More What Pet Should I Get Fun

As you know by now, I love Dr. Seuss…and, love his newly released book, What Pet Should I Get?  What Pet Should I Get captures a classic childhood moment of a child choosing a pet.  Not only does it capture this moment well, but, it is a lesson in decision making and how difficult making a decision can be.  What Pet Should I Get makes a great classroom lesson plan for preschool, kindergarten and first grade. Immediately when I read it, ideas rushed to my head to share with all of you!  So, without too much ado, I put together a few fun activities that I thought go well with the book…

What Pet Should I Get Activities

Adopt a Class Pet-The first What Pet Should I Get Activity I think is a great activity for the beginning of the school year.  First, I would read the book What Pet Should I Get?.  Then, I would sit the students down and tell them that we are going to pick out a class pet.  Explain to them that the class pet will be a stuffed animal because of student allergies (or choose 4 pets you could possibly get that are allowed in the classroom).  If it is a stuffed animal, you could explain that each child will have a chance to bring the pet home for a week.  Tell the students that you want them to think of which sort of pet they think would be a good pet for the classroom.  Brainstorm ideas.   Discuss the different pets the the students want to adopt.  What do they eat?  Where do they live?  (You can discuss habitat if you want to incorporate a science lesson).  After you choose the pet you can have another day making a habitat in a shoe box or in an area of the classroom for the pet.  Have the children draw a picture or write a writing prompt of which animal they would choose as their class pet.  (See free writing prompt below) Take a class vote on which class pet to get.  Set up a schedule so each student can bring it home for a week.  Create a binder and have the students take pictures of themselves with the  class pet.  Make a scrapbook of all the memories.  Have students create a picture of their favorite pet, or an imaginary pet and add it to the binder.    My family adopted [eafl id=7689 name=”Tibbar” text=”Tibbar”] He is our imaginary pet. We also have a Laborador.

Show and Tell with Pet Parade -Have students bring in their own stuffed animal.  They can only choose one to bring (oh the decisions!).  Have the students introduce their pet to the class.   How long have they had them?  Have a pet parade with the pets. March the pets around the room or around the school.   (Great teaching supplies for this found here).

Create an Imaginary Friend – Have the children make up their own pet, like the Yent found in Dr. Seuss’s book.  What would the pet be called?  Where would it live?  How big is it? Do an art project and have the children draw or make their imaginary pet.  Have the children write a writing prompts describing their imaginary friend.  (See free writing prompt below)

Read the Book -“Let’s Get a Pet” – This is an adorable book that talks about the steps of getting a pet.  What do you need to consider?  Cute cartoon drawings walk you through the pros and cons of each animal from a hedgehog to a  mouse to a dog and beyond.  Fun, Silly, honest and perfect when choosing a pet!

Create a Pet- Have the students create their own pet.  Make a balloon pet, or a pet rock or a sock pet.

 Set up a Class Pet-Store – Recreate the book and make your own class pet store!  Set up an area with different stuffed animals that are for sale and have a cash register too!  You can have an area for pet foods, or pet toys too!

Set up a Vet Clinic – Set up a Vet Clinic in your classroom.  Students will love caring for their pets and exploring through dramatic play.

Weigh the Pros and Cons-  On a large chart, black board/white board or notebook, consider the positives and negatives for each pet – What is good about a dog?  cat?  fish?  bird?  rabbit?  imaginary friend?   What is ‘bad’ about each type of pet?  How do you take care of each of them?  Discuss in depth with the children

Take a Vote!  – What pet would each student get?  Listen to their answers.  Diagram their answers -they would get get a dog, buy why?  What would they name the dog?  Help the students to write down their reasons.  Discuss the pet that the character in the book gets….(or do they get a pet?)  Talk about the ending of the book.  Take a class vote on which pet the characters go home with in the book.

Look and Listen for all the rhyming words in the book.  Make a list of each word with its rhymes.  If you did not pick up your free word family listening activity, make sure you get your free activity!

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