By learning about some of the characteristics and adaptations possessed by house cats, kids can also learn how lions, tigers, jaguars, and other wild cats hear and smell their prey.
Cat Hearing Preschool Games
A cat has nineteen muscles in each ear, which allow the cat to swivel its ears up to 180 degrees. A housecat can distinguish sounds that are three inches apart at a distance of three feet. Demonstrate this fact by having the children sit in a circle and close their eyes. Tap two spoons together and have the children point in the direction of the sound.
Make the sound overhead, down low, in the center of the circle, and outside the circle. Discuss how “close” doesn’t help a hunter of small animals such as mice: a couple of inches off and dinner escapes.
Next play a game of Cat and Mouse that challenges kids to use their listening skills while also moving as quietly as a mouse. One child, the cat, sits in the center of a group of children sitting in a circle, who are the mice. Place a blindfold around the cat’s eyes so they must rely upon their hearing.
The instructor points to one of the mice, who should stand up and walk around the outside of the circle as quietly as possible. If the cat hears the mouse, he points in that direction. If correct, the mouse sits down. If the cat is incorrect, the mouse continues her path around the circle and sits in her original location. The mouse becomes the new cat.
Sense of Smell Activity for Kids
Cats can detect an odor if there is one molecule present where humans would require a thousand molecules to notice a smell. Fill a clear plastic container within two inches from the top with a bag of dried kidney beans and a single white bean. Have the children twist and shake the container as they try to reveal the single white bean.
Tell the children that smells are like the beans, the more molecules of a smell the easier it is to notice. However, for cats, they can detect an odor that human’s would never notice.
Sense of Touch Discovery Activity
A cat’s whiskers send messages to its brain about captured prey or the cat’s environment. Create Mystery Item containers that test kids’ sense of touch since they don’t have whiskers. Set small items in plastic cups (ball, furry catnip mouse, feather, etc.) and slide the cups into the foot of a sock. Children slide their hand into the sock and feel for the item.
Without calling out loud, the children try to identify the items. When the children have had their turns with the Mystery Items, then the instructor can reveal the items.
Movement Kids’ Game
Give each child a chenille stem that will be their cat tail. As you describe the motions, the kids should act out the tail behavior with the chenille stem. Afterwards, call out the cat emotions and see if the children can make the correct actions.
- Tail held high – greeting, attention
- Gently waving the tail – relaxed
- Broad swishing – annoyance
- Twitching – excitement and curiosity
Preschool children can learn about some of the keen hunter instincts of the house cat through active games and activities. Have the children make paper plate cat masks and listen to storybooks about cats to round out a day about this popular pet.
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