From the barn to your backyard, animals are an important part of everyday life. Learning the Spanish names for different kinds of animals will help your child identify wildlife, talk about their pets, and recognize the names of their favorite creatures in stories and movies. To get your child excited about learning new vocabulary, we’ve put together a list of some of the most popular and important animals in the Spanish language, along with tips for helping your child retain what they’ve learned. Go wild and have fun learning names of animals in Spanish!

Go on a Language Learning Safari: Wild Animal Names in Spanish

Wild animals – Animales salvajes (ah-nee-mahl-es sahl-bah-hehs): It’s time to explore the jungle! Learning the names of wild animals will bring out your child’s inner explorer and come in handy next time you make a trip to the zoo.

You can even reinforce this vocabulary by reading the Spanish version of a children’s classic, The Jungle Book (El libro de la selva).

When working through this vocab with your child, encourage them to repeat after you and make the appropriate sound to fit each new animal they learn about. For example, when your child learns about el tigre ask them to get out their claws and let out a roar! This phonetic exercise will engage your child and help them remember what they’ve learned.

  • Zebra – La cebra (seh-brah)
  • Elephant – El elefante (eh-leh-fahn-teh)
  • Lion – El león (leh-ohn)
  • Tiger – El tigre (tee-greh)
  • Giraffe – La jirafa (hee-rah-fah)
  • Monkey – El mono (moh-noh)
  • Panther – La pantera (pahn-teh-rah)

Learning Activity: Kids love hands-on activities, so why not make some animal masks? For this activity, you’ll need a few simple materials such as paper plates, construction paper, colored markers, crayons, scissors, and glue.

  • Use the paper plate as the face of your animal, and cut out different sized ears, noses, and eyes depending on the animal your child wants to become!
  • Color in the plate with crayons and markers and add whatever stripes and spots your child desires.
  • After the masks are done, write the Spanish name of the animal on the back of each plate and encourage your child to repeat the name back to you.

Farm Animals in Spanish

Farm AnimalsAnimales de granja (ah-nee-mahl-es dey grahng-hah): Let’s take a trip to the farm! Learning farm animal names in Spanish will help your child feel more confident when speaking with their peers.

Does your child love to sing? Old McDonald Had A Farm or El viejo MacDonald tenía una granja is a great song to practice farm animal vocabulary!

This version on Youtube has subtitles in Spanish and English to help your child learn the proper spelling of each animal. To reinforce farm animal names further, print out the lyrics and have them by your side before singing the song.

  • Pig – El cerdo (sehr-doh)
  • Horse – El caballo– (kah-bah-yoh)
  • Sheep – La oveja (oh-beh-hah)
  • Cow – La vaca (bah-kah)
  • Hen – La gallina (gah-yee-nah)


Learning Activity
: Mix and match pictures with animals! This activity is an easy and affordable way to learn about animal names and bring out your child’s creative side.

  • Print or draw a picture of a farm animal, and write the animal name on a separate piece of paper.
  • Encourage your child to match the name with the animal! This exercise will help your child spell and read the vocab they have learned.
  • If your child isn’t confident reading, simply ask them to repeat the animal name back to you when you hold up the different cutouts.

Names for House Pets in Spanish

Pets – Mascotas (mahs-koh-tahs): Everybody loves a pet to call their own! Even if you don’t have a pet at home, next time you bring your child to a pet store, ask them to identify the different animals they see.

If you do have pets at home, walk around the house with your child and call out the different animal names of your mascotas!

Repeating the Spanish animal names for your pets will show your child how vocabulary can be useful in everyday life. Who knew home could be such a good place for learning?

  • Dog – El perro (pehr-roh)
  • Cat – El gato (gah-toh)
  • Hamster – El hámster (hahms-tehr)
  • Parrot – El loro (loh-roh)
  • Snake – La serpiente (sehr-pyehn-teh)
  • Lizard – La lagartija (lah-gahr-tee-hah)

Learning Activity: Charades is a fun game that will get your child laughing, acting, and learning. Try playing charades with the Spanish animal names they have worked on.

  • Get some pens, cut up a piece of paper into strips and write down Spanish animal names of each strip. You’ll want two teams, so get the whole family involved!
  • Shuffle the paper strips in a bowl and have a member from each team choose one at random. The Spanish words written on the card will be the animal they have to act out!
  • Give each team member 3 minutes to guess which animal is being acted. For every animal guessed correctly, the team will score a point. Play until the cards run out! This game will be so fun your child won’t even realize they are solidifying what they have learned.

TruFluencyKids Can Help You Learn Animal Names in Spanish and More 

Animals are not only an important part of the world’s ecosystem but a crucial component of your child’s Spanish vocabulary! Start small by focusing on some of your child’s favorite animals, and add more names to the mix as they become more comfortable. While home activities are fun, hiring a language tutor for your child will keep them motivated, focused, and engaged. At TruFluency we offer small, teacher-led group classes of 3-6 students to ensure that your child gets the support and peer interaction they need. Start a LIVE instructor led class today!