More Pets Activities
View our Twiggle Magazine pet edition for more pet activities and recipes.
Dramatic Play
Pet Shop
Create a Pet Shop in your dramatic play area. Provide a cash register, play money, leashes, stuffed animals, kennels, brushes, clean, empty pet food containers, pet toys, etc. Label each item with a price. The children can take turns shopping and working the register. Encourage them to add up the prices and write receipts to improve and practice math skills.
Animal Hospital
Provide the following items that an animal might have: cotton swabs, empty cat and dog food boxes. cloth bandages, Band-Aids, rubber gloves, lab coats, stethoscope, scale, clipboards, baskets with pillows and blankets for overnight guests, carriers, food and water dishes, stuffed animals, telephone, toy thermometer, and toy syringe.
Dog Bone Games
Dog Bone Sequencing:
Cut out many different sized dog bones. Ask children to line up the bones from largest to smallest and vice versa.
Dog Bone Numbers:
Cut out ten dog bone shapes. Number them from one to ten. Ask children to line up the shapes from one to ten and from ten to one.
Dog Bone Colors:
Cut out dog bone shapes in different colors. Ask children to sort the shapes by color.
Dog Bone Sort:
Supply children with plenty of dog bone shapes of many sizes and colors. Ask children to sort the shapes by size or color.
Dog and Cat Card Game
Create a set of cards (index cards) with half the cards stamped with dogs and half with cats to represent the numbers 0-4. Pair children and give them each an equal number of cards: one child has cat cards, the other child has dog cards. Players turn over a card simultaneously. The player whose card has the most cats or dogs keeps both cards for that round of the game. Players who tie keep only their own card. Children compare more, less, and same amounts.
Dog Bone Estimation
Fill a small jar with dog bones. Ask each child to guess how many dog bones are in the jar. For younger children, limit the number of dog bones to less than ten. Record each child’s guess. Count the dog bones.
Easy Classroom Pet
Walking sticks make great classroom pets. All they require is water and blackberry branches. Pet stores sell them. Allow children carefully to hold one. The walking stick will wave its leg like it is waving at you if you touch it. Just put them in a container with blackberry branches (they will eat the leaves) and spray them with a water bottle (keep the leaves moist but not drenched; you don’t want puddles on the bottom of the container; the walking stick will drown).
Field Trip Ideas
Humane Society
Find out where your local Humane Society is located. Call to find out about educational services; some have tours and classes for children that your group might be able to join in; some have reproducible educational materials on caring for pets and animal safety.
Visit a pet store or a veterinarian’s office.
Have a parent bring in a cat or kitten.
Have a veterinarian visit.
Have a Humane Society member visit.
Have a parent read a story about a cat.
Science/Social Studies Activities
Use photos or stuffed animals to categorize and classify animals: Pet or Not a Pet or mammals, fish, birds, reptiles.
Snacks
Lead a discussion about the ways that pets eat and drink. Invite children to try to eat their snack without using their hands. Serve a snack and water in a shallow paper bowl rather than cups. Dry cereal is a good choice.
Use bone-shaped or fish-shaped cookie cutters to cut toast or refrigerated cookie dough into bone shapes for “doggy” snacks or fish shapes for “kitty” snacks.
Puppy Chow
What you need:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 box Crispix cereal
2 cups powdered sugar