Jungle Theme For Preschool Classroom

Jungle animals and wild animals such as tigers, lions & zebras are fun to teach and learn about.

Let’s make things fun and educational for the preschool children with some fun preschool jungle lesson plans & safari ride theme lesson plans for the classroom.

If you’ve been wondering how to introduce wild animals to preschoolers in a fun, educational way, then this jungle theme idea to use. The lesson plan activities below will help.

This is a fun educational jungle theme for preschool classrooms or as a fun lesson plan activity for the children. It will be so much fun for all the preschool children as they learn new exciting things about the jungle, jungle animals and various types of wild animals.

Children & preschoolers usually love some sort of animals or have their favorite wild animals that they would love to learn about or talk about. This theme lesson plan and it’s activities are very interesting to many preschool and kindergarten children as they associate the Jungle with many of their favorite wild animals like lions, tigers, hippos, monkeys & giraffes etc.

Preschoolers & kindergarten children can even learn basic geography using this theme lesson plan by talking about the location in the world where many of these wild animals live, while in their natural habitat.

Are You Ready For Your Jungle Lesson Plan?

This preschool jungle theme for the preschool classroom is a popular lesson plan idea for preschoolers and can be used for teaching kids about wild animals and jungle animals at home or in the classroom setting with some great, simple educational ideas.

Below are some simple ideas on how to get a jungle theme or lesson plan started and help to introduce wild animals to preschoolers. Below are some educational, fun ways to keep using this theme for as long as the preschoolers and kindergarten kids are interested in the learning activities.

Remember, this is simply a starting point, you can add to the animal theme ideas below and build out your jungle theme as much as your preschool children would like.

Starting this Jungle Theme for the Preschool Classroom & Animals Theme:

• You can start off your lesson plan by introducing the word ‘jungle’ to the children and providing a simple description of what it is to the children in the classroom.

• Make sure that you have various books in classroom library area and find various books to read to the kids based on the jungle and wild animals to help build your theme . (These books should be age appropriate)

• Take the time to find different jungle animal pictures and other safari related pictures posted around the pre k classroom for the children to see.

• You could have an art activity for the children where you make fun and crazy jungle tribal masks from paper bags or construction paper etc. with the children.

• Provide various types of jungle animal toys & wild animal toys on the toy shelf in the classroom for the kids. (eg.) monkeys, giraffes, lions, etc.)

• You could even provide various types of props like safari hats for the kids, toy binoculars etc. for a dramatic play activity for the children.

• Find different types of jungle theme puzzles and activity pages.

• Play some fun music for the children to set the mood, or music that is about specific types of safari animals, like monkeys, tigers etc.

Which Wild Animals Live in the Jungle & What Foods Do They Eat?

• You could talk about different jungle cat species like panthers, tigers, jaguars, leopards, lions etc. (These types of wild animals eat meat or other animals that they hunt down as prey.)
• Discuss reptiles and snakes (Many of these will eat rodents or frogs, some large snakes will eat large animals etc.)
• You can discuss bears and different types of bears like Koala bears, panda bears (Bears generally like to eat things like fish, different types of nuts, berries, honey, leaves and more.)
• Monkeys, apes and gorillas. (Monkeys & gorillas will eat fruits like bananas, coconuts, seeds and things like that.)
• Zebras are like a type of horse that is black and white that is out on the plains and you might see on a safari. (Zebras eat tall grass and vegetation)
• Giraffes are very tall and run very fast with long necks. (Giraffes eat leaves and berries, fruits etc. off of tall trees.)
• Elephants are wrinkly and grey or brown usually. They have long trunks and white ivory tusks. (Elephants eat things like leaves from trees, shrubs, and shoots.)
• Cheetahs are another type of wild cat that can be found on a safari or in the jungles. (Cheetahs run very fast and eat meat or other animals that they hunt down.)
• Alligators or crocodiles live in the rivers, swamps and lakes. (Crocodiles like to eat meat or other animals that enter to close to the water or fish.)
• Rhinoceros are big strong animals with a horn in between it’s eyes. (They eat plants and different forms of vegetation etc.)
• Different Jungle Birds like parrots and vultures etc.( Some birds eat insects, seeds, nuts and fruit others like vultures eat meat of dead or dying animals.)
• Hippopotamus’ swim in the water and have very large mouths with big teeth and strong jaws. (They eat grass, vegetation and fish, water life.)…etc.

Talk About & Explain What a Jungle Looks Like?

• How is the jungle different than a forest?
• What types of things might you find in a jungle? (eg. Things like water falls, rivers, lakes for the animals to have drinking water)
• What type of plants, trees and grass might you find in the jungle? (eg. Palm trees, coconut trees, banana trees, mango trees, pineapples)
• Provide colorful books and photos of the jungle using real life images of related plants, wild animals, fruits, water falls, rivers, people etc.
• You can then talk the opportunity during circle time or small group to have the preschool children explain what they see in the colorful photos of the jungle.
• Discuss the pictures and things in the pictures with the kids to encourage social skills and observations etc.
• Find coloring sheets and worksheets about the jungle, games and animals for this theme.
• What colors do we find in the jungle?
• What colors are the different animals that you find there?

Where Do The Jungle Animals or Wild Animals Live?

Each kind of wild animal will find a home within their natural habitat, the jungle.

What kind of a home do they have for them and their animal families?

Different wilds animals and jungle animals have different types of homes or habitats.

These animal homes could be a nest, a den or a burrow. Other wild animals or reptiles etc. maybe living under a rock, in a hollow tree trunk, up high in trees, in the water etc.

Dramatic Play: Jungle Animal Activities for Preschoolers:

• Set up a fun dramatic play center for the preschool classroom for kids to use their imaginations and pretend they are in a jungle.
• You could make a simple jungle jeep, safari jeep or car out of a cardboard box for the children.
• Safari looking hats are fun as props to set the mood of the theme for the kids.
• Toy children’s binoculars or you could make some out of old toilet paper rolls that you simply tape or glue together. You could paint them or color them to make them look more real.
• Get simple toy cameras or pretend cameras or even small boxes like old bar soap boxes to make pretend cameras for the children on their safari trip.
• Put up pictures of a variety of different jungle animals on the wall in the preschool, or school classroom and let your pre k kids go on a fun, educational and pretend, safari right in school. Add some fun theme music to set the mood and let the children have some fun.