Animal scales

Animal scales have an incredible texture if children are lucky enough to touch them. They are intricate, complex and thought-provoking!

Animal scales are a natural material and a body covering to help animals survive. They can appear on a variety of animals, including fish, birds, reptiles and mammals.

Babies and toddlers may be interested in the sensory experience of running their fingers over a scaled animal. Preschoolers can use scales as a starting point for an ongoing investigation.

The educational benefits of animal scales include sensory awareness.

EYLF learning outcomes

Animal scales aligns with the Early Years Learning Framework as it is a material (4.4).

Learning experiences

Examine animal scales through a magnifying glass

If your early childhood service has a pet with scales or you have a scaly item like snake skin, inspect it closely. Carefully use a magnifying glass to see the scales up close.

What do you see? Describe the shapes, colours and patterns.

Design your own body armour

Scales are designed to protect an animal's body. If you wanted to create protective armour for your own body, what materials would you use?

Children can collect, examine and test different materials. They can use their favourite material to make a helmet, a protective covering for their arms, or even a full-body suit.

Create animal scale art

Draw an animal and put scales on its body in an overlapping pattern.

Cut paper towel rolls in half lengthwise to create a semicircle shape. Dip the end in paint to make animal scale prints.

Tear up pieces of paper into the shape of scales. Search for packaging that looks like scales, like bubble wrap. Draw tiny scales with a sharp pencil or fine-tip pen.

Collect tiny leaves from your garden. Do they look like scales?

Sort toy animals by their skin covering

Place a variety of toy animals on a table with three different tubs. Invite the children to sort the animals into tubs according to their skin covering — feathers, fur or scales.