Use active games for kinesthetic learners. For example, help kids play Fly Swatter. Write several animal names on the board in big letters, and put two chairs next to the board, with a fly swatter on each one. Help kids form two teams, and have one player from each team sit on a chair, facing away from the board and holding the fly swatter. Shout out one of the animal words on the board. The first student to hit the correct animal with the fly swatter earns a point for his team. Only one swat is allowed for each turn; if neither student swats the correct animal, neither team gets a point for the turn. Younger ESL students who do not know the alphabet can play this game if you use pictures of animals instead of writing their names.
Another active game to practice animal vocabulary is "Animal Impressions." Have students take turns standing in the front of the class to act out whatever animal you call out. Students can use appropriate gestures and noises of the animal. Encourage students to be creative in their animal impressions.
Listening games can help children focus on the lesson. Listening to the distinct sounds animals make and then imitating them can help ESL students learn the English names of the animals. Prepare for “Animal Voices” by finding or making animal cards. The cards can have pictures or words, depending on the abilities of the students. You'll need at least two of each animal. Put the cards face down, and have students pick a card. Tell the students to find matches in the classroom by making the appropriate animal noise and finding another student making the same noise. The last student to find her match, or last several students in large classes, are eliminated from the game. Students pick a new animal card for the next round until there is a final winner. Make sure there are matches for each animal noise during each round.
Sing an animal noise song in the classroom, such as "Old MacDonald" or "Animals" by Richard Graham. These songs require the students to make animal noises for several different animals, which reinforces the animal vocabulary.
Reinforce older students' knowledge of animals with spelling games. One such game is ABC Aminals. Each letter of the alphabet begins the name of at least one animal. For example, “alligator” starts with A and “zebra” starts with Z. Have students form a circle, and ask the first student to name an animal whose name starts with the first letter of the alphabet. The next student should name an animal whose name starts with B. Continue going through the alphabet, one letter at a time. If a student cannot come up with an animal starting with the letter on his turn, he is eliminated from the game. The winner is the last student remaining, but she must finish her last turn successfully to be declared the winner.
Hlep kids form teams for Team Spelling. Display a picture or drawing of an animal. The teams must then spell the name of the animal, but each student only spells one letter and then the next student must say the next letter. Play starts with the player on the left and then moves to the right. Each correctly spelled animal word earns the team a point.
Display pictures of a variety of animals. Define the terminology for different animal body parts, such as scales, claws, antlers, fur, wings, tusks and paws. (You might make worksheets with pictures and names of the animal parts for students.) Ask one student at a time to come up to the board. Call out an animal part, and ask the student to find an animal that has the body part. There may be multiple correct answers for each body part.
A variation of this game would use animal abilities instead of comparing attributes. Display the animal pictures, but then shout out abilities such as speed, strength or flying ability.