Bring in a pet to visit and you'll be giving the children a chance to learn in many different ways.

Materials:

• House pet
• Pet food
• Food and water dishes
• Typical things used to take care of a pet (such as a cage, fishbowl, brush or leash)

Directions:

Arrange to bring your (or a friend's) pet to school on a specific day. Show the pet and tell the children what you know about it, such as

• What kind of animal it is
• Why it is a good pet to have
• How it was named
• Whether it lays eggs or has live babies

Ask the children to help to help you take care of the pet. For example, they could help you

• Fill its water dish
• Feed it
• Play with it
• Walk with you as you take it for a walk
• Clean the place where it lives

Explain that it is important to take good care of pets because pets are dependent on people and need people to help them. Talk about the word responsibility and remind the children that one part of being responsible is taking care of a pet even when you might not feel like it. Ask if any of the children have a pet, and if they would like to tell you and the others about it. Ask them to describe their pet or, for those who don't have one, a pet they would like to have. You could ask questions like "Does it have long fur or short fur? How many legs does it have? Is it big or little? What do you (or would you) do to care for it? Where does it (or would it) sleep?

If the children seem ready for the responsibility, think about getting a class pet, such as fish or hamster, and help the children care for it throughout the school year.

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