A child can display his individual creativity by designing a zoo collage. Give each child a large piece of construction paper to make his personal zoo. Provide preschoolers with many materials to choose such as striped and spotted fabric, yarn, cotton balls, faux grass and wiggly eyes. Secure zoo animals onto the paper, then display the zoos in the classroom.
Create finger puppets so the preschooler can perform the story over and over. The teacher cuts small, animal shapes from cardboard or sturdy card stock. Help the child trace each animal onto different colors of construction paper. Carefully tape the animal to a wooden craft stick. Use this finger puppet zoo during centers or circle time to let each child engage in imaginative play.
Ants on a banana bus is a delicious treat to make that represents the banana-carrying mouse in the story. Give each child a banana sliced in half. The preschooler can use a plastic knife to spread peanut butter or yogurt on the banana and sprinkle raisins on top to represent the ants. Enjoy the treat at snack time or while reading the book.
The story's focus word is zoo. Brainstorm with the class other words that begin with the letter Z. The teacher writes the letter Z on a large poster board. Each child draws a picture of an object starting with Z like zipper, zigzag or zebra. With the teacher's help, he places his picture on the board to form a classroom project.