Barn Animal Theme Ideas

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Barn Animal Theme Ideas

Many farm animals make their home in a barn.

The sight of a big red barn sitting in the middle of an open farm brings to mind chickens, goats, cows, horses and even barn cats chasing off mice. The early morning cock-a-doodle-do of the rooster and the oinks of pigs running to get their meals keep the barn alive with animal sounds. A barn animal theme can bring fun and excitement to writing, vocabulary, math, science, art and music centers in the classroom and at home.

Writing

Create a barn animal sound book. On sheets of blank paper, write phrases such as "Little barn, little barn, who says moo?" and "Little barn, little barn, who says oink?" On the back of each page, write matching answers: "A cow says moo!" or "A pig says oink!" Illustrate the front side of each page with a picture of a barn and the back with the correct animal. Laminate the illustrated pages to use as flip cards to practice reading skills, or bind pages into a book that can be enjoyed many times. Another option is to print fill-in-the-blank books about barn animals from websites such as Enchanted Learning (see Resources) for pupils who don't like to draw.

Vocabulary

Barn animals can help expand pupils' vocabulary. Take a stack of index cards and ask pupils to name some animals that live in a barn. Write down their answers, one animal per index card. Go back and read off the animals the pupils brainstormed. Have pupils tell you what the baby animal is called for each. Write the answers on new index cards. Mix up the index cards and allow pupils to match the baby animal with the adult animal. For example, cow and calf, kitten and cat, piglet and pig, and owl and owlet make matching pairs.

Math

Create a deck of barn animal picture cards for math time. You may draw barn animals directly onto index cards or download and print pictures and glue them onto index cards. Include at least one picture of the following animals: pig, horse, goat, cow, sheep, cat, bat, chicken, rooster, owl, duck, goose, turkey and mouse. Use your deck of barn animal cards for these activities.

1. Sorting: Sort barn animals based on attributes. Try sorting by size -- small, medium and large -- or by feathers versus fur. Sort animals into those awake during the day and those awake during the night. Group animals by the number of legs or who flies and who doesn't fly. Ask pupils to come up with their own ways to sort the animals.

2. Math problems: Have pupils select two or three barn animal cards to set on the table. Ask pupils questions that require them to count or add. For example: "How many feet on these three animals?" or "How many eyes do these animals have altogether?" Try other math questions such as, "Which animal weighs the most? Least?" or "If the cow leaves the barn, how many animals will be left?"

Science

Read books about the life cycles of barn animals such as chickens, horses or cats. Give pupils a paper plate divided into three parts. Ask them to pick a barn animal and draw the stages of its life cycle on the paper plate. For example, a chicken would have an egg, baby chick and adult chicken. A cow would have a newborn baby calf, a little older calf and the adult cow. Focus on how animals grow and change over time.

Art

Make paper plate masks. Give pupils a paper plate with eye holes already cut out and a tongue depressor glued to the bottom to hold up the mask turning playtime. Provide pupils with markers and construction paper and let them create their own barn animal mask. They may design a cow with black and white spots, a pink pig with a big snout, a barn cat with big pointy ears or a mouse with long whiskers.

Music

Sing farm animal songs with pupils. Include "Old MacDonald" so pupils can get silly making animal sounds. Another favorite song may be "The Animals in the Barn," sung to the tune of "The Wheels on the Bus." For example: The cows in the barn go moo, moo, moo. Moo, moo, moo. Moo, moo, moo. The cows in the barn go moo, moo, moo. All through the day." If the animal is a night creature, say "all through the night."

Bulletin Board

Ask pupils to help you create a barn animal bulletin board. Staple a large red barn cutout in the middle of the board. Have pupils draw barn animals to add to the bulletin board. Around each animal, write down facts and trivia about that animal, such as that cows say moo and a baby cow is called a calf, or that cows have four stomachs.

Field Trip

Take pupils on a field trip to a farm that has animals. Farmers may be happy to show them the inside of a barn, let them see a cow being milked or pet a goat. Nothing teaches like experiencing the sights and smells of barn animals close up.

Century bird cages

Thursday, December 5, 2013