~ Ideas for learning about pets ~
Books
Activities
Old Mother Hubbard Nursery Rhyme
[Literacy]
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor doggie
A bone.
But when she got there
The cupboard was bare
And so the poor doggie
Had none.
Obedience School
[Large Motor]
Children pretend to be dogs. As a few dog commands are called out (fetch, sit, lie down, roll over, bark, beg, come, etc.), the children act them out.
Pet Movements
[Large Motor]
The children chose which kind of pet they want to be. They moved around and made the sounds of that animal.
Pet Food
[Fine Motor Skills]
Children rolled Model Magic into
little balls for pet food and painted the pieces brown. They used the pretend food in the pet store and in their pretend play with the toy dogs
and cats. You could also use brown play dough with pet food bowls and a bone-shaped cookie cutter.
Dog House
[Art]
Children made dog houses with cardboard boxes. They worked together with others to make the doghouses, deciding how it would look, where the door would
be, and what materials to use to decorate the house.
Pet Store
[Dramatic Play, Literacy, Social Skills]
Children made pet food, dog houses, pet toys, and leashes to sell in their pet store. A cash register with play money, paper, and pencils
were added and the children wrote receipts and price tags for the items.
Pet Store Signs
[Literacy]
Children made signs for their pet store.
Pet Graph
[Math]
Our graph title was "What is your favorite pet?" The children chose which pet they would like to have, and placed a sticky
note with their name on it on a chart paper graph. We counted how many of each animal, and determined most/least/same.
Dog and Cat Card Game
[Math]
For each set of cards, half of the cards (index cards) were stamped with dogs and half with cats to represent the numbers 0-4.
Children worked in pairs, and had an equal amount of cards: one child had cat cards, the other child had dog cards.
Players turned over a card simultaneously. The player whose card had the most cats or dogs kept both cards for that round of the game.
Players who tied kept only their own card. Children compared more, less, and same amounts.
Dog Counting Game
[Math]
These counting cards were made with index cards, a dog notepad from the teacher store, and a paw print stamp. The children counted the paws and
matched them to the numeral on the dog.
Pet Care Prop Box
[Dramatic Play]
In the house center, we have toy dogs and cats with pet food bowls, rawhide bones, pet carrier, collars, leash, pet bed, pet toys. We keep these
in our house center all year.
United Streaming Video
[Technology]
"Pets and Their Care"
Police Dog Visit
[Social Studies]
Schedule a visit from a K-9 police dog and ask the officer to talk about the importance of working dogs.
Resources
- Pets Kids Page
- Pets Theme Cards: use for pocket charts, flannel boards, graphing labels, matching, games, beginning sounds, etc.
- Pets Theme Links: my bookmarks at del.icio.us
- Music: How Much is That Doggie in the Window: traditional song
Old Mother Hubbard: Rhymin' to the Beat Vol. 2 CD by Jack Hartmann
Rags: Rhymin' to the Beat Vol. 2 CD by Jack Hartmann
