Our first week home from school, I let the little ones decide what theme we would be using for at-home learning. They chose pets. We have two dogs, Chloe and Maggie, which is probably why our Pets Week turned more into a Dog Week.
Pet Puppets:
We started pets week by digging out some paper bags from the kitchen. We used construction paper, googly eyes. and markers. But you can use anything on hand- crayons, pencils, even cut-up junk mail! If you don't have paper bags, just make these with your next CFA order! Take out meals come with lots of packaging (aka craft materials)!
Toddlers will need you to manipulate the puppets for them. They will be enthralled if the puppet reads a book to them or interacts with them. You can even make several pets and practice animal sounds, matching the right sound to the right puppet with your little one.
Preschoolers may need some assistance working their hand muscles to move their puppet. This is a great way to build the motor skills they will soon need to begin writing.
Older children can write and perform their own puppet show, making sure to organize their story into a beginning, middle, and end.
Measuring Pets:
The kids' favorite activity from pet week was measuring our pets. This can be done with stuffed animals just as, if not more, easily! Measuring with nonstandard units is a skill needed for young children to help them eventually understand the meaning of standardized units, like inches and meters.
We used Duplo Legos®, stacking tall towers of blocks as the dogs laid patiently on the ground. Other measuring units might include markers (attached cap-to-cap), crayons, or building blocks. Make sure you take time to practice careful counting and recording with your children, making groups of 10 whenever possible and listing each measurement on a piece of paper or your phone.
The next step involves some Christmas gift wrap. I don't know many families that have butcher paper lying around, but if you do, that works too. Remake your measured towers and let the children trace them vertically and horizontally. Then, see if the family can draw the pets to scale and hang your new life-sized mural.
More Ideas:
- If your child needs some spelling practice, many pet words are perfect CVC (consonant vowel consonant) words: pet, dog, cat, rat, bed, toy. Practice writing in rice for a sensory experience.
- Another fun way to incorporate science is to add baking to your week. We made these dog treats, and they were a big hit- with the dogs and the 4 year old!
- There are some great shows about pets! How Dogs Got Their Shapes was especially interesting!
- This lesson from Lindsay's Art Cart resulted in some FANTASTIC refrigerator artwork.
I hope you are able to try some of these fun activities! Please share your ideas and experiences! I can't wait to see what you make with your family!
@onhandfamilyfun
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