Dutch words for kids · Animals
Animals in Dutch for kids
Animals are a favorite topic for young children, and the sounds they make are a ready-made game: kids love finding out that a dog says something different in another language.
Animals in Dutch
de dieren
Sounds like ≈ duh DEE-run
Good to know: One animal is het dier, but like all plurals, dieren takes de.
The words
Hear it in a song
Real lines from our Dutch songs, with the English meaning shown in the app:
Wat is een dier?
What's an animal?
from De Dieren (The Animals)
Wat zegt de kat?
What does the cat say?
from Wat Zegt het Dier? (What Does the Animal Say?)
2 songs that teach it
These words are key words in these songs. Every line is shown in Dutch with its English meaning.
Also sung in: De Kat en de Hond, Dieren in de Jungle, Waar Is Het?, Ik Vind Het Leuk!.
Practice ideas for parents
- 1Play a guessing game: make an animal sound and let your child name the animal in Dutch.
- 2Line up toy animals and "call" each one by its Dutch name to come for dinner.
- 3At the zoo or a farm, name every animal you see before reading its sign.
Related Dutch words
“Animals” in other languages
Sing it in Dutch, free
The first unit, 6 greeting songs with lyrics and English translation, is free forever. No card needed. Premium unlocks all 134 songs.
About the pronunciation: the “sounds like” spellings are rough English approximations for parents (capital letters show the stressed syllable). Dutchhas sounds English doesn't, so treat them as a starting point and let the songs be the model. Songs are original and produced with AI music tools. Ideas for using Dutch songs with your family.