If you’ve been following my continent/country series, you know I enjoy using both Little Passports and Safari Ltd. TOOBS to add interest to the study of geography. Today, I’m sharing some ideas for using Safari Ltd. animal figures for the study of Australia.
Disclosure: Safari Ltd. gave me the TOOB used to prepare these activities. This post contains affiliate links. My opinions are honest and my own.
For this post, I used the Safari Ltd. Land Down Under TOOB. I’m sharing two simple-to-prepare Australia activities that work well for preschoolers.
The activities in this post would fit in with a Montessori Australia continent box. (Note: I made the background of the collage brown because of the brown Australia on the Montessori world map.) These activities could also be used for a study of Australia before (and after) the Little Passports Australia package arrives.
Printable Keys: Thanks to Kateva from Safari Ltd. for the educational key for the TOOB! Safari Ltd. TOOB keys are very useful not only for simple matching activities, but also as a way for you to keep your TOOBS organized and for older children to use as keys for research or for organizing the replicas in the proper TOOB. If you click on the link, you can save and print out the educational key. In this post, I used The Land Down Under TOOB Key. Note: If you’re looking for more Safari Ltd. TOOB Keys, I have them in these posts: Safari Ltd. TOOB Keys.
Land Down Under Matching Using Safari Ltd. TOOB Key
Land Down Under Matching Tray
In the pictured activity, I used The Land Down Under TOOB and TOOB key. This activity is extremely easy to prepare. I just printed out and laminated the page. I used an inexpensive wooden tray from Michaels hobby store and a clear acrylic tray from Montessori Services to organize the animals. Standing the animals on the tray is also a good fine-motor activity for young preschoolers.
Land Down Under Matching Using Safari Ltd.
If you go over the names of the replicas with your child or students, this is a wonderful language activity as well.
Animals of Australia Map Activity
Animals of Australia Tray
Again, I used animals from The Land Down Under TOOB, an inexpensive wooden tray, and a clear acrylic tray from Montessori Services to organize the animals. I printed out a satellite map of Australia from Wikimedia Commons.
Animals on Satellite Map of Australia
A young preschooler could just learn the names of the animals and arrange them on the Australia map however he or she chooses. I would probably introduce the animals by naming each one as I placed them in their appropriate place on the map.
Young preschoolers could place the animals on the map without focusing on their exact location. Even if the animals aren’t in the place where they would live in Australia, it’s still a good hands-on activity for identifying the names of animals and the shape of the continent. For older preschoolers, you could mention facts as you place them, such as that the Tasmanian devil is found in the wild only on the Australian island of Tasmania.
If you aren’t already, be sure to follow the continent series at Imagine Our Life for additional continent ideas and free printables. Also, check out Montessori Print Shop’s continent series for lots of helpful extensions for any continent box or study of continents.
UPDATE: See also “Montessori-Inspired Little Passports Activities – Australia” for more Australia activities (not all activities are pictured and only some need the Little Passports package).
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Thanks, Deb! The “Land Down Under” Toob is a hard one to find in local stores and would have to be ordered. I was blessed to find one a couple of weeks ago at a local garage sale for, are you ready? Drum roll, please!!! $0.75!!!! You know when I saw that little jewel on one of the table with other toys, I grabbed that baby up in a N.Y. minute! 🙂 Now I have great ideas from this post to use with our granddaughter when we study continents and Australia. Thanks again for all your inspiring help.
I love all your posts about using animal figures to learn about continents. Thanks for another great post to pin!
I found your post at Share it Saturday on Teach Beside Me. I LOVE your continent activities! I’ve pinned every one I’ve seen 🙂 This one is getting added to the list 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
I love looking at Montessori posts like yours – they always make me want to dig my hands right into the pictures and begin playing! A lovely way to teach children about Australia.
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