Pet shop

NEW! Interactive planning-Pet shop

(Open interactive planning-Pet shop) Print and use the document to present activities related to the theme for your group. 

CIRCLE TIME

NEW! A treasure hunt to discover the them

(Open educa-decorate-Pet shop) Print and laminate. Set the illustrations on items throughout your daycare. Invite children to search for them and bring them back to you. As a group, name the various elements. Encourage children to try to guess which theme you will be exploring.  

AREA SETUP

NEW! Thematic poster-Pet shop

(Open thematic poster-Pet shop) Print, laminate, and display the poster where parents are sure to see it.

NEW! Educa-theme-Pet shop

(Open educa-theme-Pet shop) Print and laminate the different elements representing the theme. The items can be used to present the theme to children (and their parents) or simply to decorate your daycare for the theme.

NEW! Educa-decorate-Pet shop
(Open educa-decorate-Pet shop) Print, laminate, and cut out the items. Use them to decorate your daycare walls and set the mood for the theme.

NEW! Playhouse turned into a dog house

If you have a playhouse, transform it to represent a dog house for the duration of the theme. Cut an irregular shape out of a large piece of brown cardboard and write “Woof” on it. Glue this sign over the dog house door. Set a large stuffed dog inside your dog house. Add a water bowl and a dog food bowl. Don’t forget to include a few dog toys that can safely be  manipulated by the children in your group (ball, plastic bone, etc.).  Some children will have fun pretending they are a dog. Others will simply enjoy playing with and caring for your stuffed dog.

NEW! Garland-Pet shop

(Open garland-Pet shop) Print the elements and invite children to decorate them. Cut them out and hang them within your daycare or over your daycare entrance in the form of a garland.  

NEW! My floor-Pet shop

(Open educa-decorate-Pet shop) Print the items and have children color and decorate the animals. Cut them out and press them on the floor using adhesive paper to delimit various areas within your daycare, to create a path that leads from one area to the next, or simply to decorate your daycare per the theme.  

PICTURE GAME

NEW! The pictures may be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with the group. Use them to decorate the daycare or a specific thematic corner. (Open picture game-Pet shop) Print, laminate, and store in a "Ziploc" bag or in your thematic bins.

ACTIVITY SHEETS AND WRITING ACTIVITIES

NEW! Activity sheet-Pet shop

Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheets-Pet shop) 

NEW! Writing activity-P like Pet shop

(Open writing activities-P like Pet shop) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

NEW! Word flashcards-Pet shop

The flashcards may be used during circle time to spark a conversation or in your reading and writing area. They may also be used to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Pet shop) (Open giant word flashcards-Pet shop) Print. cage, aquarium, dog food, perch, fish, hamster, dog, cat, budgie, litter box, collar, grooming. 

Sequential story
(Open sequential story-Pets) Print the story, laminate the illustrations, and cut them out. Children arrange the illustrations in the correct order.  

NEW! Educa-chatterbox-Pet shop

(Open educa-chatterbox-Pet shop) Print, laminate, and cut out the cards. Decorate a shoebox and set the cards as well as a variety of small items related to the theme inside it. During circle time or, for example, when children are waiting for lunch to be served, have them pick one card or item out of your chatterbox at a time and encourage them to name the item and tell you what they know about it. 

NEW! Let’s chat

Print and laminate the word flashcards. Invite each child to pick a word flashcard. They can take turns presenting their item to the group. Discuss each item. Ask children questions to foster conversation.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

NEW! Modeling dough activity placemats-Pet shop

(Open modeling dough activity placemats-Pet shop) Print and laminate. Let children pick a placemat and provide modeling dough. Encourage them to use the dough to fill or reproduce the shapes that are on their placemat.

NEW! Cutting exercise-Pet shop

(Open cutting exercise-Pet shop) Print several copies and cut out the strips containing paw prints. Give each child one strip along with safety scissors. Children take turns rolling a die, counting the dots, and cutting the corresponding number of paw prints. For example, if a child rolls a “3”, he could cut out 3 individual paw prints or cut out a section containing 3 paw prints. The first child that has no more paw prints to cut will be the winner of the game.

NEW! String activities-Pet shop

(Open string activities-Pet shop) Print for each child. Children trace the outlines using white glue and then position string along the same lines.  

NEW! Pet hunt

(Open small animals) Print, cut out, and laminate. Disperse the animals throughout your daycare. This pet hunt can also be organized outdoors, by setting the small animals throughout your yard. Children search for the animals and set them in a net or shovel as they find them. 

