program
August 2010
4
Activity ideas obtained from ACES staff and public domain materials