Whatever children's familiarity with different kinds of pets, a good starting point is to invite a pet owner and their pet to come to your setting to talk about their pets and to use the visit as an opportunity to focus on animal care and welfare.
Before the visit, ensure that everything the animal needs, including fresh water, is in place and that the children are clear about how to behave around the animal and hold it, if appropriate.
During the visit, explain to the children that pets are dependent on their owners to feed and care for them, and talk about animals' particular needs.
For example:
Hamsters are solitary and nocturnal. They should be picked up gently using both hands as a scoop. They need an exercise wheel. Their home needs cleaning every week. They eat seeds, fruit and vegetables.
Guinea pigs like to live in groups. It is best to have two brothers or two sisters. Lift them carefully with two hands supporting the back and the front. If long-haired, they need brushing every day. Their home needs cleaning every day. They eat hay, green vegetables and pellets, and drink water.
Cats like companionship - other cats or people. Pick them up with both hands, supporting the hind legs and the chest. As with all animals, they must be treated with gentleness and respect. Cats need feeding twice a day; they drink water. Longer-haired cats need grooming.
Dogs need regular exercise, grooming, proper training and lots of attention and companionship. They eat once or twice a day and need their own kennel or bed in a quiet corner of the main room.
Fish should be kept in groups. They should not be touched, but moved in a net. Their tank should be big enough to allow them to swim around, with a large surface area to let in oxygen and be kept clean and at the right temperature. Different fish need different kinds of food. Fish must not be overfed.
Rabbits like to be with another rabbit. Lift them with two hands, one supporting the hind legs. They need a large clean home. They can live in the house, like cats and dogs. They eat grass, pellets, apples, carrots and hay.
Role-play
* Put a 'pet' and resources for looking after it in the home corner. For example, provide a toy dog and tins of dog food, dog biscuits, a dog bowl, collar and lead, brush, basket and blanket and rubber bone or similar dog 'toys'. Encourage the children to feed, stroke and brush their dog, to give it a name, take it for walks and to talk about its needs.
* Talk about the role of the vet and set up a role-play veterinary surgery.
Provide props such as a white coat, surgeon's gown, nurse uniforms, toy animals, staff name badges, leaflets from a vet's surgery, first-aid boxes, an appointment diary and other appropriate equipment.
* Visit a pet shop or watch a short video clip about a pet shop, such as the Early Vision video (see Resources, pages 18-19). Set up a role-play pet shop with props such as a till and money, price tags, toy animals, and the various pet accessories - carriers, baskets, bean bag beds, bowls, toys, collars, leads, cages, plus empty pet food packets.
Extension ideas
* Share pet stories with the children, such as The Great Pet Sale by Mick Inkpen (Hodder Children's Books, 6.99), Six Dinner Sid by Inga Moore (Hodder Children's Books, 5.99) and My Cat likes to Hide in Boxes by Eve Sutton (Puffin Books, 6.99).
* Provide props for the children to retell the stories independently.
* Make a book of the children's pets; use speech bubbles for comments.
* Create a display of pets and encourage the children to paint or make models of them.
* Provide resources for the children to make pet homes. Introduce vocabulary such as hutch, kennel, cage, basket.
* Play 'Whose home?' in which players match pets and their homes (see Resources, pages 18-19).
* Design collars and coats for dogs.
