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STEM ToysBest British Wildlife Toys and Activities for Kids’ Learning
Wildlife is one of the most inspiring classrooms your child can have. Exploring the animals, plants, and ecosystems right outside your door fosters curiosity, creativity, and compassion.
Learning about British wildlife nurtures not just knowledge but also empathy and responsibility. Understanding how animals survive, what they eat, where they live, and how they raise their young enhances your child’s understanding of the world around them.
For this reason, we've created this guide. Packed with fun British wildlife toys and themed activities, it helps you bring the magic of wildlife into your home and daily learning.
Why Teach Children About British Wildlife?
Early exposure to wildlife influences how children perceive the world around them. Learning about different habitats, life cycles, and native species develops curiosity. It fosters a sense of responsibility and urges them to be more mindful.
Learning about local wildlife builds an understanding of:
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Different habitats and ecosystems
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Life cycles and animal behaviours
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Empathy towards living creatures
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Foundational knowledge in science and geography
It’s not just about learning facts. It’s about helping children become thoughtful, environmentally conscious explorers of the world.
Hands-On British Wildlife Activities for Kids
1. Visit Zoos or Wildlife Parks
Seeing animals in person is a magical experience. If you have a toddler or a young child who is aware of animals and can list a few of them, take them to the zoo and show them around.
Visit places like Chester Zoo, home to over 20,000 species, or ZSL London Zoo, with lions, lemurs, pygmy hippos, and more. These visits spark curiosity, questions, and lifelong memories.
2. Create a Wildlife Footprint Trail
We know that dogs and cats have unique footprints. Similarly, common British animals such as foxes, hedgehogs, badgers, and deer also have distinctive footprints. You can teach your children more about these animals by creating a footprint trail.
Draw footprints of local wildlife on paper or with chalk outdoors. Let kids guess the animal behind each track and follow trails that lead to hidden surprises.
3. Host an Animal Puppet Show
Using black paper, cut out silhouettes of native animals: squirrels, whales, owls, mountain hares, and more. Shine a torch behind them and put on a shadow puppet show that tells a story about their habitats or adventures.
4. Mask-Making for Roleplay
Make simple animal masks using paper plates, string, and colours. Children can role-play as foxes, rabbits, or wildcats and invent stories about their animal adventures. Let your children become the animals they love.
5. Animal Cards Printable
Download Printable
Skillmatics' Animal Cards printable is a good way to reinforce your child's knowledge about animals. You will need a printout of this PDF, cut into cards. To understand more about our Animal Cards Printable and its gameplay, read our How to Make Screen-Free Learning Fun Again!
15 Skillmatics’ Wildlife-Themed Toys & Activities For Learning & Play
1. First 100 Animals (Ages 18 months-4)
This plastic-free, non-toxic, and recyclable toy includes 50 colourful, double-sided flashcards that explore five animal categories: underwater animals, insects, wild animals, birds, and farm animals. They're sturdy, easy to hold, and perfect for curious toddlers.
2. Search & Find (Ages 3-6)
This screen-free, educational game helps children learn about 50+ animals across rainforests, oceans, and grasslands. It builds vocabulary and observation skills with 12 repeatable activities. The Search & Find Megapack includes 20 activities set in places like the Pet Shop and Under the Ocean.
3. Storybook Art Kit (Ages 5-10)
A screen-free play set that sparks creativity and storytelling with writing prompts, vocabulary lists, colourful stickers, markers, and hardbound books. It helps children build their imagination while improving literacy.
4. Guess in 10 (Ages 6+)
A 2–6 player trivia card game where players ask up to 10 questions to guess the animal. It includes 50 game cards, 6 clue cards, and an instruction manual. Variants include Junior Animal Kingdom, Dinosaurs, and Guess in 10 – Planet of Animals.
5. Piece & Play (Ages 3-7)
This jumbo 48-piece floor puzzle is eco-friendly and plastic-free. It comes with 30 learning game cards featuring wild animals and helps build observation, problem-solving, fine motor skills, and memory.
6. Animal Pattern Puzzle Set (Ages 18 months+)
A wooden matching puzzle that teaches children to pair animals with their patterns. It’s non-toxic, plastic-free, made from 100% sustainable wood, and builds hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills.
7. Memory Match (Ages 3-7)
This game teaches animal identification, habits, and groupings. It sharpens observation, memory, and critical thinking. Two ways to play: Children match tiles to the picture boards, or roll the special picture die and match animals to the groups they belong to.
8. Science Snippets (Ages 7+)
A STEM-based set with 70+ double-sided cards that teach animal topics such as anatomy, habitats, adaptation, and behaviour. A colourful way to explore scientific concepts.
9. Sand-Tastic Art (Ages 4-10)
Children bring 50+ animal stickers to life using colourful sand. This activity encourages artistic exploration, creativity, fine motor control, and focus.
10. Snip Snip (Ages 3-7)
With 25 activities across three difficulty levels, this set helps kids practise scissor skills in a mess-free and engaging way. A fun alternative to screen time.
11. Rank Up (Ages 7+)
Players remember fun facts and compete by ranking animals on traits like speed, weight, or lifespan. It includes 100 game cards, 500 facts, a wooden die, and an instruction manual.
12. Craft-O-Pedia (Ages 6+)
This puzzle set includes 48 foldable paper animals with beginner and medium levels. Children follow step-by-step instructions to create some of the world’s coolest and most unique creatures.
13. Dino Trio (Ages 5+)
A fast-paced 2–5 player game filled with fun dinosaur facts. It builds observation, strategy, and decision-making skills in a compact and exciting format.
14. Waxy Window Art (Ages 5-12)
Kids use 100 colourful, bendy wax sticks to create 15 animal images to stick on windows. It’s organic, beeswax-based, reusable, mess-free, and travel-friendly.
15. Wild Webs (Ages 6+)
This animal-themed thinking game requires kids to strategise their way across themed boards. It improves memory, planning, and decision-making through fun, immersive play.
Ready For Animal Fever?
Introducing your children to wildlife via activities, games, and hands-on experience is a powerful way to help them acknowledge and appreciate nature. As parents, teachers, and guardians, you will be nurturing early scientific thinking, empathy, and a lifelong love for nature. When kids understand and care about the world around them, they grow up ready to protect it.
Let’s raise the next generation of explorers, carers, and conservationists — one wildlife adventure at a time!
How to Make Screen-Free Learning Fun Again!
First 100 Animals (Ages 18 months-4)
Animal Pattern Puzzle Set (Ages 18 months+)