Animal Tape Rescue Activity

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Animal Tape Rescue

What is Animal Tape Rescue?

Animal tape rescue is a great fine motor task for toddlers and preschoolers.

It involves putting tape on a toy and then giving children instructions of removing the tape to release the animals. It’s one of my favorite fine motor activities for 1 to 2 year olds. 

Why is This Fun Activity so Important? – Benefits of Peeling Tape for Toddlers

One of the best things to do with 1 year olds that there are so many fun and easy things to do. Exploring new activities for 1 year olds has its own set of benefits.

The main purpose for kids is to remove both the animals and the tape and it is a very complex task for little children. Those little fingers actually have to work hard, even though it seems to be a simple activity. 

By pulling off and removing the tape children are strengthening little muscles in their fingers and little hands. 

1 year old activities
fun activities for 1 year olds

Fine Motor Skills

Animal rescue tape is a fun, new way to work on your child’s fine motor skills. This fine motor activity game consists of a piece of tape with different animals and toys underneath it.

Kids have to use their fingers and thumb (pincer grip) to peel the animals off the tape. It’s a great way to improve dexterity and hand-eye coordination.

Animal rescue tape is perfect for kids who love animals and want to learn more about them.

things to do with one year olds

Hand Eye Coordination

Little ones must use their hands and eyes to coordinate the movement of the tape so that they can grab the animals. This game enhances hand eye coordination and it is also a lot of fun. 

activities to do with a 1 year old
Zoo animal rescue

Problem Solving

Babies and toddlers are constantly learning and exploring their environments. One way they learn is by figuring out how to solve problems.

While many problems are simple, such as figuring out how to remove a piece of tape from a surface, others can be more complicated.

Help your child generate a number of options and test these solutions during the activity. They have to be creative and find out how to pull off the tape when it’s stuck for example.

Always support your child by providing examples.

fun activities for 1 year olds
Dinosaur tape rescue

Vocabulary

This activity can help improve toddlers’ vocabulary because it provides them with many opportunities to learn new words. Providing opportunities for language development is important for toddlers.

They will learn the names of various animals, along with colors, and numbers if you talk about them. It will be quite easy to figure out how to keep a 1 year old busy, or even an older kid.

The activity can be played with any animal-themed toy, such as zoo animals, farm animals, dinosaurs, insects, or sea creatures.

indoor activities for 1 year old

It’s also a great opportunity that an animal activity for kids can teach toddlers and preschoolers about animal habitats. They can learn where those animals live and what they look like.

Open-ended questions can inspire your child to get out of their comfort zone and focus on the finer details, improve their vocabulary and instinctive understanding, and help them express themselves. 

Supplies for the Animal Tape Rescue

Instructions for This Fun Fine Motor Activity

The main idea of this activity is to tape the animals on a flat surface for example a cookie sheet. It’s very simple but also very versatile at the same time.

The animal rescue game can be set up in a variety of ways that can be made dependent on what resources you have on hand and your child’s interest. 

With the length of the tape, you can determine the level of difficulty. We used longer tapes in our playhouse.

activity for 1 year old

Animal Tape Rescue Activity Ideas

Vertical Tape Animal Rescue

In this version of tape rescue, you will have to choose a flat surface too, but a vertical one.

Vertical tape rescue can be done on any furniture door, balcony door/window, wall, double-sided chalkboard, or art easel, it’s really up to you. The goal is the same, the tape has to be removed, and the animals have to be rescued.

Your toddler and preschooler will gain a little extra. Vertical tape rescue will also include larger motions by moving the arms over the head. 

Vertical Tape Animal Rescue

Hide and Seek 

Let’s take this activity to a higher level and fill it with fun ideas!

Hide the taped animals outdoors in the garden on the slide, sandpit, or swing, around the house, or hide the animals indoors on the walls on rainy days.

It will make the animal tape rescue game more active. Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy finding the animals before saving them. 

what to do with a 1 year old

Hide and Seek Rescuing Animals Games with Matching Shadow Pictures

Guess what! Hide and seek animal tape rescue can be enhanced even more.

Once your kids find the animals and the tape is pulled off too, they can place them on the matching shadow picture.

How to prepare the shadow pictures for these rescuing animal games?

You’ll need:

The painting activity can be done together, so the children can be somewhat part of the game setup. This way zoo animals activities for toddlers can be combined, making it more entertaining.

Draw the animal rescue toy using their shadow as a guide. First, find a good spot to place your paper where the light is shining on the animal from behind.

Trace around the shadow with a pencil, and then color in the picture once you’re finished.

pet art for preschoolers
animal activities preschool
animal nursery games

Tape Rescue Activity Variations

When preparing activities for 1 year olds, plan activities around your child’s interest. If your child prefers other rescue toys, like cars, princesses or dinosaurs, include them in the rescue play tape activity.

one year old activities
Car tape rescue activity
activities to do with one year old
Princess tape rescue activity

You can also choose a certain theme other than rescue animals and follow that line. For example, a mermaid theme can include mermaid toys, fish, and seashells. Our kids’ favorites are ice creams, so guess what:

at home activities for 1 year olds
activities for 1 year old baby at home

These are fun things to do with 1 year olds and older too

Tape activities for toddlers can be more complex, involving more action just like our hide and seek tape play. Preschoolers can also work more independently, but bigger children can play even more difficult versions of tape rescue games.

Emma wanted to play this game as well, so we added some excitement to the classic tape rescue game by giving it a twist. This way a preschooler can play this game by adding in some literacy fun. We incorporated a dry erase board and a magnetic drawing board too.

Make them write down the names of the taped things one by one, Emma likes princesses so we used them. If the name is written correctly, they can remove the tape and free them.

This upgraded tape rescue activity will allow children to practice their writing skills while enjoying a fun game. They won’t even notice that they were practicing writing. So, it’s a win-win situation.

Save the princesses
Literacy tape rescue game
Save the Disney Princesses
Practice writing

What other activities to do with 1 year olds?

One year olds are curious and learn about the world around them. There are many fun and DIY educational games for 1 year olds. These projects can help engage their minds and teach them new things. 

The animal rescue game is great for learning about different animals and their babies. Have your child rescue the animals and their babies, then have them match the right baby animal to its parent. 

Animals and their babies activities
baby animals activities for preschoolers

Baby animal activities

If you are interested in more similar activities for 1 year olds, don’t forget to check our page to learn more.

Frozen Animal Rescue Activity

Toddlers will have a blast with this super easy frozen animal rescue activity. 

activities for 1 1 2 year olds

Put some dinosaurs (or any other animal rescue toys) into balloons one by one, then fill the balloons with water and freeze them overnight. Once they are frozen, cut the balloons off.

rescuers animals
save animal games
activities for one and two year olds

Then let the little ones save the animals inside. Defrost the ice eggs with water or use a toy hammer to break the dinosaurs free from the ice. 

baby animal preschool activities
Frozen toy rescue

It’s a fun way to learn about science and a great way to work on problem-solving skills.

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AUTHOR

Eniko is a mother and wife, ex-teacher, and world traveler. Loves to be creative and admires spending quality time with her family. Enjoys outdoor activities-, and connecting to nature. She loves sharing her enthusiasm and inspiration. For more details check out Messy Learning Kids.

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