The Wild Movie: Educational Activities and Games for 2 to 5 Year Olds

Let's face it, kids love movies, but it's been proven that they should watch no more than 2 hours of TV a day. So why not combine their love of a movie and activities that will help them learn and grow? Following are suggestions for the movie The Wild released in 2006. These activities would also work well for preschool classes and party games for this age group.

Watch the movie
Let your kids watch the show while you prepare the activities for the rest of the day or attend to other responsibilities.

Read a Book
There are a lot of incredible books available to go along with the movie The Wild. Pick one you think your child would enjoy and involve them while you are reading. Ask them questions about the pictures and story. Following are a few suggestions of books to read.

• 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo (The World of Eric Carle) by Eric Carle
• Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton and Karen Lee Schmidt
• Gone Wild (Caldecott Honor Book) by David McLimans

Rhyme Activity
Teach your child these rhymes.

Animal Fair
I went to the animal fair.
The birds and the beasts were there.
The big baboon by the light of the moon.
Was combing his auburn hair.

Mini Zoo
Put empty boxes on the floor. Be sure that their lids are folded into the box. Help your child set up the zoo, by putting different stuffed animals into their cages (boxes). If your child has two or three that are the same animal have him put them in the same "cage". For example all the teddy bears go together in one cage; all the dogs go together in another cage etc. Then pretend you are going to the zoo to look at the animals. Ask your child questions about the animals you are looking at, like what noises they make, what they eat and so on.

Tube Animal Craft
Cut different sized circles out of white paper. Encourage your child to glue them onto the cardboard tube so that they look like an animal. Offer your child markers or crayons to add faces and color the animals they create.

Let's Pretend
Find a large box, or put a square on the floor with masking tape. Tell your child that they are going to pretend to be an animal in the zoo and that you are going to try and guess which animal they are. Encourage your child to make the noises the animal they are pretending to be would make or do anything else that would help you guess which animal they are. If your child is younger, they may not completely understand the game so you can just suggest that they pretend to be different animals.