We recently took a trip to Grandma’s and she needed to stop by the pet store. This pet store was absolutely amazing! There were giant turtles roaming the store and all sorts of really fun animals. It was such a fun excursion that we decided to make a lesson out of it.

I had each of the girls pick out an animal to study. I took pictures of the animals and their scientific names.

When I got home, I created this Pet Store Zoology Lesson Pack that the girls could use to research and report on their animals. I wanted to make sure that there would be something in the pack that was appropriate for both ages – preschool and first grade. I think it is pretty easy to adapt the lesson to the different age groups – you can simplify or expand based on the child’s level.

This is definitely not meant to be an in depth scientific study of an animal species. However, I think it turned out to be a great lesson to introduce the study of animals, including the idea of attributes, habitat, and animal classifications to younger kids.

My preschooler was having some difficulty drawing her lizard, so we used this light box so she could trace it. I love this thing, it has so many applications. For this lesson, it really inspired confidence in my 4 year old, allowing her to draw something like a lizard and she was very excited about the results.

For my preschooler, I led her through the lesson and wrote some of the answers for her. I used the first page to also help her practice her handwriting by writing the words for her first in highlighter.

This is a great application of school outside of home or an easy field trip & lesson.  My girls really loved it. And when Daddy came home, Chloe gave a presentation on her Zoology lesson.

So the next time you’re planning a trip to the pet store or just want to take the kids out of the house for a fun zoology lesson, print out this lesson pack and let your kids explore the animal world.
Enjoy, and let me know how your kids liked it!