By Geeta Shandilya, M.S.D.E., CED, LSLS Cert. AVEd.

The theme of animals provides teachers of the deaf and speech-language pathologists with invaluable opportunities to teach children about the world. We can use this theme to help target all aspects of language skills. For example, learning the names, characteristics, sounds, movements and habitats of animals can be used to develop auditory skills, vocabulary and syntactical elements such as nouns, adjectives and verbs. Introduce or reinforce this theme by providing children with a variety of learning experiences, such as actual observations of animals, interactions with animals, watching movies, reading books, journaling, etc. When teaching children about animals, begin with real-world experiences as much as possible, such as safely interacting with real animals, watching videos of real animals and reading books with photos of real animals. Research shows that books with human-like animal characters influence children’s conceptual knowledge about animals and may lead to less learning than books with real animal characters (Ganea et al., 2014).

Children learn concepts about animals better when books with pictures of real animals are used. Therefore, begin the theme and learning with real depictions of animals. Use experience books to prepare for events or to reinforce learning. After you are sure that your child or student understands the factual concepts, you can read stories about those animals as characters in books. The following are a few suggested activities that support children’s learning about animals through meaningful and enriching experiences:

Outdoor Activities

Observe and study animals, eco-systems and habitats in nearby environments such as the backyard, park, pond, lake, beach, preserve, wetlands or ocean. Visit an aquarium, zoo, farm or sanctuary for encounters with animals. Participate in a program that facilitates reading with animals. Experience interactions with animals during activities such as horseback riding and swimming with fish and dolphins. Volunteer to help and spend time with a pet or at an animal shelter.  

At Home Activities

Watch programs and movies about animals, read books, create experience books and journals, learn about and listen to calls of animals and create animal-themed crafts that provide opportunities to observe animals closely such as making a birdhouse or bird feeder. Go on a virtual field trip to experience animal interactions from home.