Is your child an animal lover? This forest animal pattern block printable activity for preschool is a great way to learn about some of the animals that live in the forest that kids might not get to see in the wild.
Working on fine motor skills, visual discrimination and scanning are also great bonuses for this forest animal pattern block patterns preschool activity.
Forest Animal Activities for Preschoolers
Doing forest activities with your preschoolers is a great way to teach them about the necessity of trees and plant life. This is the perfect activity to incorporate into a forest animal preschool theme.
- Teach about animals that might seem scary (opossums, anyone?), but are necessary for controlling pests.
- Learn about animals living in the environment that you might not see because they only come out at night.
- Discuss animal camouflage.
- Discuss the natural habitats of forest animals and expand your preschooler’s thinking beyond their natural living space
Preschool Forest Animal Theme Activities
I have a special needs child, who loves learning about animals, so I created this set of free printable forest animal pattern block templates for her. But there are other reasons to learn about forest animals!
These forest-themed toys & games are a great addition to your learning!
Learning Resources Jumbo Forest Animals
Petit Collage Memory Game, Forest Animals (24 Chunky Cards to Match)LEGO Duplo 10582 Forest AnimalsEducational Insights The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel Toddler & Preschool Board Game
Fine Motor Activities for Preschool
Building fine motor skills by working the small muscles in the hands is super important for young children.
I love using activities like these forest animal pattern block mats for our forest theme because kids can work on their fine motor skills and several other skills at the same time.
How To Use The Forest Animal Picture Mats
MATH & FINE MOTOR SKILLS
WORKING WITH PATTERN BLOCKS SUPPORTS FINE MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND FOUNDATIONAL MATH SKILLS
Simply print the animal pictures and gather your pattern blocks. Laminate the sheets or use a dry-erase pocket so that you can reuse as often as necessary!
Children will use the correct blocks to make the picture on the mat. Once it is complete, they will cross off the blocks they used.
They will then complete the “which picture is different?” task.
Free Occupational Therapy Activity for Special Needs Kids
These free printable pattern block designs can also be used to work on:
Visual Discrimination Skills
Identify the different picture in the set of three, mark the shapes used, and matching images to the pattern block pieces are ways to use visual discrimination with this activity.
Development of Fine Motor Skills
Picking up the small pattern block pieces and placing them onto the correct place on the mat works those little fingers! You also get some pre-writing practice in crossing off and circling pictures.
Visual Scanning Strength
Children will need to scan the images to find the matching pattern block pieces, scan a series of three pictures to see which doesn’t belong and look carefully for the shape images at the bottom of the page and the forest animal image to find matching shapes.
Learn About Shapes
Pattern blocks in math are used often to teach children about shapes and how those shapes fit together.
Practice Symmetry
Build designs with your child and challenge them to keep the design symmetrical. Use a mirror as a teaching tool.
Play Counting Games
Pattern blocks are the perfect manipulative to use work on foundational math skills with preschool and kindergarten children. They are fun, colorful and easy to use!
Make Differentiation Easy
Even if you are not working with kids who have special needs, these pattern block picture mats are a great way to continue to build on these essential skills that kids will need throughout their life!
Strengthening visual scanning can be help children stay focused on an activity. This can be a reason why some children struggle with things like one-to-one correspondence when counting because their eyes need to stay focused on the items.
These pattern block shape mats allow children to work on so many skills through play!
I hope you will enjoy them too!
Pair the pattern block animal mats with these great books about forest animals for preschoolers!
Our Favorite Forest Animal Books:
We can’t live without these!
Once your child’s creativity is sparked with this fun activity, take it a step further with these engaging resources:
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Easy Product Displays ProductSmithsonian Kids: A Walk in the ForestForest Babies (Animal Babies)Babies in the Forest Chunky Lift-a-Flap Board Book (Babies Love)A Walk Through the WoodsMoonlight Animals (Lightbeam Books)Night-Night, Forest FriendsWho’s in the Forest?Little Fox in the ForestBaby Hedgehog: Finger Puppet Book (Finger Puppet Boardbooks)
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