A farm animals theme is always a hit with young children, with plenty of learning opportunities.
Here is a collection of simple, play-based activities to help make farm week fun and quick to plan.
You’ll find ideas for:
- Songs
- Sensory play
- Process art
- Science
- Dramatic play
- Games
Music & Songs
Teach your children these popular farm songs.
1. The Farmer in the Dell
Combine music and movement with this song that can be acted out as a group.
The children form a circle and one child is chosen to be the farmer.
See the actions in the video below. The class has been split into smaller groups so that all the children get a turn to participate.
Lyrics:
The farmer in the dell
The farmer in the dell
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer in the dell
The farmer takes a wife
The farmer takes a wife
Hi-ho, the derry-o
The farmer takes a wife
They then take a child, a nurse, a cow, a dog, a cat, a rat, a mouse and cheese, before saying goodbye to each one.
2. Dingle, Dangle Scarecrow
Kids enjoy the actions of being a floppy scarecrow and also shouting in the final verse. The lyrics are below the video.
Lyrics:
When all the cows were sleeping
And the sun had gone to bed
Up jumped the scarecrow
And this is what he said
I’m a dingle, dangle scarecrow
With a flippy, floppy hat
I can shake my hands like this
I can shake my feet like that
When all the hens were roosting
And the moon behind a cloud
Up jumped the scarecrow
And shouted very loud
I’m a dingle, dangle scarecrow
With a flippy, floppy hat
I can shake my hands like this
I can shake my feet like that
3. Old MacDonald Had a Farm
No farm unit would be complete without singing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. It’s great for learning the animal sounds.
Lyrics:
Old MACDONALD had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
And on his farm he had a cow
E-I-E-I-O
With a moo moo here
And a moo moo there
Here a moo, there a moo
Everywhere a moo moo
Old MacDonald had a farm
E-I-E-I-O
Repeat the verse, replacing the animal and its sound: pig, duck, horse, sheep, chicken, and so on.
See the full collection of 15 farm songs, with lyrics and videos to sing along to.
Dramatic Play
Let the children learn with their imaginations with these simple ideas.
4. Pretend Farm Play
Introduce the theme with a fun story about farm animals, such as Barnyard Banter by Denise Fleming (watch the read-aloud below), then encourage pretend play by offering various materials for children to create their own farm:
- Plastic farm animals and people
- Small cardboard boxes for barns and shelters
- Building blocks
- Small vehicles such as trucks and tractors
- Raffia or straw for hay
- Sticks or craft sticks for making fences
Children can build their farm and enjoy creating their own stories and scenarios with the animals.
5. Farm Dress-Up
Turn the dramatic play area into a farm with some simple dress-up clothes and props, such as:
- Overalls, boots and sun hats
- Toy farm animals
- Farm animal masks or headbands
- Toy buckets and baskets
- Play farming tools, such as rakes and shovels
Children can pretend to be farmers as they feed and care for the animals, collect eggs, tend to crops and carry out other jobs around the farm.
6. Farm Animal Role Play
Put the farm animal masks in activity #12 below to good use with some pretend play. Children can choose an animal, put on their mask and pretend to be that animal on the farm.
Encourage them to think about how their animal moves, the sounds it makes, what it eats and where it sleeps.
Sensory Play
The farm animals theme lends itself nicely to sand, water and sensory play.
7. Mud Play
Set up some messy fun by filling a sensory bin or water table with some soil and water to make mud, then add plastic farm animals. Let children make animal tracks, dig and scoop, and have the pigs roll around in the mud.
Add a bowl of clean water and brushes for washing the muddy animals afterwards.
8. Rubber Duckie Water Play
Place some rubber duckies in a tub of water for children to splash and play with. Number the ducks and have fun holding duck races, or practise recognising and ordering the numbers.
9. Farm Sensory Bin
Fill a sensory bin with dried corn, lentils or beans, and add plastic farm animals, small containers and scoops. Let children scoop and pour the grains, bury and find the animals, and create their own pretend farm.
Art Activities
Complicated crafts might look pretty, but real art focuses on the process, not the product! Here are some genuinely creative activities.
10. Cotton Ball Lambs
Making cute woolly sheep is a fun art activity that will develop fine motor skills.
Give each child a cutout of a lamb, along with plenty of cotton balls and liquid glue. They can glue the balls onto the lamb to create a woolly coat.
Add googly eyes or draw the eyes with a marker.
11. Cow Painting
Look at pictures of different types of cows and chat about their colours and markings.
Give each child a cow cutout and some brown and black paint. Let them use brushes or sponges to dab splotches of paint onto their cows to create their own patterns and markings.
12. Farm Animal Masks
Give children paper plates to turn into their favourite farm animals. Let them paint or colour the plates and add features such as paper ears, wool or feathers.
Cut out eye holes and attach a craft stick or elastic to turn them into masks, then use them for some farm animal pretend play.
Science Activities
Teach your preschoolers basic scientific concepts with these simple experiments.
13. Farm Animal Bathtime
Teach water displacement by filling a clear container partway with water and marking the water level. Invite the children to predict how many animals can fit into the “bathtub” before the water starts to spill.
Add plastic farm animals one at a time, counting as you go and watching the water level rise. Compare the result with the children’s predictions.
14. Sink or Float
Introduce children to buoyancy, as well as the skills of predicting, testing and observing, by placing farm-related objects into a tub of water and seeing if they float or sink.
Use items such as feathers, a piece of wool, plastic farm animals, small stones, straw, leaves and a toy tractor.
15. Feathers and Wool
Let children examine feathers and pieces of wool with magnifying glasses and compare how they look and feel.
Use droppers to place a little water onto each material and observe what happens. Does the water soak in or stay on the surface? Which material gets wet more quickly?
Explain that feathers help protect birds such as ducks and chickens, while a sheep’s woolly fleece helps to keep it warm.
Games
These simple farm animal games practise listening, matching, movement and coordination skills.
16. Name That Sound
Play some real farmyard sounds and see if the children can identify the animals. Once they guess an animal correctly, they can imitate its sound and the way it moves.
The video below features lots of authentic animal sounds. Play the audio without showing children the video so they can guess each animal.
17. Farm Animal Matching
Print or cut out pictures of adult farm animals and their babies. Mix up the cards and have children match each animal with its young, such as a cow and calf, sheep and lamb, or hen and chick.
Name the animals together as you find each matching pair.
18. Move Like a Farm Animal
Choose one child to start by moving like a farm animal without saying which one they have chosen. The other children try to guess the animal from the movements.
Once the animal has been guessed, the child chooses someone else to take a turn. Continue until everyone has had a chance to play.
19. Hen Nest Bean Bag Toss
For this bean bag activity, make several large hen nests out of straw, hay or raffia.
Standing a set distance away, children can try to toss the bean bags to land in the nests.
20. Catch the Piglets!
Blow up some small pink balloons to represent baby pigs that have escaped from the barn.
Have children use their hands to tap and guide the “piglets” back to a barn made from a large cardboard box.
Can they get all the piglets safely back inside before the timer rings?
This is a fun way to develop hand-eye coordination.
I hope you’ve enjoyed these farm week preschool activities. Here are some animal games for kids, with some ideas for farm animals too.
For more theme ideas, here’s a full list of preschool themes to help plan your activities.