One approach is to show blown-up images of animal footprints. Create full-page printouts of different animal footprints in outlines or black on white, then display them on the bulletin board. You can cut around each shape, leaving a half-inch margin loosely following its outer edge. For a more colorful bulletin board, use the printout as a guide and cut each footprint shape out of a different color of construction paper before pinning it onto the bulletin board.
If you have a stock of nature magazines, create a bulletin board that will show preschoolers what different footprints look like in the wild. Cut out or print photographic images of animal prints in snow, mud and sand. Find photos that show the prints as distinctly as possible, while also including a few that show a broader picture of animal tracks so that the children can trace the paths animals traveled as well as seeing the shapes of individual prints.
Strengthen preschoolers' understanding of which footprint goes with which animal by putting images of the animals beside matching images of footprints. To help the new concept stick, use a number of animals the children are already familiar with, such as cats, dogs, rabbits and horses. However, you may also want to include a few exotic animals or animals with particularly interesting or unusual footprints, such as ostrich, alligator or bear tracks.
This is an activity you can use to help preschoolers understand the relationship between the image of a footprint and the foot that made it. Have each preschooler put her foot on a sheet of paper. Trace around it with a pen or small crayon. Let each child color her own footprint, then label the footprint with the child's name and put it on the bulletin board. This activity gives a good opportunity to discuss the connection between a particular animal's footprint and the shape of that animal's paw, foot or hoof.