CHILD-INITIATED
Share Mick Inkpen's story of The Great Pet Sale, then set up a pet shop role-play area to encourage the children to find out more about taking care of pets.
Resources
The Great Pet Sale, toy animals, pet carriers, cardboard boxes such as shoeboxes (these should be stacked on their sides in order to create suitable housing for the animals), petfood boxes (make sure that these are spotlessly clean), cash register, money, blank price tags, pens, leaflets about pet care, vet telephone number.
Play suggestions
* Instigate a discussion with the children about their experiences of pets and pet shops. (Ideally, you should try to visit a real pet shop in your local area before setting up your own pets'
corner.)
* Introduce the resources to the children and talk about their purpose.
* Encourage the children to play in the area, where they can look after the animals and buy and/or sell them.
Possible learning outcomes
* Chooses to spend time in the pets area and explores the equipment.
* Plays co-operatively alongside other children in a small group.
* Talks about own pets and shares information about how they are fed, exercised and so on.
* Negotiates roles with others.
* Understands roles of, for example, a vet and a shopkeeper.
* Represents experiences and imaginative ideas through role-play.
* Shows an understanding of and sensitivity towards the needs of animals.
* Engages in discussion about moral issues such as keeping pets in small cages, leaving a dog in a house by itself all day, or the suitability of keeping particular animals as house pets.
* Questions prospective 'buyers' about their suitability as possible pet owners.
* Demonstrates an understanding of money as currency.
* Uses numbers in play - for example, by counting coins and making price tags.
* Understands that information can be found in leaflets and books.
2 For your information
ADULT-LED
Produce an information book about pets.
Planned learning intentions
To understand that information can be found in non-fiction texts
To use ICT apparatus to support learning
Adult:child ratio 1:2 (for compiling the book)
Resources
A camera (preferably a digital camera), access to a computer and printer, range of reading materials about pets and other animals (including information books and leaflets), card, glue sticks, pens, plastic pockets, treasury tags.
Activity content
* Talk with the children about their pets, or those of relatives or friends, and look through books and leaflets.
* If possible, lend the children the digital camera to take home and photograph their pets. If they do not have a pet of their own, encourage them to ask friends or family if they can photograph theirs. If it is not possible to lend the camera, ask parents to encourage their children to take photographs with their camera and to bring them in.
* Discuss the photographs with the children and ask them to stick the pictures on to the card 'pages'. Scribe the comments they make under headings such as 'food', 'bedding' and 'exercise'.
* Slot the pages into plastic pockets and join them together with treasury tags.
Stepping stones
Children with little experience will show interest in photographs and book illustrations and maybe relate these to their experiences. They will be curious about the camera and keen to explore it by pressing buttons and looking through the viewer.
Children with some experience will understand that information can be relayed in the form of print and may ask adults to read from books or leaflets. They will learn, with adult support, how to operate the camera and will understand that it can usefully be used to produce a visual record.
Children with more experience may attempt to read, or access information, from a book or leaflet using picture clues. They will make suggestions about the content of the setting's pet book and will use the camera more independently to record images for the book.
Extension ideas
* Photograph any favourite soft-toy 'pets' (see 'Puppy love', right) for inclusion in the book. This may be a particularly appropriate activity for those children without access to pets at home. It might also be possible to arrange to visit a local pet shop and to take photographs of animals there.
* Keep the book in the book area or in an appropriate role-play area, such as the pet shop, home corner or vet's surgery.
* Lend the book to families, particularly those who have recently acquired pets.
* Encourage children to use a camera to record other experiences or ideas.
3 Pop up
CHILD-INITIATED
Encourage children to look carefully at the lift-the-flap feature in The Great Pet Sale and to experiment with some similar designs of their own.
Resources
Card, paper, scissors, glue sticks, Sellotape and masking tape, pens and other mark-making tools, magazine pictures and photographs, The Great Pet Sale and preferably an assortment of similar lift-the-flap books.
Play suggestions
* Set up this activity in the technology workshop as the range of tools and other materials already available in this area will allow the children considerable scope for practical exploration of their imaginative ideas.
* Encourage children to look at and handle the lift-the-flap books with friends, examining how they work and guessing what might be underneath the flap.
* Provide a range of tools and materials and suggest that children make their own flap books or pages.
Possible learning outcomes
* Shows curiosity in the content of books.
* Talks about pictures, key characters and events in books.
* Tells familiar stories in own words.
* Makes up own stories.
* Uses own marks to represent ideas or experiences.
* Uses scissors effectively to cut a 'flap' shape or picture from a magazine.
* Experiments with joining and fixing techniques.
* Experiments with different designs.
* Modifies designs where necessary.
4 Puppy love
CHILD-INITIATED
The introduction of a new puppy or kitten (soft-toy variety) in the home corner is bound to excite children and will help them to develop a sense of responsibility.
Resources
Soft-toy puppy, basket, pet carrier, blanket, food and water bowls, collar, lead, pet toys, photographs of real puppies and dogs at various stages of development.
Play suggestions
* Introduce the puppy to the children and explain that it is young and needs care.
* Discuss the puppy's needs - for example, three meals a day, exercise and training. Talk about the need for rules and routines.
* Encourage children to include the puppy in their play and think about its daily care.
* Organise a rota for the children to take the puppy home, with its equipment, and to care for it overnight.
Possible learning outcomes
* Shows excitement and motivation to look after the puppy.
* Demonstrates an awareness of the needs of the puppy.
* Expresses feelings and concerns.
* In discussion with the group, agrees a name for the puppy.
* Negotiates roles and responsibilities.
* Agrees rules and behaviour expectations for the puppy with peers.
* Takes responsibility for aspects of the puppy's care on a daily, or regular, basis.
* Develops a sense of time.
* Talks about the changes in puppies as they develop into full-grown dogs.
* Explains about the puppy's needs, likes and dislikes to others.
