Last updated on October 31st, 2018 at 07:24 pm

Way before you teach your kid about the alphabet, colors and shapes you have introduced them first to animals and their sounds. Singing Old McDonald for the nth time finally shown its reward – your toddler is now familiar with the animal kingdom.

Seb is in a phase where he wants all things animals, So I bought him a safari theme toys which is a real hit! He kept making roar sounds and plays with the set almost all day even on the wee hours of the morning😑

To engage him more on animal familiarization I let him watch ANIMAL THEMED MOVIES and it works! He is so excited whenever he see an animal he knows. And let me tell you what a toddler wants… Routine, repetition and familiarity and so enter his favorite movies of all time. Please note that when I say all time – I mean on repeat forever.

5 Animal Themed Movies To Help Your Toddler Learn About Animals

The Lion King

Its a classic. Released in 1994, it must have been yours too. From the title itself, Its about a young lion named Simba fleeing from Pride Rock as he’s fed a lie that he is responsible for Mufasa’s death (the king and his father) by his Uncle Scar who wants the throne for himself. Putting his past behind, he lived a life of no worries (hakuna matata) with Timon and Pumbaa but soon reality and responsibility caught up with him as Nala, his best friend and Rafiki reunites with him and told him of the kingdom’s situation urging him to take action and claim his place as king.

What you’ll see: Safari animals such as lion, zebra, elephant, giraffe, rhinoceros and the likes.

The opening of this movie is engaging with all the animals gathering together and the song is so catchy. Its our favorite part.

Ferdinand

Based from the children’s book entitled The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf.

Ferdinand, a bull who simply wants to smell flowers and never fight, escaped a training camp when his dad did not return after a fight with a matador. Nina adopted him in a farm and there he lives peacefully surrounded by flowers. But due to an incident in town, he was caught and returned to the training camp he escaped from. Back to a life where he is either a fighter or meat, he tries to find a way for him and the other bulls to escape the camp. As close to escaping as they are, Ferdinand was caught and brought to Madrid to face El Primero (the matador) for a fight.

What you’ll see: Mostly bulls, but back on the farm there’s horses, dog, goat, chickens and many more.

The bulls, Guapo and Angus are mommy’s favorite😍

Sing

Heads up, if you are not into musical movies you may skip this but I suggest you give it a chance.

Released in 2016, the music used for the film are mostly modern like stay with me, crazy in love, chandelier, hallelujah, call me maybe to name a few.

It’s about a koala, Buster Moon trying to salvage his theater by producing a singing contest. The cash prize which was mistakenly advertised to be a 100,000 caught the interest of a lot of animals to audition. Enter the contestants which has their own struggles and reasons for joining.

What you’ll see: Singing pigs, gorilla, fox, giraffe, elephant, snail, sheep and so much more.

Rosita’s character is relatable to Moms. Watch it for you to agree. As for favorite characters, we love the story and voice of Johnny the Gorilla and Gunter’s positivity, enery and outfits are hilarious.

Finding Dory

A sequel of Finding Nemo where Dory, the forgetful blue tang fish who now lives with his new family Marlin and Nemo gets whirled by the current caused by the migrating stingrays suddenly remembers a detail from her past, prompting their new quest to find her parents where they meet Hank the cranky octopus, Destiny the near sighted whale shark and Bailey the beluga whale who discovered his new echolocation.

What you’ll see: Sea creatures! Stingrays, turtles, shark, whale, octopus, sea lion and everything under water.

Who wouldn’t fall in love with Hank and the awesome Bailey? They’re adorable.

The Star

The Star is the star of this list because its based on The Nativity of Jesus from the animals’ perspective. What a fun way to teach them about Jesus! Its like hitting two birds with one stone.

It’s about a donkey who wants to feel important by being a part of the royal caravan with his bird friend but got his leg injured as he escaped the miller and ended up in Joseph and Mary’s house. Upon King Herod’s order to eliminate the new king, Bo and his flock follows Mary to Bethlehem to warn her and eventually save the day.

What you’ll see: Farm animals such as donkey, sheep, camels, dogs, chickens, goats and more.

There you go. You have a good story, moral lesson and animal familiarization. Screen time has its benefits you just need to know when is too much and rest and do alternative activities so as not to overexpose your toddler.

To fully immerse your toddler in learning about animals, do an art and craft animal theme activity together. Click the following links for CD animal art and craft:

• CD Lion Art and Craft for Toddlers
• CD Octopus Art and Craft for Toddlers
• CD Cow Art and Craft for Toddlers
• CD Giraffe Art and Craft for Toddlers

How did you find my list? Care to add more? Drop me a comment and let’s share some thoughts.

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