They say a dog is man’s best friend, but I think any type of pet would be a toddler’s best friend! Our pet math activities for preschoolers have parrots, bunnies, dogs, cats, hamsters, and more to help reinforce those foundational math skills. Each activity is easy to prep, and the guesswork is done for you. Read more about each activity and the pets that are included below!
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Pet Lesson Plans
Pet Feeding
Counting Sensory Bin
Some days, I think the best thing about being a pet owner is that they don’t complain about the food you give them!
Pets don’t negotiate for a different meal, different plate, or ask for more ketchup to add to… well, anything.
Your pet is simply pleased with the same meal day after day. Well, at least that’s what I tell myself. Toddlers, take notes!
All jokes aside, the pets in your math center need to be fed. Our Pet Feeding Sensory Bin is home to different animals that need different amounts of food.
Quickly create the sensory bin with dried black beans, small food bowls, and the printable counting cards for each pet.
Your preschoolers will love counting the “food” into each pet’s bowl for this hands-on sensory counting activity.
Materials:
- Pet Feeding Counting Activity
- sensory bin filled with dried black beans
- 4 food bowls
- scoops
Feed the Bunny
Non-Standard Measurement
Feed the Bunny is one of those activities that you’ll reach for again and again. It will quickly become a classroom favorite that your students will beg to revisit daily in your pet-themed math centers!
I don’t blame them, either. It’s hard to resist the adorable bunny printout with his mouth open wide, just waiting for his next meal.
For this activity, you will set up a bin with our printable bunny, measurement cards, and carrots. Add some snap cubes so each carrot can be built and measured before it is fed to the bunny.
Once those little fingers have snapped the perfect amount of cubes together, they have the perfect meal to feed the hungry bunny!
Materials:
- Feed the Bunny Non-Standard Measurement Activity
- bin or box
- Optional: dried peas
- snap cubes
Parrot Patterns
Pet Math Activities for Preschoolers
Patterns are everywhere in the world around us. In fact, experts say that babies as young as three months old start to notice patterns, though they don’t understand them quite yet.
It’s not until they are a little bit older that they start to understand patterns and are even able to create their own!
Our Parrot Patterns activity is vibrant and hands-on. Your little ones will stay engaged as they extend the patterns of the parrots’ feathers.
Use colorful clothespins with the printable parrots to engage your preschoolers’ fine motor skills as they extend the patterns to complete the parrots!
Materials:
Pet Shop Shapes
Shape Construction
Just the other day, I was thinking about how many different things our toddlers have to play with now compared to when I was a kid.
Lincoln Logs have been replaced with magnetic tiles, water beads, and so much more!
It’s no secret that toddlers love magnetic tiles and love to build things.
With that in mind, this Pet Shop Shape Construction activity is perfect for those little hands and imaginations.
Print out the animals in different size cages and gather your bin of magnetic tiles.
Then, it is your toddlers’ job to create different shaped cages to keep the animals from getting out! The magnetic tiles are perfect for keeping the animals in their cages.
Materials:
Pet Store Dramatic Play
Pet Math Activities for Preschoolers
Picking out the perfect pet is hard. Especially with the internet these days – you have instant access to thousands of animals at your fingertips that need loving homes.
Create a dramatic play pet store where your preschoolers can pick their perfect pet while reinforcing financial literacy skills.
With our little pet store, your preschoolers will use their “doggie dollars” to pay for their very own “pet” counter.
I set up this dramatic play pet store with a wooden box, but you can set your pet store up with anything that has compartments.
Print the doggie dollars, compartment backgrounds, store menu, and signs to set up your pet shop. Add animal-shaped counters to each compartment, and your pet store will be ready for business!
Materials:
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MORE Pet Activities for Preschoolers
Combining pets and math has never been so easy. Each of our math activities reinforces concepts that build foundational skills and is already prepped and planned for you. Just grab the extra materials listed, and your pet-themed math activities are ready to go!
