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I can’t believe it’s here, but we’ve made it to the end of our Letter of the Week Series!
Z is for zoo and zebra this week as we learn all about letter Z! This post contains a letter Z book list, animals that start with Z, and some letter Z play ideas. As well as details for the corresponding letter notebook!
Letter of the Week – Letter Z
The Letter Z Notebook includes:
- Uppercase & Lowercase Letter Mazes
- Dot-to-dots
- Circle the letter Z’s page
- Z is for Zebra & Zepplin Crafts with cut out templates
- Coloring Pages
- Do-a-Dot Pages
- 3 Types of Puzzles
*This notebook also contains a special certificate at the end for you to award your child and celebrate their alphabet achievement!
Letter Z Book List
If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss
Gerald McGrew imagines what he would do if he ran the zoo.
Zinnia’s Flower Garden by Monica Wellington
Spring is here and Zinnia is excited to plant a garden and watch it grow.
Zora’s Zucchini by Katherine Pryor
Zora’s garden just keeps growing and growing zucchinis! So, she comes up with the wonderful idea of sharing with her neighbors.
The Accidental Zucchini: An Unexpected Alphabet by Max Grover
In this book, the bright colorful illustrations take children through the alphabet with a 2-letter phrase to represent the sound of each letter.
On Beyond Zebra by Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss takes children on a hilarious ride on beyond Zebra and the letter z to a whole new alphabet.
Greedy Zebra by Mwenye Hadithi
Long ago all the animals in Africa had skins with no color at all. Then, one day they discover a cave full of beautiful new skins and furs. As the animals choose their new skins and colors, Zebra, who shows up late, has to make do with the leftover strips he can find.
Letter Z Animals
Zebra
Zebra Facts & Photos – San Diego Zoo Kids
Grevy’s Zebra – Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Zebra facts for kids – National Geographic Kids
Zebrafish
Zebrafish Facts – Kids Answers in Genesis
Zorilla
Video of Ziggy the Zorilla at Cedars Nature Center
Letter Z Play Ideas
Build a Zoo
This week challenge children to build a zoo. This is fantastic for building fine motor skills, problem-solving, and just plain fun! Try using wooden blocks, Duplo or Lego blocks.
Or, try using recycled cardboard boxes to make your zoo. They can be cut into different sizes and shapes and then colored and placed into multiple arrangements. Also, add toilet paper or paper towel tubes and stones that children can place around their zoo.
Along with the blocks provide a set of zoo animal figures and things like play trees. To add water to the enclosures, your child can simply cut out shapes in blue construction paper and add them in between their structures where they’d like.
Talk about what certain animals might need in their enclosures to be healthy and happy. For instance, an elephant needs a lot of space and monkeys would need plenty of trees to climb in their habitat.
Here are some things for your child to consider as they build their zoo:
- Size of enclosures
- Do they need things to climb?
- Do they get lonely and need other animals around for company?
- How do they play?
- Do they need elements like water, trees, grass, or dirt?
Have fun learning about Letter Z this week!
Heidi