Activity: This house is a zoo!

Need a little indoor fun on these cold winter days?  My house is a zoo, and I bet yours is, too.  Know how many animals are in your menagerie?  Challenge the kids to count all the animals in the house.  This includes not only the obvious pets and stuffed creatures, but critters on pajamas, in artwork, on product labels and, if you dare, in books.
You can do a ton with this concept, but here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Set a timer for 5 minutes and have them count how many they find.  You can use this to practice making tally marks, writing numerals, and graphing how many animals each family member can find.
• Set a goal of finding animal types.  Give a young child mammals, and an older child the more challenging amphibian category.
• Make it a "hunt" and have them "bag" their finds.  As you go through the haul, divide them into groups (farm animals, zoo animals, jungle animals, and ocean animals, as well as categories such as fish, birds, reptiles, etc.).
• Build language by asking them to come up with three descriptor words for each animal.  
• Build writing skills by writing out lists of the animals that are found (invented spelling, or even just geting down the first letter, are great for young ones).

You can supplement the activity with books about animals and zoos, coloring, painting or sculpting zoo creatures, and singing songs about animals.