The children get to be farmers in one activity that gets them acquainted with common animals found in barns across America. Place pictures of barnyard animals, such as cows, chickens, pigs and sheep around the classroom. Give the children boots, gloves, pails and plastic shovels and let them wander around feeding and taking care of the animals. Walk around to each child individually to tell them what the animal needs and answer any questions the child has about the animal.
Make animal face sandwiches. Use bread, peanut butter and extras, like carrots and raisins to create images of common U.S. animals, like bears, rabbits and eagles. Show them a picture of certain animals and let them see if they an recreate it with the sandwich. For example, Gayle's Preschool Rainbow recommends placing raisins at the center of the bread for eyes, slivered pickles for whiskers and grated carrots for fur.
Play an animal geography game with the kids using a large map of the United States. Mark the classroom's location on the map by pinning a small picture of the class onto the map. Then, help the children pin pictures of various types of animals on different spots on the map depending on where they live. For example, you can pin an alligator to Florida, a moose to Minnesota and a grizzly bear to Alaska.
Play an alphabet game using only animals from the United States. Say the letter and then the animal for the children, then have them repeat it. Let them ask questions about the animal if they're curious and keep working your way down the list. You could start with "A" for alligator, "B" for buffalo, "C" for crow and so on.