So, did you give your pet(s) some extra love earlier this week? Officially, February 20th is Love Your Pet Day. However if you have a pet or two or three, you know Love Your Pet Day is every day—even when your beloved pooch helps herself to a loaf of bread left on the kitchen counter or your sweet kitty sinks her super-sharp claws into your brand new sweater.
My best friend teaches fourth grade and she always has a tale or two about the class pets her next-door teaching colleague and friend keeps. This year he has baby turtles, which she describes as adorable. This was not how she described the hissing cockroaches or the escape-artist crayfish from previous years. Fortunately the hissers stayed put. The crayfish, on the other hand, was quite the escape artist. Cleverly, the crustacean waited until the room was quiet. Then, quite skillfully, it crept out of its tank. Its first exploration was aborted by a savage scream from the teacher across the hall. Later escapes became more commonplace. Eventually a tight-fitting lid kept the crayfish corralled.
The next time you’re in need of a pet-themed worksheet, center, game, or activity, be sure to visit themailbox.com. You’ll find bunches of options. A “pet” search yields over 300 choices! You can also search by a specific type of pet; though I can’t guarantee a plethora of results for hissing cockroaches or crayfish.
Who has a pet story to share? I’m all ears!
Diane
PS: Our pal Peppa Pig has super-cute activities for teaching students about empathy–plus some very cool prizes for teachers. Take a peek here.
I have three dogs Autumn is 10, Bear is 5, & Buddy is 1. All three girls are rescued dogs. Buddy was abandoned on the side of the road near my home when she was only six months old. She’s full of energy and very mischievous. We play a game Momma gonna get you. I chase her around my bedroom and she goes over and under the bed running away from me. sometimes I’m working on my computer and she’ll just start running over and under the bed telling me she’s ready to play. Afterwards we both snuggle up under the covers and take a nap. There is never a dull moment in my house with three girls around.
Sir Bentley is my nearly 4 year old Newfoundland who has as much energy as my class of 6 year olds. Whenever I need a story or a character for a word problem, Sir Bentley is my go to. The kids love to hear about his antics both inside and outside of the house.
Diane Badden, thank you for this post. Its very inspiring.