Lesson Plans

Include your pet in your curriculum

It's easy to incorporate your small animal into your everyday teaching. The following lesson plans, appropriate for grades K-6, were developed by experienced teachers who know kids and small animals. Get more ideas in the lesson plan exchange section and our teachers' forum.

Fur, Feathers, and Scales

With this science lesson plan, students will be able to place animals into groups based on their physical characteristics and body coverings. For grades K-2.

Animal Needs

With this science lesson plan, students will be able to discover what animals need to survive. For grades K-2.

Burrows Around the World

With this social studies and science lesson plan, students will be able to discover how some animals live in burrows and locate places on a map where burrowing animals live. For grades K-2.

10 Minutes to Bedtime

With this math lesson plan, students will be able to count 1 to 20 and do simple addition and subtraction problems. For grades K-2.

Tiny or Big

With this math lesson plan, students will be able to compare and estimate weights of familiar objects in relation to the classroom pet. For grades K-2.

Measure Up!

With this math lesson plan, students compare their body parts with those of their pet's for a fun and memorable learning experience. For grades K-2.

The Family Picnic

With this language arts, social studies, and visual arts lesson plan, students will be able to create a story about a make-believe animal family. (Suggestions - Harvey Hamster, Gigi Gerbil, George Guinea Pig) For grades K-2.

The Shape of Me

With this language arts and visual arts lesson plan, students will be able to create a book about the classroom pet. For grades K-2.

10 Minutes to Bedtime

With this language arts and visual arts lesson plan, students will be able to create their own story about the hamsters from the 10-Minutes to Bedtime book. For grades K-2.

Hamster Parts

With this language arts lesson plan, students identify classroom pet body parts and discuss why they are different than a person's. For grades K-2.

Fluffy Comparison

With this language arts lesson plan, students use a Venn Diagram to compare their classroom pet to one from a book, Fluffy Goes To School. For grades K-2.

The Furry Family

With this social studies and drama lesson plan, students will be able to create a puppet show for a furry family of stuffed animals about a special day. For grades K-2.

Class Pet Art

With this art lesson plan, students use natural materials to assemble artwork of their classroom pet. For grades 3-5.

Pet Poem

With this language arts lesson plan, students work together to create a poem about their classroom pet. For grades 3-5.

Animal Match-Up

With this social studies and drama lesson plan, students use different means to connect with other students of the same animal type. For grades 3-5.

Join The Group

With this social studies and drama lesson plan, students act out different animal types and discuss how it feels to be in, and left out of, a group. For grades 2-5.

The Perfect Environment

With this social studies and drama lesson plan, students compare the differences in an animal's wildlife environment versus its life as a pet. For grades 3-5.

The Perfect Environment, Part 2

With this social studies and drama lesson plan, students evaluate how an animal's needs change as the seasons change. For grades 3-5.

'Tis A Puzzlement!

With this social studies lesson plan, students assemble puzzles but soon discover an odd piece that makes them solve an even larger challenge. For grades 3-5.