Pet Themed Centers and Activities

Ready for a fun week of learning and playing with some pet themed centers and activities?

These pet centers and activities make planning a pet themed week a breeze!

My favorite way to start a new theme is to pull out books all about the topic. Here are a few of my favorite PET themed books for preschoolers.

Lola Gets a Cat by Anna McQuinn

Little Kids First Big Book of Pets by Catherine D. Hughes

Just Me and My Puppy by Mercer Mayer

Now that you have a few books out and ready to read this week it’s time to pull out the pet themed math and literacy centers. Yay!

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Take a peek at these hands-on and engaging pet themed centers and activities for preschool and pre-k aged children.

Do your kiddos love cats and dogs? If so, they will enjoy practicing their 2D shapes with this simple center. Simply cut out the puzzles and toss in a “dog food” dried bean sensory bin. Invite your child to pick a dog shape card, name it, then find its matching cat shape.

DOGGY TREAT COUNT

Head to your local dollar tree and grab a box of dog bones for this fun math center! In this center children will pick a number card then count and add that many bones to the mat.

Kitten Play Patterns

Here is a fun kitten themed center for working on patterns. In this math center children will pick a cat card and say aloud the color pattern. They then can use tongs and pom poms to create the pattern on their own.

FISH BOWL NUMBERS

Looking for a fun way to work on number recognition and formation? This fish bowl themed center activity can be played two ways. First, you can set the number cards in a play fish bowl, then have your child pick a card and cover that same number on the mat. Or second, you can give your child the tracing recording sheet and have them pick a number then trace it.

PET SHOP MEASUREMENT

I can’t get over how cute this clip art is and was so excited to create a fun measurement center using it. This center activity focuses on nonstandard measurement so grab your favorite measurement tool (snap cubes, mini erasers, Goldfish crackers, etc.) and practice measuring each item by laying the objects end to end to tell how many.

ROLL & COVER

Man, I love a simple print and go center like this! For this one simply print one of the included number mats then pair with a dice and small objects for covering. Roll the die, identify the number, and cover. Keep playing until all numbers are covered.

LITERACY PET THEMED CENTERS

PET TRACING STRIPS

Tracing strips are great for using in morning bins or setting out on a learning shelf. Littles can pick a strip, then trace or outline the lines with mini erasers. In this activity I included both pre-writing lines and pet word cards.

LETTER CARROTS

This literacy center focuses on practicing upper and lowercase letter recognition. Pick a bunny card, identify the letter then cover each matching letter.

DOG HOUSE SYLLABLES

Are you working on syllables? Syllable practice can be done anytime, but it’s always fun to have a matching themed center to go along with your unit. For this activity have your child pick a dog card, say aloud the picture name, then clap to count the number of syllables each word has and sort it by how many.

BEGINNING SOUND CLIP CARDS

Set out these clip cards and have fun building fine motor skills while working on beginning sound recognition.

REPTILE RHYMES

I’m personally not a fan of reptile pets, but I know many people are so here is a fun reptile themed rhyming center. This activity focuses on your child’s ability to distinguish if two words rhyme or not.

PET THEMED WRITING TRAY

Use this fun cat letter and number cards to set up a kitty litter themed writing tray! To create this tray simple pour some table salt in a Ziplock bag and add a few drops of food dye to it. Shake then let dry and pour in a shallow dish. Pair with the letter or number cards so your child can practice letter and number formation.

Did you know there are many other fun ways to use letter cards? How about hiding them around the house and have your child find and place them in ABC order? Or what about tossing the letter cards in a bag and having your child pick one out of the bag and trace.

EVEN MORE CENTER & ACTIVITY FUN!

ADOPT A PET DRAMATIC PLAY

Ready to set up your very on simple dramatic play “Adopt a Pet” center? In this resource I’ve included a sheet that gives some hands-on ideas for how to set up a simple adopt a pet center using the included print outs, a few stuffed pet animal toys, and some simple craft supplies.

PET HOME MATCH PUZZLES

If you’re chatting about pets don’t forget to talk all about how to take care of different pets. Chat about what responsibilities are included in having a pet like what is needed for them and how to care for each. These fun pet home matching puzzles are great for discussing different types of pet homes.

FINE MOTOR SNAKE

I always like to include additional hands-on activity ideas to my center packs because I believe it’s good to have a mix of all activity types. For this fine motor snake activity you’ll need pipe cleaners, pony beads, and google eyes. Start by having your child thread beads on a pipe cleaner once full bend one end of the pipe cleaner to form a snake head. Use hot glue to add google eyes to the head. You can also glue a red paper tongue if you’d like too. Bend the snake body and TADAA!!!! You have yourself a fine motor snake.

PET PUPPET STICKS

I don’t know about your kids but mine love stick puppets. In this resource I’ve included some fun color and cut pet pictures that are perfect for creating stick puppets with!

Seriously, I can’t get over how ADORABLE this pet pack is! I’m loving all the engaging centers and hands-on ideas. I didn’t even share the fun play dough mats, STEM idea suggestion, or Kitty Cat Craft Idea! You’ve got to go check out the full listing!

CHECK IT OUT: Pre-K Pet Themed Centers and Activities

This pet themed centers and activities pack includes math and literacy centers, hands-on ideas, and just print printables! It’s sure to have a TON of ideas that you can add to your pet themed learning plans. Can’t wait to hear what you think.