Preschool Activities for Animal Habitats

Teach preschoolers about the different habitats of animals with age-appropriate activities. Animal habitats consist of the different homes that animals live in throughout the year. Capturing the attention of a three- to five-year-old to learn about the habitats can be difficult, but not impossible. Choose activities that are hands-on, and get the children up and moving.

Locate different animal habitat photos online or in magazines. Online photos may need to be resized to a smaller image, such as 2 by 2 inch square. Laminate the pictures. Repeat the process with the animals that live in the habitats you found online or in magazines. Work with two to four preschoolers at a time and play the matching game. Let the children discuss where they think an animal may live, and ask them why they think they live in that place.

Create worksheets that contain both the animal and the habitat. The animals should be on one side of the worksheet and the habitats on the other side. Let children draw a line from the animal to the habitat. This activity will also help children recognize animals and draw straight lines. When they are done matching the animals and habitats, let them color the pictures with crayons.

Tape pictures and write the names of four different habitats on index cards, and place them in each corner of the room. The habitats can be ocean, jungle, desert and grassland. Have all the preschoolers stand in the center of the room. Call out different names of animals, such as “shark," to the preschoolers, and have them imitate the animal. Children should pretend they are sharks swimming around each other. Then, tell the children to go find their habitat, which is “ocean.” Repeat the activity with several different types of animals.

Create a worksheet with different habitat pictures on the front. Under the habitat pictures, label the names of the habitat, such as "ocean," "rainforest" and "desert." Give each child a handful of animal crackers for a snack. Before they can eat their snack, they have to identify where each of their animal crackers resides. They place the cracker on the appropriate habitat, such as a camel on the desert. Serve the children water to drink with their snack.

Teach the children about habitats by bringing in a class pet, such as a goldfish. Talk to the children about the type of habitat the goldfish lives in and how its habitat helps it survive. Other class pets include lizards and hamsters.