Desert Animals Song

X (Twitter)Facebook Pinterest Email

Get ready to take a trip to the desert from the comfort of your classroom and learn all about the desert’s animals and the Sonoran Desert. As part of our preschool songs series, this fun rhyming song will help your kids learn about this amazing place’s animals using this fun Desert Animals Song. Try the free version, or get the full Desert Animals song pack for more fun and learning!

Animals of the Desert Movement Song Printable for Preschool and Kindergarten

Get your kids up and moving while learning all about some of the most popular animals of the Sonoran desert.

Your kids will learn all about the different animals that call the desert home, how they move around the warm sandy terrain, and the sounds they make using this easy song.

This free printable desert animals preschool circle time song is part of our preschool circle time song series. Throughout the series, I’m sharing engaging songs that are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers. Each song is adapted from a popular tune so kids can easily join in and sing along!

For each song, you can grab the free printable version that includes the song text and song pieces in color, or you can purchase the full song pack, which includes additional supporting activities to extend the fun and learning, as well as the black and white version of the song text and song pieces.

Free Printable Animals in the Desert Song for Prek and Kindergarten

EXTENSION ACTIVITIES

Additional Tips and Ideas for Use:

Print the song pages (you can make them even bigger if you have large-size printer capabilities), display the song pages on a presentation device, or copy the song onto chart paper.
You can use the song and picture prompts as they are listed on the song charts, or you can have kids brainstorm their own desert life and actions to include in the song and make up their own verses.
As you sing, either hold up a cue card yourself to help kids remember what is next or have song helpers hold up the cards for classmates to see.
You can also combine the song pages into a songbook for kids to read and sing during center time.

GENERAL FACTS ABOUT THE SONORAN DESERT

The Sonoran Desert gets about 3 to 15 inches of rain per year, most from July to September.
The Sonoran Desert covers an area of 120,000 square miles (310,800 square kilometers)
The vegetation of the Sonoran Desert is the most diverse of all the North American deserts.
Sonoran Desert National Monument, established in 2001, preserves 760 square miles (1,970 square kilometers) of the desert southwest of Phoenix.
The endangered Sonoran pronghorn makes its home in the Sonoran Desert

PRODUCT PHOTO-Animals in the Desert Song Pack

FACTS ABOUT DESERT ANIMALS

There are over 30 recognized species of rattlesnakes known today, two of which are considered endangered due to habitat loss and hunting. Rattlesnakes play an incredibly important role in nature by controlling small mammal populations as predators and providing food to larger animals as prey! Once rattlesnakes grow out of their old skin, they go through a process called molting. Their bodies naturally add an extra segment to their rattles each time they molt.

The jackrabbit is actually a hare, not a rabbit. Jackrabbits are capable of running up to 40 miles an hour, and adults can leap 3 meters (10 feet) at a time!

Found nestled in recycled woodpecker holes in the deserts and canyons of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, elf owls favor insects and invertebrates, which they hunt on foot and by air. Elf owls are no larger than a sparrow and weigh about as much as a golf ball. Aided by excellent vision and hearing, elf owls are skilled nocturnal foragers who catch their prey in flight, on the ground, or within the trees.

Unlike many other spiders, tarantulas do not depend on a web to catch their prey. Instead, they grab their prey and sink their fangs in. Some tarantulas make underground burrows built in dry ground in deserts and grasslands, while others live in caves, cliffsides, or trees. There are about 900 species of tarantula worldwide!

Coyotes don’t just stick to rodents and birds for prey. They are omnivores that will happily feast on ripe berries, vegetables, fallen fruit, and other healthy goodies. Coyotes generally amble about at a normal dog’s walking speed. However, they can reach 35 to 43 mph speeds when pursuing prey or fleeing danger. Coyotes are known to mate for life and are generally monogamous. How sweet!

Contrary to their cartoon portrayal, roadrunners are not nearly as fast as coyotes. The land speed of a roadrunner is typically around 15 mph, though the bird can move even faster for short bursts. Two species of roadrunners exist, the greater roadrunner and the lesser roadrunner. Both species of roadrunners are omnivores that eat almost anything they find on the ground, including rattlesnakes and other venomous prey!

Javelinas are not pigs! They look similar, but pigs are from the “Old World,” and peccary are “New World” animals. There are many other differences, most concerning differences in physical anatomy. One major adaptation for survival is the fact that javelina live in large family groups. The average group size is 10 or less, but a few herds have been known to have up to 53 members! Javelina have a scent gland on the top of their rump covered by long hair that they use to mark their territory.

Scorpions have been around so long that they’re even older than dinosaurs! Only 30 or 40 species around the world have strong enough poison to kill a person. Each species has a special type of venom that works well against a chosen prey. They also use their poison to defend against predators, not just to kill prey.