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| Some of our resident pets... Cutting up recycled magazines or catalogs can be a great way to make "shavings" for tanks and cages. Even recycled cardboard tubes or collected rocks and stones make great accessories and recycled containers can make great food dishes |
Ok, to be totally honest, we're not exactly "pet people" here. We just said so long to the last of our pet goldfish, may it rest in peace, whatever its name was... We love the idea of having a fish or something similar to teach a little bit about caring for another living being and the responsibilities that go along with it. The boys do love looking at the fish and we will likely get a new fish pretty soon. The boys love visiting zoos, farms and even pet stores to see animals. S is rather afraid of dogs and cats outside, but is equally curious about them. He and Y both love playing doctor and having a veterinary center in our play area seemed like a good combo!
I had some help and inspiration from these great resources by Pocket of Preschool:
I love using credits and taking advantage of sales on teacherspayteachers.com to support other educators while saving myself some time and energy here as I set up play and learning experiences. You certainly don't need these materials to set up your own Vet & Pet Dramatic Play center at home or in your classroom, but it's a great way to gain ideas, inspiration, supplemental activities and a variety of great printable resources to encourage reading, writing, math and organization.
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| A closer peek at our play area |
In addition to the above resources, I included the following in our Vet & Pet Center:
- plush and plastic toy animals such as fish, turtles, frogs, lizards, dogs, cats, snakes, spiders, rabbits, mice, birds, etc.
- plastic shoeboxes and a critter cage we had at home for pet cages/tanks
- recycled catalogs for cutting "shavings" for the bottom of pet tanks (and now my boys will NEVER see the Amazon toy catalog! Phew!)
- rocks, sea glass, gravel, stones and mosaic tiles we had for our "fish" tank
- toy doctor tools
- a real stethoscope
- a scale (we have a kids' scale from Learning Resources, but you can make a pretend one from cardboard, use a bathroom scale or even a food/kitchen scale)
- a toy pet carrier we got as a Chanukah gift, but you can make one from a cardboard box or recycled shoe box
- recycled containers with lids and empty pill containers with labels covered/removed for pretend food and medicine
- I bought some food dishes, brushes, leashes, and collars from The Dollar Tree
- Scrubs/lab coat we had in our dress up bin (both purchased secondhand from a thrift store)
- toy cash register, toy money, toy walkie talkies
- towel, sponges, empty spray bottle, toy scissors, brushes for the grooming station (and even a hose on our toy kitchen sink made from recycled durable medical equipment)
- pencils, pens, clip boards, dry erase markers, notepads, receipt book and printed appointment reminder cards I made for writing
- crepe paper for making bandages, bandaids, cotton swabs, large wooden craft sticks for tongue depressors, toothbrushes, cotton balls, disposable gloves and pipettes for medicine droppers (I raided our medicine closet and craft supplies)
- pompoms for "food" and a scoop--I store these loose in one of our drawers for easy access and the boys bring over containers and food dishes to fill
- books about pets from our local library
- a couple of dollar store calendars with great photos of pets
- transparency paper for printing pet x-rays and light table (optional)
You don't need all of this! You can use what you have and what you can easily and inexpensively get. The only new items I bought were all from the Dollar Tree pet aisle and everything else we already had or it came from my recycling bin.
I love incorporating writing opportunities into our dramatic play, particularly for my early writer. The printable appointment book and groomer check list from the resources listed above are great for this. I also made appointment reminder cards and stuck a blank receipt book and sticky note pad to our toy cash register with double sided tape There's even a role of stickers, because if we like getting a sticker after a check up or hair cut, probably our toy pets will, too! In addition, peeling and sticking stickers and using pens and pencils for doodling are ways that Y can work on the fine motor skills necessary for writing when he's older.
We included a waiting room area and small pet store in our Vet & Pet Center. A plastic lap desk makes for the perfect exam table or grooming table. Some collected supplies from our actual medicine cabinet (like bandaids, cotton balls and swabs, and disposable gloves are a fun and realistic addition for our veterinarians on staff. Crepe paper rolls are perfect for cutting or tearing bandages. We happened to be out of white, so green it is! The boys were especially fascinated by using our light panel to view the "real" x-rays I printed onto transparency paper from the vet dramatic play set I linked at the top of the post. You can probably find images for free and even regular printer paper is generally thin enough to make a great x-ray--especially if you use the cheaper quality!
Well, I am dog tired after setting this all up! I think it will keep us busy at play here for a while. We will be back later this week with more winter themed story stretcher fun and a great multi-day process art activity that is fun for the whole family! Until then...
Happy Playing!
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