Farm Animals

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

Arts and Crafts

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 kernels 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 kernels inside the shape.

Corn Pictures

Use corn kernels for this project. Let the children glue the kernels 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.

Games, Math and Science

Vinegar and Eggs

Place a hard-boiled egg in a cup of vinegar, and watch it bubble 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 pattern 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 Cow 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 seeds indoors. Make sure the plant receives 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.

Pin the Tail on the Sheep

Use a cotton ball with tape on 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-Age Children

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 crackers 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.

Group Time and Songs

Baa, Baa, Black Sheep

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

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

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

This Little Pig Went to Market

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

This Is the Way

Sing “This is the way we” followed by these lines:
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,
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

Sung 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

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!

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. Then, 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 as a 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.

Farmer, May I?

Played just like “Mother, May I?”, but using “Farmer, May I?” instead.

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 farm-themed 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

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 “10” goes in the center of the circle, called the pot.

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.

Snacks

Animal Crackers

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. You can sort them by kind of plant (fruits and veggies), or by what part of the plant we eat (leaf, stem, etc.).

Cheese Taste

Allow your child to taste many different types of cheeses.