What pets do you have at home? How do you care for them? How does a vet help animals? Do you know about exotic pets? Which pets did people have in the past? What habitats do animals need to help them thrive? This block will help you to answer these questions and to show your learning through art, design and technology, music, role-play, stories, maths and writing. Have fun holding an animal picnic, a Great Pet Sale and a ‘Best in Show’ event.

Session 1 All sorts of pets

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Listen attentively in a range of situations.
  • Listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what is heard with relevant comments, questions or actions.
  • Express self effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs.
  • Be confident when speaking in a familiar group, talk about ideas, and choose the resources needed for the chosen activity.
  • Know about similarities and differences in relation to living things.
  • Talk about the features of the immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another.
  • Make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur.

Lesson Planning

Wonder at a surprise egg, think about good/bad pets in response to a letter from the little girl in the story I Want a Pet, set up a pet shop role-play area with posters and pet food.

Teaching Outcomes
To enjoy a story, discuss ideas and make predictions. Talk with confidence about their own experiences.

Children will:

  • Listen, enjoy and respond to a story.
  • Talk about what makes a good pet and discuss their own pets.
  • Talk in full sentences sometimes extended to add detail.

Provided Resources

  • Letter from little girl
  • Pictures of different animals to sort
  • Different sized dog bone treats

You Will Need

  • Envelopes
  • Pre-prepared role-play area - Pet shop
  • I Want a Pet by Lauren Child
  • Papier-mâché balloon or purple balloon decorated to look like an egg
  • Crate or box with blanket
  • Plastic sandwich bags
  • Sticky labels
  • A3 paper
  • Red ribbon
  • 2D shapes and coloured paper

Session 2 Exotic pets

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Know about similarities and differences in relation to living things.
  • Talk about the features of the immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another.
  • Make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur.
  • Be confident when speaking in a familiar group, talk about ideas, and choose the resources needed for the chosen activity.
  • Sing songs, make music and dance.
  • Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

Lesson Planning

Discuss exotic pets, make posters, paper chain snakes, playdough snakes, and junk model exotic habitats.

Teaching Outcomes
To learn about different types of pets including exotic ones and how they might need special care.

Children will:

  • Present a part of their learning.
  • Begin to understand that animals are different (e.g. reptiles and mammals) and need different things.
  • Learn a new song and join in with the parts they know.

Provided Resources

  • Pictures of mammal babies
  • My Exotic pet sheet

You Will Need

  • Walking with my Iguana poem by Brian Moses
  • Parrot template
  • Possibly visit from parent who owns an exotic pet
  • I Want a Pet by Lauren Child
  • Coloured paper for paper chains
  • Googly eyes
  • Matchsticks
  • Playdough
  • Masking tape
  • Tweezers
  • Plastic bugs
  • Junk modelling
  • Coloured feathers

Session 3 Pets in the past

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Express self effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs.
  • Use phonic knowledge to write words in ways which match their spoken sounds.
  • Talk about past and present events in their own lives and in the lives of family members.
  • Sing songs, make music and dance.

Lesson Planning

Look at pictures of pets in the past and compare with pictures of pets in the present, make pet portraits, collage of pets from the past, make a lead and tag for soft pet, listen and dance to old music.

Teaching Outcomes
To understand the similarities and differences between the past and present. Discuss why they think something is from the past.

Children will:

  • Present a part of their learning.
  • Learn to explore differences and similarities between the past and present.
  • Use dance to explore movement.

You Will Need

  • Picture of pets from the past on IWB and printed
  • Soft toys
  • Sticky labels
  • Old and new objects
  • Music to be played
  • Dolls house
  • Zoo animals
  • Magnifying glasses
  • Clipboards
  • Big paper
  • Wool

Session 4 Great pet sale!

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Count reliably with numbers from 1 to 20, say which number is one more or one less than a given number.
  • Solve problems, including doubling, halving and sharing.
  • Use everyday language to talk about size, weight, capacity, position, distance, time and money to compare quantities and objects and to solve problems.
  • Use what thas been learnt about media and materials in original ways, thinking about uses and purposes.
  • Represent ideas, thoughts and feelings through design and technology, art, music, dance, role-play and stories.

Lesson Planning

Listen to The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen, take part in pet shop sale, pay for animals, write price tags, draw out mathematical language and make zig-zag books.

Teaching Outcomes
To recognise coin amounts and use money to pay for different pets during role-play.


Children will:

  • Interact with a story, understanding and enjoying reading it.
  • Work out money amounts using coins.
  • Use lots of mathematical language associated with money and one more/one less, bigger/smaller etc.
  • Use role-play to explore maths problems.

Provided Resources

  • SALE signs
  • Price tags
  • Pictures of animals from the story

You Will Need

  • The Great Pet Sale by Mike Inkpen
  • Lots of coins, real and plastic
  • Lots of soft toy pets
  • Zig-zag books
  • Chubby crayons
  • Water/sand tray
  • Brushes or nets
  • Tweezers
  • Numicom
  • Computers

Session 5 Looking after our pets

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Listen attentively in a range of situations.
  • Listen to stories, accurately anticipating key events and respond to what they hear with relevant comments, questions or actions.
  • Know about similarities and differences in relation to living things.
  • Talk about the features of the immediate environment and how environments might vary from one another.
  • Make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur.
  • Sing songs, make music and dance.
  • Safely use and explore a variety of materials, tools and techniques, experimenting with colour, design, texture, form and function.

Lesson Planning

Look after the newly arrived class pet, listen to a vet, discuss how vets help animals, role-play being a vet, weigh pets, measure out ‘medicine’ and bandage injuries.

Teaching Outcomes
To find out what pets need to keep them safe, healthy and happy.

Children will:

  • Learn what a pet needs to be healthy and happy.
  • Ask questions and listen to the answers.
  • Use role-play to explore and extend their new learning.
  • Enjoy and learn a new song.

Provided Resources

  • Writing frames for letters and key words
  • Miss Polly song words
  • Template for adapting Miss Polly song

You Will Need

  • Visit from a local vet
  • Vet costume
  • A soft toy pet that hatched from an egg
  • Bandages
  • Stethoscopes
  • Thermometers
  • Bottles
  • Glitter
  • Balancing scales
  • Small world animals
  • Toothbrushes
  • Normal brushes

Session 6 Pet picnic!

Objectives

Early learning goals

  • Follow instructions involving several ideas or actions.
  • Express self effectively, showing awareness of listeners’ needs.
  • Play co-operatively, taking turns with others.
  • Take account of one another’s ideas about how to organise activities.
  • Show sensitivity to others’ needs and feelings, and form positive relationships with adults and other children.
  • Make observations of animals and plants and explain why some things occur.

Lesson Planning

Bring in your toy pets to join the class pet show, award rosettes for different reason, choose your favourite pet, draw your pet’s favourite food on a paper plate ready for the final picnic, read the thank you letter from the girl in the story.

Teaching Outcomes
To enjoy a celebration of different pets and what makes them all different and special.

Children will:

  • Think of reasons why their pet is special and explain these to the class using an expanded sentence.
  • Think about what makes other chn’s pets special and by doing so think of other’s feelings.
  • Understand what a pet would eat.

Provided Resources

  • 1st, 2nd and 3rd place rosettes
  • Thank you letter from Jane

You Will Need

  • Arrange for children to bring in a picnic or snacks for the picnic in the hall or field/outside classroom area
  • Soft toy pets
  • Paper plates
  • Pens

Weblinks

There are no weblinks needed for this session.