Farm Animals preschool lesson plans

Farm Animal preschool lesson plans. Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas.

Art Activities

Cotton Ball Sheep
Have your child glue cotton balls onto a piece of paper. Then draw on the feet and heads as if the cotton balls were the sheep bodies.

Black Sheep
Cut out sheep designs out of white construction paper. Let your child glue black yarn onto the paper, or let them use a black crayon to color the sheep.

Sponge Print Farm
You can find already shaped sponges at most art and craft stores, or you can make your own. Obtain sponges shaped as cows, pigs, farm houses, fences, clouds, etc. Have your child dip the sponges into paint and press on a piece of paper to create a farm scene.

Pig Painting
Cut a pig shape from pink construction paper. Let your child paint on the "mud" with black or gray tempera paint.

Cows eat Grass
Cut out cow shapes. Explain to your child that cows like to eat grass. Go outside and have your child pick some blades of grass. Have them glue the cows, and the blades of grass onto a piece of blue paper.

Haystack art
On a piece of construction paper, have your child draw Little Boy Blue. Then supply tan or yellow pieces of yarn to glue onto the paper.

Grain and seed Collage
Supply your child with different kinds of seed and grain that animals would eat. Allow them to glue them to a piece of paper.

Baby Chicks
Give each child one egg cup cut from an egg carton and two cotton balls. Put a mixture of baby powder and yellow powdered tempera paint into a plastic bag. Allow each child to place two cotton balls and shake for a minute or two. Then carefully take them out of the bag, and gently tap the extra powder off. Have your child glue their cotton balls in their egg cups, one on top of the other. Then let them add an orange construction paper beak, and black construction paper eyes.

Scarecrow Fun
Cut shirt and pants shapes out of fabric and face shapes out of construction paper. Let the children glue the shapes on pieces of construction paper to make scarecrows. Have the children draw on facial features on the scarecrow. Set out 1-inch pieces of straw, and have the glue the straw pieces around the edges of the scarecrow.

Corn Cob Printing
Allow your child to use a dried corn cob as a brush or roll the cob in paint and onto a piece of paper.

Turkey Hand Print
Paint your child's palm and thumb brown, then each finger a different bright color. Then press onto a piece of paper. After the paint dries, draw on legs, and eyes and facial features, as if the thumb is the neck and head.

Cow Spots
Supply each child with a piece of white paper and black non-toxic stamp pads. Show the child how to make fingerprints on the paper, using only one finger at a time.

Corn Collage
Use corn kernals for this project. First draw the outline of a corn cob on a piece of paper. Then put glue inside the outline and have your child place the kernals inside the shape.

Corn Pictures
Use corn kernals for this project. Let the children glue the kernals on the paper.

Duckies
Trace a duck shape on a piece of paper and have children glue on different colored feathers onto the duck.

Potato Prints
Cut a large potato in half from the top to bottom, so it's a really long oval. Supply the children with the potato half, different colored paints, and paper. Have the children dip the potatoes in the paint and press them firmly onto the paper. If the potatoes are not cut evenly, the shape will not appear clearly.

Farm Animal Spray Paint Art
Obtain a few clean spray bottles. Add water and a little bit of liquid or powdered tempera. Then, place a large piece of animal-shaped paper on an easel, and have the children spray the colored water onto the egg-shaped paper.

Songs and Poems

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep
Featured on The Singable Songs Collection by Raffi
Also features "Old MacDonald Had a Band," & "Cluck, Cluck Red Hen,"
Click on the link to BUY IT from Amazon.com
Baa Baa black sheep. Have you any wool?
Yes sir, yes sir
Three bags full;
One for the master,
One for the dame. And one for the little boy
Who lives down the lane

Old McDonald
Featured on Kid's Favorite Songs By Sesame Street
Also Features "The Farmer and the Dell," "Ring Around The Rosie," "Turkey in the Straw," Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Home On The Range," and "This Little Pig Went to Market."
Old McDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a pig
E-I-E-I-O
With an oink oink here
And an oink oink there. Here an oink, there an oink
Everywhere an oink oink
Old McDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
(Repeat using other farm animals like duck, cow, dog, cat... be creative like car..honk tractor..brmmm brmmm)

Little Boy Blue
Little boy blue, Come blow your horn,
The sheep's in the meadow
The cow's in the corn
But where is the boy,
Who looks after the sheep?
He's under a haystack,
Fast asleep.

