Ciara has planned to play the cat. Hannah wants to be her owner.
Hannah helps Ciara to dress up. She puts on her lead and brings her to her food.
While Hannah gets more food prepared, Freya asks can she bring the cat for a walk. But the cat meows
at Maya and attempts to scratch her.
To expand on Ciara, Hannah, Maya and Freya’s learning we decided to introduce some animals during
circle time over the week. We asked the children to bring in their pets to visit.
We had Messi the terrapin who had a hard shell on top and a hard spotty one underneath and his claws
were sharp.
Sprinkles the cat who scratched and bit Mag
Minnie the dog who wore a scarf because it was cold and loved being petted and brought for a walk
around the room and Ben who liked to be given treats and
brushed.
Snowy the rabbit with his owner Shauna, (Keeva’s big sister) who showed us her project on rabbits.
Carlos the Hamster who came in his cage with all his slides and wheels. He liked to eat ham and sniff the
children with his twitchy nose but he was a little afraid of the cat!
The Veterinary Nurse, Sophie, then paid a visit and explained all about looking after pets. She told the
children all about sickness that animals get and all about fleas. She bandaged our play dog Lexie who
got his tail caught in the door of the car; she gave Lexie a pink bandage and a tablet to stop her being
sick and some medicine on the back of her neck for fleas. She listened to her heart and let all the
children have a turn using the stethoscope
We learned all about the different animals, we fed them, petted them, brought them for walks and
learned what to do when they were sick. We involved the children, their parents and siblings and the
community.
What an easy way to support a child’s learning linking to the themes of Aistear and the principles of
Síolta.