Games like "name that animal" are a great way to help preschoolers learn animal sounds. Have the preschoolers sit in a circle and call out random animal sounds. Have them guess as a group what animal the sound belongs to. For a variation, cut out a variety of animal ears and have the children guess which ear belongs to its animal, or hold up cards or cut-outs of familiar animal figures for identification.
Let preschoolers create a paper bag puppet of their favorite animal. Use colored bags (pink for a pig, green for frogs and gray or purple for an elephant) if you have them, but regular brown paper bags will also work. Use construction paper to create animal appendages and faces. For a pig cut out a round snout, pointy pink ears and black hooves; for an elephant, big floppy ears and a long trunk; and for a lion, strips of yellow and orange paper for a mane. Encourage the students to put on a puppet show with their finished creations.
Serving animal-themed food is an activity that blends education with snacking. Animal crackers and circus cookies are a good place to start, as these generally come in identifiable animal shapes. You can also serve up snacks that animals would eat -- carrots and celery are a rabbit and horse's favorite foods, for instance, while bananas, strawberries and mangoes are staples of a monkey's diet. Get creative by turning hot dogs into octopi by cutting the bottom half of a hot dog in four sections and microwaving it until the legs curl out, or bake a batch of cupcakes that can be decorated to look like barnyard animals.
Let preschoolers use their imagination and free play skills by creating a pretend zoo. Provide preschoolers with a variety of stuffed zoo animals such as monkeys, horses, wild cats and bears, and encourage them to make stalls and cages for the animals using cardboard boxes, or even just rearranged classroom furniture. Provide plastic food for preschoolers to feed the animals. Provide some basic instruction on zookeeper duties and reminders about taking turns before letting students loos to explore animal care in a hands-on way.