Animal Slideshow for the Kids

My daughter loves animals.  She is one and a half, and is learning to say their names and sounds.  One day she was wanting to sit on my lap as I worked on the computer.  I thought it would be fun to look up some animal pictures for her and she loved it.  So, that inspired a project.  We sat there and did google image searches for every kind of animal we could think of.  (Note:  If you go to "advanced image search", under "size", put in that you only want images that are larger than 640x480).  When we were finished, I put her down for her nap, and opened all the pictures up in my favorite photo program, Picasa.  You can download Picasa for free if you have a PC, or a Mac with an Intel processor.  Older Macs won't support it.  In Picasa, I added text to each photo, telling what the animal was.  So now, I have a folder with all these pictures of labeled animals.  All I have to do is click "slideshow" (on Windows 7) at the top of the folder, and it plays right through them.  Here's a screen-shot of the folder of animals I created.

  

Emma will sit there and watch it with me dozens of times in a row.  I say the animal as they go by.  She's already learned to say, Cheetahs, Hyena, Fish, Wolf, Cow, Puppy, Cat, Owl, Eagle, Mice, Moose, Fox, and more.  Some of them aren't exactly right, but she's trying, and it's so fun to listen to her learn.

Here is a list of animals, in case you want to make your own:

*Aardvark * Anteater * Antelope * Armadillo * Baboon * Bat * Beaver * Beetle * Bear * Black Panther * Blue Bird * Buffalo * Bumblebee * Butterfly * Cat * Caterpillar * Cheetah * Chicken * Chimpanzee * Chipmunk * Cow * Crab * Cranes * Crocodile * Deer * Dog * Dolphin * Donkey * Dragonfly * Duck * Eagle * Eel * Elephant * Ferret * Fox * Frog * Gazelle * Gerbil * Giraffe * Goat * Goose * Gorilla * Hedgehog * Hippo * Horse Hummingbird * Hyena * Kangaroo * Kitten * Koala * Ladybug * Lemur * Leopard * Lion * Lizard * Llama * Mice * Mongoose * Monkey * Moose * Mongoose * Opossum * Orangutan * Ostrich * Otter * Owl * Panda * Parrot * Peacock * Pelican * Penguin * Pig * Polar Bear * Porcupine * Prairie Dog * Puffin * Puppy * Rabbit * Raccoon * Ram * Reindeer * Rhinocerous * Rooster * Salamander * Sea Lion * Shark * Sheep * Shrimp * Skunk * Sloth * Snail * Snake * Squirrel * Starfish * Swan * Tarantula * Tarsier * Tiger * Toucan * Turkey * Turtle * Walrus * Warthog * Whale * Wolf * Wombat * Zebra *