No, we didn’t go to the zoo.

Today I would like to share with you some interesting resources for educational purposes. These miniature animal figures are sold in a packet. I think they are meant as toys and of course to an extent as a learning tool to teach the child about animals. But to me, they have been transformed into some very interesting teaching resources.

For instance, those ones above can be used to teach about animals that live in the forest. They are also perfect in becoming model of the characters in a story. I think most children will be motivated to write with the help from these interesting models.

They can also be used to teach different categories of animals which live in the forest like the plant eaters.

And of course the meat eaters.

Or we can introduce the animals one by one. Mind you but I think these models are quite nicely done. I personally am fond of this giraffe. I think that it is adorable. You might want to create some labels to emphasis on the spelling of the animals.

The zebra. Makes me think of the zebra line as in the pedestrian crossing we have in Malaysia.

Once when I was in Australia, I stopped at a pedestrian crossing to ensure it is safe to cross the road. Well, this is how it has to be in Malaysia. However, it was a silly thing to do in Australia. So when I stopped, the car stopped as well, the driver and I were looking at each other and he waved his hand to send a signal to me saying that I could cross.

The elephant. There are other things that you can do as well. For example, make some information cards about the animals and distribute them to let the children work in groups to find the correct information cards for the animal model given to their groups.

At a certain point, I think these animal figures are also suitable in conducting lesson for secondaries or adults. However, for students of these age groups, I don’t think the animal figures should be used too often. Once in a while and they might feel fun and enjoyable. Learning is not easy and neither is teaching. Both require a lot of hard work and effort.

This is quite a handsome leopard.

This tiger figure even has its own facial expression. See how fierce he is. As if he is fighting with his enemy or trying to get his prey.

This look like a friendly lion though.

I have bought some dinosaur figures too. Children just love them. I don’t know why but I love them too. Maybe because they have extincted. We can’t see them walking around like other animals so they become special. If they were still alive, would they be as common as cats and dogs?

We have always taken things for granted. If cats and dogs were extincted, I think we would be crazy about them like the dinosaurs too. Would we?

The one above is the famous Tyrannosaurus Rex or better known as T-rex. A dinosaur exhibition took place in Kuching last year. It was great and provided lots of knowledge about dinosaurs.

This is a Triceratops.

A stegosaurus.

I am not too sure about those two. Do you have any idea?

This is a Pteranodon.

Well, I hope this humble sharing of mine has been useful. Please drop a few lines to tell me about your experience or more exciting ideas to use together with these fantastic teaching resources.

Have a smooth and wonderful week ahead of you!