Animal Habitat Drawing Activity Inspired by Animalicious

Here’s creative drawing idea that kids will love. Try an animal habitat drawing activity inspired by Animalicious: A Quirky ABC Book. The publisher sent us a copy for review. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

Animalicious by Anna Dewdney and Reed Duncan

Animalicious is a unique alphabet book full of quirky animals. Each letter is represented by one or more animals whose names sound sort of familiar. The authors have used some clever play on words to make these silly animals come to life.

Sometimes the name of the animal has been changed slightly to make a new word. A walrush is always in a hurry. Other animals have their spellings changed. Have you ever heard of a piethon? It must be a python who loves pies. I feel sorry for the polar bare.

Other animals don’t need their names changed. You’ll spot a word inside the animal’s name. That ostrich is a fancy, rich bird. Although I think my favorite animals are the ones whose names are inside a word, like catastrophe. My kids had fun thinking about all of the possible ways a cat could turn into a catastrophe.

Animal Habitat Drawing Activity Inspired by Animalicious

My kids loved seeing the funny animals in Animalicious. They wanted to draw their own. I suggested drawing the habitats of the animals as well.

Lily (age 5) started by drawing lots of the animals in the books. She needed several pieces of paper. She gave some of them homes. The polar bare got a cave and the jowl got a tree.

Next, I asked if she wanted to choose one or two animals and create a habitat for them. We talked about what a habitat was – where an animal lives. In a habitat, the animal needs to have a place to live (shelter), food, and water. Lily chose the unicorn and the cat(astrophe).

The unicorn lives in a field with flowers and rainbows. It has a nice stack of rainbow food to eat. The cat is escaping the catastrophe by hiding in the flowers. (At least that’s my interpretation.)

Elon (age 3) wanted me to draw him the pool from the catastrophe and cowabunga scene so he could color it. I think he added the catastrophe cat above the pool. Poor cat.

What kind of animals would your child draw? Can you make up your own silly names?

Animal Habitat Writing Activity

Extend this into a writing activity by having your child write about the animals and their habitat. Describe your animal’s characteristics. What makes it special? Where does your animal live?

More Preschool Activities Inspired by Anna Dewdney’s Books

• Take Learning the Alphabet Outside after reading Llama Llama Loves to Read.
• Construction Sensory Bin with DIY Kinetic Sand inspired by Little Excavator.
• Llama Llama Red Pajama Color Words and Matching Game
• 13 Llama Llama Red Pajama Activities

Subscribe to the Inspiration Laboratories newsletter. Each issue has exclusive hands-on science explorations for children, a recap of our latest activities, and special resources selected just for you!