I Love Stuffed Animals

The koala is one of the most recognizable animals of Australia

You can find Australian stuffed animals to represent the diverse population of wildlife that inhabits the Australian continent.  Australian animals include such animals as  the koala, the kangaroo, the dingo, the emu, the echidna, the wombat, the tasmanian devil, the crocodile and the platypus to name a few.

Australian stuffed animals can be used in a variety of ways:

Collectible Animals – Many people collect stuffed animals from a certain region of the world, and Australian animals would be a excellent place to start.

Education- A nice classroom idea would be to have a collection of Australian stuffed animals around the room. The children could then learn about each of the animals throughout the year, and they would gain a good understanding of which animals come from Australia. Throw in a few episodes of The Crocodile Hunter or Bindi the Jungle Girl for an additional Austrlian wildlife educational adventure!

Decoration – One decorating idea would be to design a room or a house with Australian decor.  You could include Australia stuffed animals, signs pointing to different locations in Australia, a map of Australia, a wall clock set to Australia time and pictures of the Australian outback that coordinate with the room colors. Use your imagination.

If you would like additional information about Australia’s animals, visit Australian Animal Learning Zone and Australia Zoo

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Did you have a favorite childhood stuffed animal?  I did. Mine was a teddy bear named …. oh the originality of it … Teddy!  I’m sure I’m not unique. Most people had a stuffed teddy bear at one point or another in their childhood.  Many others had another type of stuffed animal that was a particular childhood friend.

We thought that it would be fun to have visitors share about their childhood stuffed animal.  Maybe it was a special teddy bear that was so well loved that the eyes, nose and fur all fell off or maybe it was a different type of stuffed animal.  Do you still have the animal in the closet somewhere or what happened to it?  Tell us about your childhood stuffed animals by leaving a comment!

My childhood stuffed animal was……

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A classroom stuffed animal such as this polar bear can be a special education treat for the children.

Classroom stuffed animals can be a wonderful idea.  Stuffed animals can help to teach the children about different kinds of animals as well as teach other skills as well.

Sometimes a teacher will choose a specific animal as the classroom mascot for a whole year, and the children will decorate and do activities around the theme of that animal.  There are almost endless possibilities for classroom learning surrounding a stuffed animal.

An obvious idea is to have the children learn everything about their classroom stuffed animal by watching video, doing a coloring page, writing a fiction story about the animal, writing a report or reports about the various aspects of the animal or perhaps learning about the habitat of that animal as well.  

It is often a good idea to choose a wild animal for the classroom animal, but a teacher may also choose a dog or cat and teach the children about responsible pet ownership and about adopting an animal from a shelter.  Perhaps the children could vote on which animal they wish to adopt as their classroom animal for the year.

Another idea is to have a classroom stuffed animal that the children take home with them on a rotating basis.  I have heard of cases where the stuffed animal has a journal of his activities, and the children add to the journal daily with both classroom activities of the animal and with pictures or activities from when the animal goes home with each child.  Children will love to look back over a journal as the year progresses to see the stories, artwork and general history of their special classroom stuffed animals.

With a little imagination and a lot of fun, a classoom stuffed animal can be a memorable friend that will give each child a memory for a lifetime. I will guarantee that each child will remember this experience well beyond their school years.

If your class has done this, be sure to leave a comment about your experiences and any tips that may help another teacher to implement this idea!

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