Dear Zoo Printable Activities

These Dear Zoo printable activities are perfect for pairing with this popular preschool book by Rod Campbell.

As you begin preparing your zoo books and activities, be sure to include a reading of Dear Zoo. Kids will thoroughly enjoy following a child’s adventure to find the perfect pet.

These print-and-go worksheet are perfect for kids in preschool and kindergarten. They pair nicely with this fun story about zoo animals.

These free printables require no preparation making them perfect for classroom and homeschool use. You could even use them as part of your library storytime activities.

This 10-page printable is designed for use with preschool and kindergarten students, but it can be used with slightly older students who are looking for an activity to pair with this story.

Dear Zoo Free Printables

As the weather warms up, we’re using our zoo membership more and more. If you’re heading to the zoo soon or you’re planning a zoo theme, you’ll love adding this book to your upcoming lesson plans.

In Dear Zoo, someone sends a letter to the zoo asking for a pet. What follows is a series of animals being sent that are not quite right. Will they ever find the perfect pet?

It’s a simple story, but there are so many fun lessons you can pull from it to teach your little ones.

Dear Zoo Read Aloud

If you don’t have a copy of the book in your home or classroom library, you can show this Dear Zoo read-aloud video for your students before beginning the activities in this pack.

Dear Zoo Activities

Science: There are quite a few science themes you can pull from this story. First, talk about the animals. Can your child name them all? Do they know the sound each animal makes?

Math: Count how many animals are sent in all. Count how many legs each animal has.

Compare the animals – which is the heaviest, which is the tallest, which is the longest, etc.

Adjectives: Have your child describe the animals in each delivery box. For example, the elephant is heave, gray, loud, etc.

Dear Zoo Book Buddy

Students ages 3-6 will love diving into this story. These print and go worksheets will help you extend the learning.

What’s Included?

Color the Animals: Color the animals as they appear in the story.

Graphing Practice: Count each of the animals on the page, and then color the graph to show how many of each.

Handwriting Practice: Trace the name of each animal on the page.

Matching: Draw a line from each animal to its delivery box. You’ll likely need to show the book to your child as they complete this page.

Writing Prompt: Draw and write an answer to the question “What kind of pet would you like?”

Syllables: Name each animal. Clap the syllables. Circle the correct number.

Beginning Sounds: Name each animal focusing on the beginning sound. Circle the correct letter.

Reading Practice: Read the name of each animal. Cut and paste the animal in the box with its name.

Trace and Color: Trace the outline of the frog and color it.

Color and Cut: Color the lion and cut it out on the dotted line.

BOOKS ABOUT ZOO ANIMALS

Below, I’ve featured just a handful of preschool books about zoo animals that will help your preschoolers learn more about the animals that live in a zoo.

You should be able to find them at your local library or bookstore. If you can’t find them locally, you can click each image cover to purchase them on Amazon.

Giraffes Can’t Dance – Giraffes Can’t Dance is a touching tale of Gerald the giraffe, who wants nothing more than to dance. With crooked knees and thin legs, it’s harder for a giraffe than you would think. Gerald is finally able to dance to his own tune when he gets some encouraging words from an unlikely friend.

How the Zebra Got Its Stripes – As a group of African animals hang out at the local watering hole, they share funny stories about how the zebra got its stripes. At the end of the book, fun facts explain why zebras really have stripes.

Zoo Animals – As children page through this beautiful book, they will learn the names of many animals they meet at the zoo! Each page offers a short description of the featured animal and its habitat.

More Zoo Printables

If your children enjoyed this worksheet packet, they’ll love these additional zoo-themed worksheets.

• zoo color by number
• zoo animals cut & paste book
• preschool zoo math worksheets
• giraffe handprint craft (free template)
• zoo animal coloring pages
• Zoo vocabulary words for preschoolers

Zoo Animals Ideas for Kids

Add some plastic zoo animal figures to your pretend play area for kids to explore. They’ll have so much fun using them to act out zoo books or other imaginative play scenarios.

Read Do You Know Hank the Hippo, and let your preschoolers act out the story with an adorable crocheted hippo toy.

Set up a zoo animals sensory bin with this kit! Filled with a mixture of textures, bright and vibrant colors, this kit will let your little one explore for hours.