How to play
- Tap Tap to start. Sounds can only play after a tap, so nothing makes a noise before then.
- Listen to the word and tap it. Tap the big speaker to hear it again.
- When you find it, its picture appears and you hear the sound the animal makes.
A round has ten questions, and each one answered on the first try earns a star. There’s no timer and nothing to lose.
If it isn’t right, the word tapped shows its picture and says its name, then the word you’re looking for is said again.
Choose a level to suit your child:
- Easy: three farm animals and pets, whose words all start with different letters and have different lengths, so the first sound is enough.
- Normal: four words, from every animal.
- Tricky: six words, with the ones that start with the same letter side by side: cow, cat, chicken and crow, or duck, dog and donkey.
Gentle sounds, off to start with, keeps the lion’s roar, the wolf’s howl and the elephant’s trumpet quiet when your child finds them. It’s one setting for every animal game.
For parents and teachers
Animal Words is a word recognition game: your child hears a word and finds it written among a few others. The game never says a written word before your child chooses it, so the word has to be read. Two of the words are made simpler for reading: the songbird is a bird and the sea lion a seal.
Questions
Why can’t I hear anything?
Tap Tap to start first: browsers don’t allow sound until a tap. Then check the volume. On an iPhone, the silent switch on the side can mute the game in some browsers: flip it, or turn the volume up.
Why does it say this device can’t say the names?
The names are spoken by the voice built into your device or browser, never by an online service. A few browsers have no voice, and then the game can’t ask its questions. Another browser on the same device often has one.
Why do the letters look like that?
The words use Andika, a typeface made by SIL for children learning to read. Its a and g are the shapes children learn to write. Words are in small letters unless you switch on Capital letters.
Can a child who can’t see the screen play?
Yes, with a screen reader, which reads each word aloud. That turns the reading game into a listening one, and that’s fine: the words are still never said by the game before your child chooses one.
Is it safe for children?
There are no ads, no chat, no sign-up and no tracking. Nothing your child does is sent anywhere: the best rounds, the statistics and the settings are kept only in this browser.
The animal games
Five games with the same real animal sounds and pictures. The youngest can start with Explore, then Animal Sounds and Animal Names; Read It and Animal Words are for children who are starting to read.
- Explore Animal Sounds: tap any animal to hear its sound and its name. It practises listening, with no question to answer.
- Animal Sounds: hear a sound, tap the animal. It practises listening: knowing an animal by its sound.
- Animal Names: hear a name, tap the animal. It practises vocabulary: the names of animals.
- Animal Sounds: Read It: hear a sound, tap the animal’s written name. It practises listening and reading.
- Animal Words (this page): hear a name, tap the written word. It practises reading: recognizing a word.
Keyboard
| 1 to 6 | Choose that word |
|---|---|
| R | Hear the word again |
| Enter | Go to the next question |
| Tab | Move between the words, then Enter to tap one |
More to play
- Block Adder: Drop number blocks and make 10. Pairs like 3 and 7 disappear.
- Hangman: Guess the word one letter at a time before the balloons pop.
- Tell the Time: Read the clock and set the hands: o’clock, half past, quarter to and every minute.
- Animal Sounds: Who says moo? Hear an animal and tap the one that makes the sound.
- Animal Names: Hear an animal’s name and tap its picture.
- Animal Sounds: Read It: Hear an animal’s sound and tap its written name.
- All kids games