NEW! I am inventing my pet

(Open I am inventing my pet) Print, laminate, and cut each pet in half. Set the pieces on a table and invite children to create their pet by assembling a head and body. They don’t necessarily have to use a head and body that go together.

NEW! Let’s feed the fish

Set 2 stuffed fish on the floor, a few feet away from the children in your group. Deposit a hula hoop around each fish to represent a fishbowl. Divide your group into 2 teams. Give both teams the same number of bean bags. If possible, glue a picture of fish food on each bean bag to make the game more realistic. Children attempt to toss the bean bags inside their team’s hula hoop/fishbowl to “feed” their fish. The team that has the most fish food inside their fishbowl wins.

NEW! Lacing-Pet shop

(Open lacing-Pet shop)  Print, laminate, cut out the items and use a hole-punch to make holes all the way around the contour of each one. Set shoelaces or ribbons on the table and encourage children to lace the pets.

NEW! Feather target game
Set a large bowl on the floor. Give each child a few feathers. Ask them to stand directly over the bowl and drop one feather at a time from shoulder height. Count the feathers that land in the bowl. After a few attempts, replace the bowl with a smaller one to increase the level of difficulty.

NEW! The kittens and the balls of yarn

Give each kitten (child) a ball of yarn. Encourage them to roll their ball of yarn around the daycare, around furniture items, toys, and other obstacles that are in their path using their “paws”. 

NEW! Pretending we’re cats
Using yarn, draw a path on your daycare floor. Invite children to sit in a row and observe the path before having them take turns attempting to complete the obstacle course, crawling on all fours. Once they have all completed the course from start to finish, set tiny bowls filled with milk under a table at the end of the course. For the second round, when children reach the end of the course, they can drink their milk, lapping it up with their tongue just as a cat would do.

NEW! Playful cats

Lay newspaper on the floor. Encourage children to play with the paper, crumple it, and toss the balls of paper, pretending they are playful cats.

NEW! Puppy hide and seek

Children take turns digging a hole in your sandbox or sand table to hide a bone (or other object). Provide small shovels that the other children can use to dig in the sand to find the bone. The child who finds it can hide it for the next round.

NEW! Musical pets

Play music and encourage children to dance around your daycare. When you stop the music, show children a picture of a pet. They must pretend to be the illustrated animal (sound and actions) momentarily. When the music resumes, children begin dancing again. Every time the music stops, there is a new pet to imitate.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

NEW! sorting and counting

(Open animal sorting and counting) Print, laminate, and cut out the pets. Glue each one on a Popsicle stick. Use modeling dough to represent a pet bed for each child. Assign a different color to each child. Have them find all the pets of the corresponding color and insert them in their pet bed in numerical order. If you wish, you could hide the pets throughout your daycare and have children search for the animals corresponding to the color you assigned them. Once they have found all their animals, they can arrange them in numerical order by pressing them in their pet bed.

NEW! I am counting dog treats

(Open game-Dog treats) Print, laminate, and cut out the dog. Also cut out the dog’s mouth and glue it over the opening in an empty tissue box. Print, laminate, and cut out the dog treats and the playing cards. Children take turns picking a card and feeding the dog the correct number of dog treats.

NEW! Pet shop or not

(Open pet shop or not) Print for each child. Have them cut out the animals and glue them in the correct frame, depending on whether they can or cannot be found at a pet shop.  

NEW! Educ-associate-Pet shop and shapes

(Open educ-associate-Pet shop and shapes) Print the pets and muzzles. Children must associate each muzzle to the correct pet, per their shape. Once they have found a match, they glue the muzzle on the pet.

NEW! Counting cards-Pet shop

(Open counting cards-Pet shop) Print and laminate. Prepare a series of wooden clothespins on which you have painted or written numbers 1 to 9. Children count the items on each card and press the clothespin with the corresponding number on it.

NEW! My feathery budgie

(Open my feathery budgie) Print and laminate. Set a large bowl containing feathers on the floor in front of your group. Children must count and glue the correct number of feathers on each budgie, per the number printed on each bird.  

NEW! Paw print patterns

(Open paw print patterns) Print, laminate, and cut out the paw prints. Press an adhesive magnet behind each one. Print, laminate, and cut out the playing cards. Give each child a metal muffin tin and have them place it vertically in front of them, upside down. Children pick a card and reproduce the illustrated pattern by pressing paw prints on the underside of their muffin tin.

