Hands-On Activities for Young Thinkers
Introduce children to the small animals living in the kindergarten backyard, teaching them to observe, identify and understand these creatures through hands-on exploration using magnifying glasses, macro photography, books and apps.
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Introduce children to the small animals living in the kindergarten backyard, teaching them to observe, identify and understand these creatures through hands-on exploration using magnifying glasses, macro photography, books and apps.
Make sure you use examples to point out that everyone matters, no matter how small (ants, bees and other small insects matter). Use picture books like Horton Hears a Who! by Dr. Seuss (see also the film), or a similar story from your own country, to illustrate the point.
Instructions: Start by making books about insects and other small animals available to children in the book corner. Then provide each child with a magnifying glass. Explain the importance of being gentle and respectful to the animals and their habitats.
Take the children to the backyard and encourage them to look under rocks, leaves and plants to find small beings (e.g. insects, spiders, worms). Have each child use their magnifying glass to observe the animals closely, without touching or disturbing them.
Instructions: Share with the class that a philosopher named Thomas Nagel wrote a very famous paper entitled “What is it like to be a Bat?” arguing for the crucial importance of consciousness to understand what is a mind.
Get together and think about the question: What is it like to be an ant?
Instructions: Explain what macro photography is and show examples of macro photos of small animals. Use tablets or smartphones with macro lenses or features. Have each child take close-up photos of the animals they observe.
Review the photos together, discussing the details and features visible in the images. You can encourage children to try to identify the animals with the help of the provided books.
To help everyone participate, give everyone a moment to say something about the photos you are seeing together. Share with the classroom that this is something to aim for every time they share personal impressions because the classroom gets brighter when everyone gives input. Be careful and respectful of some psychological conditions that prevent participation.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
All contents, in particular texts, pictures and graphics, are protected by copyright. Unless expressly stated otherwise, copyright is held by each.eduskills.plus and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution - Non-commercial - Distribution under the same conditions 4.0 International license. They may be subject to the terms of the license.
© 2026 each.eduskills.plus | Impressum