The Farmer and the Dell
Featured on Kid's Favorite Songs By Sesame Street
Also Features "Old MacDonald," "Ring Around The Rosie," "Turkey in the Straw," Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Home On The Range," and "This Little Pig Went to Market."
The Farmer and the Dell,
The Farmer and the Dell,
Hi ho the merry-o,
The Farmer and the Dell,
The Farmer takes a wife,
The Farmer takes a wife,
Hi ho the merry-o,
The Farmer takes a wife,
Repeat above with:
The wife takes a child
The child takes a nurse
The nurse takes a dog
The dog takes a cat
The cat takes a mouse
The mouse takes the cheese
The cheese stands alone

To play with a group:
Have the children stand in a circle. Choose a child to be the farmer. The farmer stands in the middle of the circle and when you sing The farmer takes a wife, the child picks someone to stand in the circle, and the second child picks another, until you get to the cheese stands alone. The child chosen as the cheese remains in the circle, the other children return to their places to form the circle and you start over again. You may want to choose the children to stand in the middle, instead of having the children choose, so everyone gets a turn.

This Little Pig Went to Market
Featured on Kid's Favorite Songs By Sesame Street
Also Features "Old MacDonald," "Ring Around The Rosie," "Turkey in the Straw," Baa, Baa, Black Sheep," "Home On The Range," and "The Farmer and the Dell."
This Little Pig went to market
This little pig stayed home
This little pig had roast beef
This little pig had none.
And this little pig went wah wah wah all the way home

I Want a Horse
Featured on In Harmony By Sesame Street

I'm Proud To Be A Cow
Captain Vegetable
Featured on Silly Songs By Sesame Street

Down On Grandpa's Farm
Featured on Barney's Greatest Hits By Barney

This is the Way
Sing: "This is the Way":
Use these lines:
This is the way we:
Rake our lawn
Weed our garden
Plant the seeds
Pick the flowers
See the bugs
Water our plants
Have the children act out the activity as you sing.

Mary had a Little Lamb
Mary had a little lamb,
Featured on Kids Favorite Songs, Vol. 2 By Sesame Street

Little lamb, Little lamb,
Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was white as snow.

And everywhere that Mary went
Mary went Mary went
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.

It followed her to school one day,
School one day, School one day,
It followed her to school one day,
Which was against the rule.

It made the children laugh and play
laugh and play laugh and play
It made the children laugh and play
To see a lamb at school.

Had a Little Chickie
sugn to "Turkey in the Straw"
Had a little chickie
And she wouldn't lay an egg;
So I poured hot water
Up and down her leg,
Oh, that little chickie cried
And that little chickie begged;
Then that silly little chickie laid
A hard-boiled egg!

Hey Diddle Diddle,
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

Farm Song
By chicky, sung to Mary Had a Little Lamb
I went to the farm one day,
Farm one day, Farm one day
I went to the Farm one day
And I saw a (fill in the blank.)

Bingo
There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
B-I-N-G-O!
B-I-N-G-O!
B-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-o!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
(Clap)-I-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-o!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap, clap)-N-G-O!
(Clap, clap)-N-G-O!
(Clap, clap)-N-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-o!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap, clap, clap)-G-O!
(Clap, clap, clap)-G-O!
(Clap, clap, clap)-G-O!
And Bingo was his name-o!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap, clap, clap, clap)-O!
(Clap, clap, clap, clap)-O!
(Clap, clap, clap, clap)-O!
And Bingo was his name-o!

