🔬 Science & our world · Ages 4–5 · about 2 weeks

Animals and Their Babies

Goal: Match animals to their young, and describe how some animals grow and change.

For parents: The life cycle of a butterfly or a frog is magical for children and is a good first look at 'change over time' in science.

Do together

  1. Mother and baby match

    You need: Pictures of animals and their babies

    Match them: hen and chick, cow and calf, dog and puppy, cat and kitten, sheep and lamb.

  2. Butterfly story

    You need: Paper folded into four boxes, crayons

    Draw the four stages together: egg, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly. Tell the story in order.

  3. Egg or baby?

    You need: Animal pictures

    Sort animals into ones that lay eggs and ones that have babies. Birds, fish and snakes lay eggs; cows, cats and people have babies.

Talk about it

  • What is a baby cow called?
  • How does a caterpillar change?
  • Which animals come from eggs?

Words to use

  • calf
  • chick
  • puppy
  • kitten
  • egg
  • caterpillar
  • butterfly

Play

  • Living World
    Living things
  • Eco Helpers
    Caring for our planet
  • Memory Match
    Memory
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