Every kids wants a pet but convincing your parents is the hard part! For kids who do not have pets at home our pet unit of study for preschool and kindergarten students was always a hit. They loved the classroom transformation that took place, the kitchen area become the “pet shop”, in the block area they can build homes for the pets and at the water table they can give their pets a “bath”.
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Pet Unit of Study for Preschool and Kindergarten
I’m sharing pictures from my archives of some of the activities my students liked the most. I love watching them play, use their imagination, explore and discover new things during this unit. Check out these activities for pet unit of study for preschool and kindergarten students.
Books
There are so many books that can accompany this unit. My students enjoyed The Perfect Pet book the most. I tried to make sure I had a good mix of non-fiction and fiction books for the students to choose from. My students enjoyed looking at the non-fiction books with the real images the most. Click here to check out our list for the best books about pets!
Crafts
There were countless crafts to choose from for this preschool insect & bug unit theme! I must have spent hours on Pinterest pinning different crafts to my board. The newspaper dog was a favorite, download it for free here! If you download it, please leave a review!
Center Activities
Center time is always my favorite time of the day! The children get the chance to work together in small groups and that allows me the opportunity to work with students one on one or in small groups. There were so many great activities that went along with this unit! Check them out below!
Blocks & Buildings
In the blocks and buildings center the students used their imagination to build homes for their pets. These posters from Pocket of Preschool provided the students with great visuals as they were building.
Math & Fine Motor
My students loved using the pattern blocks to make pets. They worked on identifying shapes while putting them together to make something new.
Science Center
In the science center the students worked on sorting pictures of various pets based on size. They also worked on identifying pets versus wild animals.
Art Center
Kids love playing with boxes, so I brought boxes in for the students to paint so we could make our own homes for our pets. The students enjoyed it so much. After the pet homes were dry we moved them to the Dramatic Play Center to make an animal hospital. We also placed pictures of animals in the art center. We laminated the pictures and the students drew faces on them, this was great fine motor practice.
Dramatic Play Center
We arranged the dramatic play center to function as an animal hospital. The students made appointments for their pets, they pretended to be veterinarian and they made sure their pets received the best care. I think this was their favorite part of the unit. All of the pets and bowls came from thrift store, they were very easy to find.
Anchor Charts
Anchor charts are a great way to visually show information to students in way to help them understand. I like using real life images that the students can relate to and identify easily. We discussed what pets were their favorite and we made a graph. We also discussed what makes an animal a pet versus a wild animal.
Digital Resources
Are you looking for a digital activity for your pet unit? Check out our resource below! This resource contains a slide presentation with a variety of activities about to be completed on the Google Slides app. The students will research potential classroom pets, vote and then write about their classroom pet. These activities can be completed whole group or be assigned to the students to complete independently. This resource was designed with kindergarten, first and second grade students in mind but can be used for any child who is working on their research and writing skills.
Watch the preview below!
Click here to purchase this resource!
We really hope you find these activities useful! If you’ve tried any of these activities or plan to implement one, feel free to comment below to let us know which one you used. Don’t forget to tag us in your photos or posts if you share it on social media!
Are you looking for more ideas? Click below to follow our fine motor Pinterest board for more ideas!
For more ideas and activities from our unit themes click here!
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