There was a farmer had a dog,
And Bingo was his name-o.
(Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)
(Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)
(Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap)
And Bingo was his name-o!

Little Bo Peep
Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep
And can't tell where to find them
Leave them alone,
And they'll come home
Wagging their tails behind them

Pigs Song
by chicky
(Sung to "Where is Thumbkin?")
Pigs are Pink,
Pigs are Pink,
Yes they are,
Yes they are,
Pigs are Pink,
Pigs are Pink,
Yes they are,
Yes they are.

Clucky Clucky Chicken
Do de Rubber Duck
Cat Had a Birthday
Silly Squirrel Dance
All Featured on Hot Hot Hot Dance Songs By Sesame Street

Songs Availbable at Kididdles.com
Animal Rhymes
The Barnyard
Bill Grogan's Goat
Bought Me a Cat
Chicken
Chicken Little
Daddy Wouldn't Buy For Me a Bow-Wow
Farmer Brown's Cow
A Farmer Went Trotting
The Farmyard
Feeding the Flock
Had a Little Rooster
Higgilty Piggilty
The Horse Went Around
I Went Out To the Country
The Littlest Worm
Mister Duck's Visit
Mi Chacra (My Farm) in spanish
Mister Gobbler (Thanksgiving Song)
Mules
My Grandma's Farm
The Old Gray Mare
Silly Goose
Six Little Ducks
Six Little Pigs
Skip to My Lou
Sweetly Sings the Donkey
The Three Little Pigs
Turkey in the Straw
What the Animals Say
Where Is Your Goose?
White Sheep and Black Sheep

Dramatic Play

Farm Animal Parade
Have the children pretend to be their favorite farm animal and have a parade in your outdoor play area.

Nesting Hen
Place some plastic eggs under a pillow. Have the child sit on the pillow and guess how many eggs are under the pillow. Count the eggs with the child.

Sheep Shearing
Have your child pretend to sheer you, or another child like a sheep, have them pretend to put the wool into bags.

Play Farm
Use play cows, pigs and other animals and a box for the barn. Have your child pretend with the animals.

Dress up Farmer
Supply overalls, straw hats, scarves, and boots to pretend to be a farmer.

Gardener play
Supply your child with plastic gardening tools, hats, gloves, seeds, flower pots, flower packets and watering cans to pretend to be a gardener.

Games, Math and Science

Vinegar and Eggs
Well we probably all have seen this at one time or another. Place a hard-boiled egg in a cup of vinegar, and see what happens. It bubbles. After one day, take out the egg, wipe it off with a paper towel and feel the egg. Ask your child questions about what you see and feel.

Lacing Cards
Cut colored posterboard into farm animal shapes and punch holes around the edges. Then let your child lace yarn or a shoestring into the cards.

Stamping Patterns
Use farm animal rubber stamps to create a simple pattern on the top half of a piece of paper. Ask your child to help you recreate the patterm on the bottom half of the paper. Tip: Start with one stamp, and have your child pick which stamp you used. Start slowly and work your way up to more complicated patterns.

Chick Sequence Cards
Make simple sequence cards for your child. Draw the different stages of a chick hatching from an egg. Draw an egg in its nest, an egg cracking, a chick partly out of the egg, and a chick that is completely hatched.

Be a ?? Race
Have the child pretend to be a cow, and race from point A to B.

Animal Sort
Collect plastic farm animals, let the children sort them according to type, or size.

Examine feathers
If you can obtain some feathers, allow your child to examine the feathers with a magnifying glass. Do feathers float in water?

Duck, Duck, Goose
The children sit in a big circle. Then choose one child to be "it." The first child walks around the outside of the circle, and taps each child's head saying "duck, duck, duck" then the child who is tapped as "goose" chases the first child around the circle. The first child runs to reach the spot where the "goose" was sitting and sits down and the other child becomes "it." If the second child catches the first child, the first child sits in the middle of the circle called the “pot.”

