Toddler Activities: All About Ducks!
Toddler Activities About Ducks
One of the most favorite animals toddlers seem to love learning about is the duck. They love to learn how the duck says “quack quack” and how the duck walks and swims in the water. Besides being easy to mimic–the “quack” is among most children’s early vocabulary–they are also so cute that they often play a part in many children’s books. Here are some toddler activities about ducks that are easy enough to do at home or great to utilize in a preschool class.
Use Color Pages
Toddlers love to do art projects and color, so you can’t go wrong when you bring in color sheets that feature pictures of ducks on them. They can be found in coloring books or on the Internet wherever there is preschool farm art color pages or at other websites that are dedicated to providing free coloring sheets for classrooms or homes.
To find coloring pages with pictures of ducks on them, simply go to a favorite search engine and type in “duck coloring pages” and there should be a plethora of websites that show up. Browse through a few till a favorite is found. Print out one and make photocopies for all the toddlers to color. Keep a few extra copies in case there are any accidents or a page gets torn.
You can also open a Word document, click on Insert, choose Clip Art, and on the right-hand window that opens up type in Duck. You will have many choices of ducks, and once you’ve chosen one that’s mostly line-drawn, insert it into your page. Right-click on it, choose Format Picture, select Picture Color in the window that pops open, and then at the Recolor button when you drop it down you will be able to choose a line-drawn black-and-white version of your duck for all to color.
Give one color sheet to each toddler with some crayons and have them color away! Encourage the toddler to be creative and use their favorite colors on the page.
Once they are finished coloring, assist them in putting their name and the date to the color page for those who want to display it or put it away as a keepsake.
Use Books
Books make an excellent choice when you want to find activities about ducks. There are several children’s books that feature ducks
that are ideal for preschoolers. Here are a few favorites to be used during story time.
Duck in the Truck by Jez Alborough is a charming rhyming book that talks of a duck on his way home in his truck and three friends that try to help him along. The illustrations are cute and engaging and the story is very sweet.
Daisy and the Egg by Jane Simmons is another good choice. This book features a young Daisy duck who takes over sitting on her mom’s egg. She never gives up and is rewarded with a new baby brother.
The Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson and Jerry Pinkney is a classic story that almost everyone has heard about. It’s the story of a young “duck” who is teased and taunted early in life for being ugly and grows up to be a beautiful swan.
These stories can be bought at most book stores and online through Amazon.com.
Play Games
Playing games that feature ducks is another excellent choice for toddler activities about ducks. Here are a few easy games for toddlers to try.
Duck Memory: Similar to the traditional Memory game, simply make several matches using pictures of ducks by printing some off the computer and cutting them into small pieces all the same size. Try to find at least five different images of ducks and print out two of each of them. Mix all the pieces up and take turns trying to find matches.
Hide the Duck Egg: This is an easy game similar to what is practiced on Easter morning. Get some plastic colored eggs that open up and place inside them small pictures of farm animals or birds, including one with a duck. Hide the eggs throughout the classroom, and whoever finds the egg with the picture of the duck wins a small prize such as a sticker.
Duck Walk: Put on some music and see who can walk like a duck for the longest period of time. Not only do toddlers have a blast trying to do this but it is also great exercise for them as well. You can also have a prize for best quacker!
Sources Cited:
Amazon.com (images)
Everything Preschool, at https://www.everythingpreschool.com/themes/ducks/