It’s time for a Safari Adventure! Throughout this month of activities, you and your little one will learn about giraffes, hippos, going on a Safari, and more! Animals galore, arts and crafts, and beautiful books will greet you in this Activity Plan. We hope you enjoy these Safari preschool activities and crafts!
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Book recommendations for Safari Preschool Activities:
One of Little Miss’ favorite stories, Library Lion is a sweet story about reading and lions. Great for story time! Check out our other favorite Lion books in our Lion Activity Plans.
Safari Set is a nice board book for our little kiddos. It is a nice introduction to the big animals of the Safari.
We absolutely love Julia Donaldson’s books and this one did not disappoint! Not only is the story fun, but it introduces you to several safari animals that aren’t necessarily the popular ones!
Little Miss loved this book, too! We read this book so many times throughout our hippo week. Check out the activity we did with it in our hippo activity plans!
Little Miss always likes her National Geographic Kids books. The pictures are always great and they teach some fun facts, too!
toy recommendations for Safari Preschool Activities:
Schleich animals are always our favorites. While they may seem a little more expensive, the quality makes them worth it for us! This set is a great starter for Safari animals!
This Melissa and Doug puzzle is the perfect addition to Safari week! Little Miss still loves to do this one!
While we personally do not have this Magna-Tiles set, it is on our wish list. Magna-Tiles are a great addition to any playroom, so I’m sure this one would be great if your toddler loves them as much as Little Miss does!
We have the shapes addition of Melissa and Doug’s shape sorting truck and it is one of Little Miss’ favorite toys, so this one would be another great option for Safari week!
If quantity over quality is the name of the game for you (which isn’t a bad idea when you have toddler’s that “misplace” things often!), then this set of Safari animals would be a great starting point for your animal collection!
Safari activities for toddlers:
5 giraffe activities to get you off to a great start! Make an awesome giraffe rain stick, learn about how tall giraffes are, read and play, exercise your creativity, and practice the letter “G” all in one week! Check out the whole Giraffe Activity Plan here:
How to Do 5 Awesome Giraffe Activities With Toddlers
Another of the famous safari animals is the mighty hippo! Did you know hippos can be 15 feet long? Learn this and more with this week long activity plan that includes learning the letter “H”, making your own hippo game, playing with playdough and hippos, and more! Check it out here:
Super Cute and Fun Hippo Toddler Activities
Let’s go on an alphabet safari! Print out your own safari cards with the full game instructions here!
Activities involving patterns, ordering, and counting are all important for early math skills. Using safari animals to practice these skills is a great way to do so through play! Here are some ideas:
- Line up all the animals and then ask questions like “who is in the front?” “who is behind the elephant?”
- Divide the animals evenly between you and your toddler. Put your animals in a pattern and then have your toddler copy the pattern.
- Put all the animals in a pattern and then remove 2 or 3 from the line. Ask your toddler to put them in the correct place to complete the pattern.
- Ask you toddler to group all the same animals together. Then ask them who has the most and least.
- Count the animal groups.
Let’s make safari cookies! Sugar cookies are so fun to make with toddlers and they are so easy, too! Get some safari cookie cutters like these or these and make some adorable safari themed cookies. (We have the first set, which Little Miss loved, but they aren’t as durable as metal ones like the second set listed.)
Making sugar cookies allows our little ones to practice fine motor skills as they roll out the dough and cut the shapes. You can also use this time to talk more about animals and what color they are, what noises they make, etc.
If you are looking for a nice, quick activity, this one has got you covered.
Simply print out our Map of Africa by clicking here, get some paper clips, and you are ready to go.Show your toddler how they can line up the paper clips to figure out the distance between each animal. Talk about how many paper clips it takes to get from the giraffe to the hippo, hippo to elephant, and elephant to giraffe. Ask them questions such as, “Which one is the furthest? How do you know?” They may need some help to figure this out, but this is great for introducing them to early math skills! When you are done, let them make a paper clip train, just for fun!
If you are going on a Safari, you want to see some animals! Make these cute and fun binoculars to see the animals with!
Using binoculars is a great way to practice coordination and motor skills. It also makes looking for things more fun! Use these for other activities throughout Safari month, such as looking for animals, letters, and more!
“I” is for Ice Cream, of course! When you are on a Safari, it can get pretty hot, so you will need to stop for a cool snack. But you better eat fast or your ice cream will melt! Learn a new technique for painting and practice recognizing the letter “I” with this super sweet activity!
Learn the letter J with this fun and easy J is for Jeep activity! Free template makes it easy to complete!
Check it out here!
