Animal Life Cycle

Animal Life Cycle is a learning game from Nau.kids, a studio that focuses on short educational games for young children. Its stated aim is to teach about the life of animals in a fun way, using a phone, a tablet or a computer.

Life cycles are one of the first big ideas children meet in science lessons. A butterfly starts as an egg, hatches into a caterpillar, rests as a chrysalis and emerges as an adult. A frog goes from egg to tadpole to froglet before it hops onto land. Mammals and birds follow a different pattern, with young that are born or hatched looking much like smaller versions of their parents. Seeing these stages laid out helps children understand that animals change as they grow.

The game’s description is brief, so it is best approached as a gentle introduction rather than a detailed course. It works well as something to explore together, with an adult adding questions and examples about the animals that appear on screen.

1. Open the game on a phone, tablet or computer.
2. Explore the animals the game presents.
3. Follow along as it shows parts of their lives.
4. Talk about each animal and replay to remember what you learned.

Connect what appears on screen to real life. Pointing out a caterpillar or a tadpole outdoors makes the lesson stick.