Are you starting a Veterinarian or Pets theme in your preschool classroom or homeschool? Keep reading for the most interesting Vets Love Pets preschool activities around!
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VETS LOVE PETS PRESCHOOL ACTIVITIES
One of the most relatable themes to teach (whether you’re homeschooling or teaching in a preschool or kindergarten classroom) has to do with Pets & Vets. Pets come in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and little ones love talking about their pets (real or imaginary). Their interest in learning about different pets leads to interactive play and STEM exploration, so let’s get ready to explore the world of pets and the vets who take care of them!
Keep reading for over 20 pets and vets activities for your preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students. These ideas include literacy, math, fine and gross motor skills, art, and more. Grab your printables for math & literacy here. Oh, and there’s a freebie, too!
If you want a copy of my yearly themes (including an editable version where you can type in your own themes), check out this freebie. (*Please note: You will need to download this file to your computer and then open it with Adobe in order to add your own themes. You cannot add your themes from your web browser.)
VETS LOVE PETS ACTIVITIES: LITERACY
Before you get started with your Pets and Vets theme, make sure you have your books all ready to go! You can check out our favorite books for this theme in this post. There are over 40 books for you to choose from! Make sure to request these from your local library (or order them from Amazon) a few weeks before you start your theme.
You’re definitely going to want to start this theme with some vocabulary cards! Do your little ones know what a veterinarian is or what they do? Have they ever taken a pet to a vet? Can they name different animals that can become pets? These cards are the perfect way to introduce your little ones to the 15 vets-and-pets-related words they’ll be learning about over the course of this theme. You can use these vocabulary cards in your writing center or in a Write the Room activity, where they will choose a vocabulary card, say the word, and match it to the picture on the activity page. If they are ready, they will write the word on the line.
Color the Room is a variation of Write the Room, where you hide the vocabulary word cards around the room for your little ones to look for in a scavenger hunt. After finding the cards, have them match the picture card to the picture on the activity page. They can choose to color the matching picture or simply circle it. This is a great variation for little ones who aren’t ready to write the words on their own yet.
This is a great activity that can be used to practice matching uppercase and lowercase letters. Your little ones will choose a letter card and tell you the name and sound. Then they will find the other half showing the same letter (either lower or upper case) that completes the picture puzzle. For more interactive fun, you can hide the cards in a sensory bin or around the room for them to find and match. They can also make CVC words using the letter cards!
In this activity, your little ones will be working with short vowels sounds; either a and e (pink mat) or i, o, and u (blue mat). They will start on the “Your Home” space. Then they will choose a card, name the picture, and tell what short vowel sound it has. This will allow them to move to the next space with that vowel on it. Repeat until they make it to the vet’s office.
Using the Vowel Sound cards from the previous activity, little ones will choose two cards and determine if the words begin with the same letter sound or not. They will circle “same” or “different” and add a tally mark to the correct box. Which side will have more tally marks? This is a great step on the road to phonemic awareness, which is a crucial skill for reading development.
Bingo is always a favorite game for little ones to play. After reviewing syllables, little ones will be listening for and determining how many syllables there are in the Vets and Pets vocabulary cards. They will say the word and try to count how many syllables the word has (clapping or stomping the syllables is always helpful). Then they will place a small manipulative on a space that shows that many syllables (we used the fun Scooby Snacks since they look like dog bones). Whoever gets 5 in a row wins!
After watching this YouTube Video about rhyming, little ones will be moving through the maze to help the wet dog make it to get his dinner. They will try to find the rhyming word for “wet” in the box next to, above, or below it. They will continue through the maze, always finding the word that rhymes with “wet.” Are they able to help the dog make it to his dinner?
This activity has little ones creating CVC words. They will spin to find the first, middle, and ending letter of their word and place the letters on the board. Have them say the sound for each letter and use their finger across the line in the direction of the arrow to blend the letter sounds into the word. Can they tell you if it is a real word or a nonsense word?
Not all handwriting practice should be letters and numbers. In fact, before our preschoolers can write letters and numbers, they should be able to make different types of lines: straight lines, curvy lines, wavy lines, jagged lines, and more! Tracing these lines is the first step to correct letter formation later on. For this activity, tell your little one that they need to help the dog get to his doghouse by following the lines. They can use their finger or a marker to accomplish this!
