Type-A Parent

Published on February 4th, 2009

Preschooler Story Stretchers for Animal Dads

Written by: AngEngland

Looking for a book that points out the lovely variety of the animal kingdom? Animal Dads tells the story of all the special things that dads can do. These educational ideas will help you use this Animal Dads books to teach your preschooler many important concepts.

Animal Dads Author and Publisher Information

Animal Dads is written by Sneed B. Collard III and illustrated by Steve Jenkins. Published by Scholastic Inc, the ISBN is 0-590-03502-9.

Animal Dads Story Summary

Animal Dads begins with a simple statement, “Dads do many things”. And from there, the book proceeds to show us some of the many things that dads do for their families. Each page features a different animal dad; beaver, gorilla, stickleback, emperor penguin, poison-arrow frog, seahorse, tamarin, crocodile, tortoise, wolf, lion and more.

I love the way the Animal Dads book is designed because each page has a single sentence for impatient, quick-page-turning preschoolers. But then each page also has a more in-depth explanation of that particular animal’s behavior, habitat or habits.

For example, the page that talks about wolves has in large print, “Some dads always stay.” That single sentence would be enough for a fast bed-time read-trough of the story. The supporting paragraph below, however, goes on to explain that a wolf pack is led by a pair of wolves and how the dad helps teach the new pups many new things.

Story Stretching Educational Ideas for Animal Dads

Social Studies – Traditional and Cultural Homes: Many of the animal dads are pictured in their unique homes and dens. Stickleback fish build a special nest, prairie voles build an underground burrow, beavers make dams, even crocodiles and megapodes build earthen mounds to serve as hatcheries. But animals aren’t the only ones who build unusual homes, people do too!

Introduce your preschooler to the various types of homes that cultural groups have made throughout history. Eskimos build igloos out of ice, American settlers built homes of grass sod on the prairie, etc. Think of all the amazing types of homes that have been built; teepees, wigwams, long-houses, and adobe brick houses and more.

Health – Cleanliness: On the page with the gorillas, Animal Dads mentions grooming, cleaning the dirt off the fur. Explain to your preschooler that just like gorillas must clean their fur, we must also clean our bodies. Demonstrate good self-grooming that should be done each day; combing our hair, brushing our teeth and washing our hands.
Architecture – Dams: The Animal Dads page with the beavers talks about building dams. Let your preschooler know that people have also built many dams. Show your child pictures of famous dams, such as Hoover Dam. Parents or teachers can also explain some of the ways that dams and levees protect us and allow us to use more land for crop production.
Music – Singing: Animal Dads includes a page describing how a baby Western meadowlark learns to sing by listening to his dad’s song. Human babies are not born knowing songs either, but learn many fun songs as they grow up. If your preschooler has a favorite song, practice singing it with them. Try teaching them a new song because, just like the Western meadowlark, children can learn many different types of songs.
Health – Physical Activity and Creative Play: In Animal Dads, the dwarf mongoose likes to play games with his babies. What are some of your child’s favorite outside games to play? Practice playing a new game or have them make up a new game by thinking about what they might play if they were mongoose.
Art – Poster Creation: Let your preschooler create a large poster detailing all the things that their dad does for them. They can draw the pictures, or use magazine clippings. Let the children dictate the words to you as they describe each activity. Help them trace large letters at the top of the poster, “D”, “A” and “D” to spell out “DAD” as large heading or title. Let the children can present the poster to their dads as a special gift!