How to Play the Animal Name Games for Kids

Play "Guess the Animal." Give your child clues and let him guess what animal you are describing. Begin with the animal's habitat, progress to how many legs it has, tell your child if it has a tail, fins or wings, or if it has fur or feathers or scales. If your child has not guessed the animal after several clues, make the animal's sound. When your child has guessed the name of the animal, then he should choose an animal and give you clues so you can guess.

Play "Who's My Mommy?" by naming a baby animal and let your child tell you what his parents are. For instance, you will say, "foal" and your child will say, "horse." When your child becomes proficient, switch the game to "Who's My Baby?" by giving your child the animal name and letting him figure out the baby's name. Take turns going first; allow your child to tell you an animal and you guess the baby's name.

Play an animal vocabulary game by saying the name of an animal. The next player will come up with the name of another animal that begins with the last letter of the first animal's name. For instance, if the first player says "dog," the second player could follow with "goose." The next player could begin with "elephant," and so on.

Open an animal picture book, point to each animal and have your child tell you what the animal is and the sound it makes. This game can also be played by holding up toy animals instead of searching for them in a book. When your child can do this easily, play by pointing at the animal and having your child tell you what the animal eats, what the baby animal's name is or where the animal lives. Talk about each animal's fur, feathers or scales, how many legs it has and whether it has live babies or eggs.