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MY FAVORITE PET (Art)
Try one or both of the activities below with your group.
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Cut colored construction paper into various geometric shapes. Let your children glue the shapes onto pieces of plain paper in the form of a real favorite pet or an imaginary one. Have them use crayons or markers to add details, if they wish. When the children have finished, help them write the names of their pets on their papers. |
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Set out collage materials, such as feathers, fabric scraps, yarn pieces, fake fur, felt scraps, and googly eyes. Invite the children to arrange and glue the materials on paper to create favorite pet pictures, giving help as necessary. Help them add their pets’ names to their pictures when they are done.
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PET PLACEMATS (Art)
Cut posterboard into placemat-size pieces, about 9 by 14 inches. Invite your children to use crayons or markers to draw pictures of their own pets, or pets they would like to have, on the posterboard pieces. Help them add pet names to their pictures. When the children have finished, laminate their pictures or cover them with clear Contact paper. Then let them take their Pet Placemats home or donate them to a local animal shelter or pet rescue organization.
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WHAT PET AM I? (Dramatic Play/Guessing)
Talk with your group about popular pets, such as dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish, turtles, and mice. Discuss the animals’ movements and any sounds they make. Then let the children take turns pretending to be a popular pet and acting out how the pet “speaks” and moves while the others try to guess the type of the pet. If necessary, before each child’s turn, whisper a type of a pet and a few of its actions into the child’s ear. Continue the game until everyone has had a turn.
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VETS, VETS, VETS (Science/Sorting)
Display and read books about veterinarians with your group. Explain that vets are doctors who treat different kinds of animals, such as pets, farm animals, and zoo animals. Set up a block area for a pet vet, a farm animal vet, and a zoo animal vet. Then give your children a collection of plastic animals or animal pictures that include house pets (cats, dogs, rabbits, etc.), farm animals (cows, horses, pigs, etc.), and zoo animals (elephants, snakes, tigers, etc.). Invite the children to sort the animals into the appropriate vet areas.
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VISITING A VET’S OFFICE (Science/Pre-Writing)
Arrange to take your group on a trip to a local veterinarian’s office.
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Before your visit, discuss reasons why animals need to visit a vet. If any of the children have ever taken a pet to a see a veterinarian, ask them to tell about their experiences. |
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At the vet’s office, have the children notice the kinds of animals in the waiting room, the different treatment rooms, and the recovery areas for pet patients. Ask the vet to show how to correctly handle pets and to tell what owners can do to keep their pets healthy and safe. |
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After the visit, help the children make thank-you cards to send to the vet and his or her staff.
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VET’S OFFICE PLAY CENTER (Dramatic Play)
Set aside an area of your room for a vet’s office. Stock the office with such items as pet carriers, toy animals, white coats, stethoscopes, bandages, gauze strips, and pet beds. Let your children take turns being the veterinarian while others bring in their toy pets for checkups and treatments.
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AT THE VETERINARIAN’S (Music)
Tune: “Down by the Station”
At the veterinarian’s,
Early in the morning,
See the little puppies
Waiting in a row.
See the veterinarian
Give the puppies checkups.
Arf! Arf! Arf!
Now, home they go.
At the veterinarian’s,
Early in the morning,
See the little bunnies
Waiting in a row.
See the veterinarian
Give the bunnies checkups.
Hop! Hop! Hop!
Now, home they go.
Heather McPhail
Continue with verses about other animals and their sounds or actions: “Kitties—Mew, mew, mew; Turtles—Crawl, crawl, crawl,” and so forth.
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PET ANIMAL COOKIES (Food Preparation)
Roll out sugar cookie dough and let your children use animal cookie cutters to cut out shapes of popular pets, such as dogs, cats, birds, and fish. After baking the cookies, invite the children to decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.
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