Plant a garden
Let your child help you plant your flowers in the spring. Or let your child plant a seed for indoors. Make sure the plant recieves the proper care so it will grow.

How Many Kernels?
Place some popcorn kernels into a clear plastic container. Have the children guess how many kernels are in the container. Record each child guess. Then count them together.

Do the Turkey Pokey
Sing the Hokey Pokey like normal, but then the last line goes as follows: "You do the Turkey Pokey and you gobble all around, that's what it's all about."

Pin the Feather on the Turkey
Played just like pin the tail on the donkey. Provide the children with a huge turkey shape, and feathers. You may want to use tape instead of pins to attach the feathers on the turkey. Blindfold one child and have them tape the feather on the turkey.

Also try:
Pin the Tail on the Sheep. Use a cotton ball with tape one it and a picture of a sheep
Pin the Tail on the Pig. Use a curly pig tail shape cut from ping paper and a picture of a pig.

Seed Sort
Use 3 to 5 different kinds of seeds. Mix 3 to 5 of each kind of seed together. Have your child sort the seeds according to type. Ask your child which is the biggest, and which is the smallest.

Which seed is it?
Place many different kinds of seeds on a paper plate. One of each kind. Talk about the seeds with your child. Then tell your child that you are going to describe a seed, and you want them to guess which one it is. Take turns trying to guess which seed the other is describing.

Animal Cracker Jar
For older children. Fill a small jar with animal crackers. Ask each child to guess how many animal crackers are in the jar. For younger children, limit the number of animal crackers to less than ten. Record each child's guess. Count the animal crackers.

Animal Crackers Jar for School Agers
Provide three identical jars with pre-counted animal crackers of 20, 30, and 40. Label these jars 20, 30 and 40. Place 20 to 40 animal crackerss in a fourth identical jar. Allow the children to examine all four jars before they guess. Record the children's approximations. Count the animal crackers.

Farmer May I?
Played just like Mother May I? The child and parent stand at opposite sides of a room. The child asks if he/she may: take so may step forward. i.e. "Mother may I Please take three baby steps forward?" the answer would be either, "Yes you may," or "No, you may not." The child wins when they reach you. Encourage the use of descriptive words, such as little, big, huge, tiny, and giant. You can also play this with a group of children. The winner would be the one who reaches you first.

Farmer Says:
Played just like "Simon Say" except the teacher says "Farmer Says." With younger children, do not make children sit out... just say "Farmer didn't say."

Musical Farm
Cut out animal shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor. It is best for younger children to have more animals than children. Play music and have the children walk around the room. When the music stops, each child needs to find an animal to stand on.

Farm Animal Day
Invite each child to bring in a stuffed animal.

Vote and Graph it
Have the children vote for their favorite farm animal and graph the results. Which animals did most children like the best?

Hot Potato
Featured on Yummy Yummy by the Wiggles
Play hot potato with the children. Have the children sit in a circle. You can pick an object to be the potato or play with a real one. Sing "Hot Potato, Hot Potato, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10." The child that has the potato on ten goes in the center of the circle, called the pot.

Snacks

Animal Cracker
Serve animal crackers (farm animals type) with cheese for a snack.

Plants We Eat
Show the children some common plants we eat. Name the different parts of the plants, while you show the plants to the children. Help the children sort the plants. By types of fruit, and veggies. Sort again by the part of the plant we feats, like we eat the roots of carrots and potatoes, and we eat the leaves of lettuce, and spinach.

Ham Sandwiches
Supply your child with ham, cheese, bread, lettuce, mayo and mustard, and let them make a ham sandwich.

Cheese Taste
Allow your child to taste many different types of cheeses.

Field Trip

Go to a farm
Visit a farm or a petting zoo with your child. Make sure to name the animals you see and listen to the sounds that they make.