NEW! Word game-Pet shop

(Open word game-Pet shop) Print the different dogs and cut them into pieces by cutting along the dotted lines. Children assemble the pieces of the corresponding color, arranging the letters in the correct order to write words. They can use the theme’s word flashcards as models to write the words correctly.

NEW! Color by number-Pet shop

(Open color by number-Pet shop) Print for each child. Children must color the picture per the legend. 

NEW! Educ-math-Pet shop
(Open educ-math-Pet shop) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must count the pets in each rectangle and circle the correct number.  

NEW! I count the fish

(Open I count the fish) Print several copies. Children pick a card, count the fish, and add the correct number of “Goldfish” crackers in the aquarium.

NEW! Educ-reproduce-Pet shop

(Open educ-reproduce-Pet shop) Children pick a card, name what they see, mentioning as many details as possible, and reproduce the pet shop scene using the various elements.

NEW! Educ-pairs-Pet shop

(Open educ-pairs-Pet shop) Print. Children must draw a line to connect identical items or color them using the same color. For durable, eco-friendly use, laminate for use with dry-erase markers. 

NEW! Educ-trace-Pet shop

(Open educ-trace-Pet shop) Print for each child. Children must trace the lines using crayons of the corresponding colors and then color the item at the end of each line using the same color.

NEW! Educ-differences-Pet shop

(Open educ-differences-Pet shop) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must find and circle the indicated number of differences between the 2 pictures using a dry-erase marker.   

NEW! Animal dominoes
(Open dominoes-Animals) Print the dominoes and glue them on cardboard before laminating them and cutting them out. This game is for 2 to 4 players. Have each child pick 5 dominoes. Stack the remaining dominoes on the table. Set one domino in the center of the playing surface. The first player tries to set a domino next to the first one, pressing identical items together. The second child does the same, matching an item to a domino at one end of the sequence, and so on. If a player cannot add a domino because none of the items match, he must pick a card from the stack. If this domino cannot be played, his turn is over. The game ends when a player has no more dominoes.  

Hunt and seek
(Open hunt and seek-Pets) Print and laminate. Children pick a card and search for the item in the scene.

Who lives where?
Set several animals in front of your group and have them sort them per their habitat. Use this activity to teach children about the difference between pets and wild animals. (Open game-Habitat pets)

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

NEW! Role play-Pet shop

(Open role play-Pet shop) Print and laminate the various nametags and slide each one on a ribbon so that children can wear them around their neck. Distribute the nametags among the children in your group to assign various roles. Print and laminate the labels containing animals, pet food, toys, etc. Press them on items throughout your daycare using adhesive putty. Create displays containing items that will be for sale in your pet shop. Provide play money that children can use to pay for their purchases. Simply have fun pretending to be pet shop customers or employees.

NEW! Let’s clean the litter box

Fill a plastic bin with cat litter and hide a few cotton balls in it. Provide a litter box shovel. Children take turns removing 10 cotton balls from the litter box using the shovel, making sure that they allow the litter to seep through the openings in the shovel so that it remains in the bin and only the cotton balls (which will represent cat feces) are removed. The other children count the cotton balls as they are extracted from the litter box. Time children to see who completes the challenge the fastest. Next, repeat the exercise, blindfolding children. Encourage them to listen to their peers’ instructions so that they can successfully remove the cat feces from the bin without seeing what they are doing.

NEW! My neighborhood pet shop

Organize a visit of your neighborhood pet shop. Children will love seeing different animals and learn so much during this outing!

ARTS & CRAFTS

NEW! My pet shop hat
(Open hat-Pet shop) Print and cut out the items. Invite children to glue cotton balls all over their hat before adding the picture of the dog they prefer on the front of their hat.  

NEW! Finger puppets-Pet shop

(Open finger puppets-Pet shop) Print the different puppet models on heavy paper or cardboard. Have children cut them out. Show them how they can insert their fingers in the holes to bring the puppets to life.

NEW! My giant aquarium

Press 4 large pieces of blue cardboard on a wall. During arts & crafts activities throughout the theme, invite children to add various elements to  your aquarium (drawings, pictures, illustrations, crafts, etc.).

NEW! Cat and dog tags
(Open pet tags) Print and cut out. Children color and decorate their tag. When they are done, they can slide it on a ribbon that can then be tied around a stuffed animal’s neck.  

NEW! Mysterious pets

Encourage each child to invent their very own pet using a variety of arts & crafts materials: modeling dough, salt dough, feathers, buttons, pipe cleaners, glitter, scraps of cardboard, tissue paper, etc.  

COLORING PAGES

NEW! (Open coloring pages-Pet shop) Print for each child.