This FREE activity includes cards with a cat holding different items. Little ones will name the item and determine its beginning sound. Little ones can never get too much practice with figuring out beginning sounds, and they’ll love practicing through PLAY!
This activity (along with all of our freebies!) can be downloaded from the Free Activity Library. If you’re already a member of our email community, you can click HERE to head to the Free Activity Library, enter your password (it’s on your most current email from me), and download your copy!
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VETS LOVE PETS ACTIVITIES: MATH
After looking at a dice and counting the dots on each side, try to get your little ones to recognize how many dots are on each side without counting each dot (subitizing). Then have them roll the dice, find the corresponding picture on the key for it, and place that many picture cards in the fishbowl. The more they practice subitizing, the more proficient they will become.
Little ones will be creating addition problems in this activity. They will choose a card, place it on the mat, and put the corresponding number of the domino on the line. (Can they tell you the number without counting each dot? Remember that’s called subitizing, and it’s a great skill to work on!) Then they will try to find the missing number by filling in the frame that will add up to either 5 or 10 depending on which frame they are using. They will draw that many dots to the second domino to complete the problem.
This activity has your little ones playing hide and seek with different pets. They will choose a number card and place it on the mat, read the poem, and cover up the correct number of pets with small manipulatives on the mat. For more advanced littles, there are addition cards that can be used instead of the number only.
This activity helps build fine motor skills and strengthen fingers while making snakes out of play dough. Little ones will slide a number strip or an addition strip through the opening to tell them how long to make their play dough snake.
This is one of our favorite activities from this theme because it work son math and leads to imaginary play! Little ones will be feeding the dog his dinner using Cocoa Puffs cereal or black beans for kibble. They will choose a card, say the number, and add that many scoops of “kibble” to the dog bowl. Is the dog excited to get his dinner?!
Using the hand mat or the tally marks mat, little ones will complete the mystery puzzle picture by matching how many fingers or tally marks are in each box to the puzzle pieces with the corresponding number. For more fun, you can hide the puzzle pieces in a sensory bin or around the room. Your little one will be SO excited to see what picture is created when they get all the puzzle pieces in place!
After reviewing different shapes with your little ones, they will choose a card that has a shape in the corner on a pet. Have them say the name of the shape and cover all the matching shapes on the card. You may have to help them with the names of the less common shapes. Can they tell you how many sides each shape has or if the lines are straight or curvy?
For this activity, little ones will be making patterns. They will choose a pattern card and determine how many different fish colors they need to make the pattern. Then they will spin the spinner to find out which colors they will use for their fish pattern. Finally, they will complete the fish pattern on the mat. Pattern cards range from simple AB patterns to more complex patterns like ABBC or ABCC. Recognizing patterns is a great skill to learn!
This activity has little ones adding as many goldfish crackers to the fishbowl that correspond to the card that they choose. It’s the perfect combination of math and snacks! Read more about this activity in this post!
VETS LOVE PETS: HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES, CRAFTS, AND SNACKS
Little ones love their stuffed animals, so they’re sure to love making them a collar. Using beads strung on yarn or pipe cleaners, they can use their imagination and creativity to personalize the collar for their pet.
Little ones LOVE sensory play and this one will be a new favorite. Fill the bin with Cocoa Puffs cereal and add in Scooby Snacks and let their imagination dictate their play!
Playing with play dough always inspires creativity in little ones. They can make paw prints, dog bones, kibble, or even create pet figures. The possibilities are endless!
This is a great treat to enjoy while working on this unit! All you need is chocolate pudding, whipped cream, and some marshmallows to create this Dalmatian pudding! Yum!
This is another yummy treat for your little ones to make. All you need are some crackers blue frosting, and goldfish crackers. Yum! Read more about this snack in this post!
VETS LOVE PETS PRESCHOOL & PRE-K FUN
I hope these ideas helped you fill-in your Vets Love Pets lesson plans for your preschool classroom or homeschool! All of the printables for this unit can be found in my Vets Love Pets Activity Pack.
What types of vets & pets preschool activities do you plan for your littles? Do you have any fun activities that would be great to add to this list? Comment below or find me on Instagram [@littleslovelearningblog] and let me know!
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Happy Learning!
