Free Family & Pets Preschool Lesson Plans
Looking for free preschool lesson plans for homeschool preschool? These free family and pets preschool lesson plans are perfect for celebrating your family dynamic! With over 16 hands-on activities, this free download of ideas is a great beginning-of-the-year theme!
Free Preschool Lesson Plans for Homeschool Preschool & Classroom
My Family & Pets themed Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans will take your preschooler on a special journey to learn all about the things that make his or her own family special, including all the pets (or wannabe pets) that also make our families and homes unique.
Family preschool activities are such a great way to help children recognize the value and importance of families in their lives and to make connections with other children. Since many families have pets at home, it’s only natural that we include our animal friends as part of our families! We have included pet-themed preschool activities to engage with too!
What are Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans?
The Learn at Home Preschool Lesson Plans are free lesson plans you can use to teach your preschooler at home.
All the preschool learning activities are quick and easy to set up, designed to save time, requiring hardly any (if any at all) prep and only requires the most basic of household materials. This makes them especially easy for parents to implement…and this makes preschool teachers especially happy, too!
Just glance over the lessons each day, gather the very few materials needed, and you’re ready to go!
But don’t be fooled by the name “at home” preschool lesson plans! These activities work wonderfully in the classroom as well, and if you’re a preschool teacher who is remotely teaching you can send these lesson plans to your student’s parents.
Important Info About These Family & Pets Lesson Plans
The Learn at Home Preschool Lesson Plans are free lesson plans you can use to teach your preschooler at home.
All the preschool learning activities are quick and easy to set up, designed to save time, requiring hardly any (if any at all) prep and only requires the most basic of household materials. This makes them especially easy for parents to implement…and this makes preschool teachers especially happy, too!
Just glance over the lessons each day, gather the very few materials needed, and you’re ready to go!
But don’t be fooled by the name “at home” preschool lesson plans! These activities work wonderfully in the classroom as well, and if you’re a preschool teacher who is remotely teaching you can send these lesson plans to your student’s parents.
This set of Family & Pets themed activities is just one of 40+ themes that will be published over the next year.
And you read that correctly: these activities are not just Family & Pets activities for preschoolers; they also offer a variety of ways to celebrate each preschooler’s individual family and the pets they have, too.
-
Product on sale* Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans BundleOriginal price was: $60.00.$22.00Current price is: $22.00.
Literacy Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
Family Photo Album – Find some photos of family members and add them to a photo album. Make written labels together of each family member’s name and include something that each person likes. Write the names clearly and then have your preschooler trace the name, too. Think of foods, games, clothes, or colors to help your preschooler identify individual favorites. These are important details because oftentimes families identify themselves by their favorite things. “Our family plays baseball,” or “Our family likes to crank up the music and dance!”
Family Time – Invite your preschooler to discuss the things you do as a family. This could include morning or bedtime routines, making treats in the kitchen, playing games, or even a car trip or vacation. Encourage your preschooler to share descriptions. Use this time to create a book or a list of something special your family does together. Invite your preschooler to draw detailed, realistic pictures and add in the sounds for the words he or she hears. Make the book as simple or as complex as you like!
Don’t Forget to Add Family & Pets High-Quality Picture Books!
Every preschool theme should include amazing literature for read-alouds and circle time. Check out our favorite family and pets themed preschool books below.
Math and Science Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
5 Clean and Squeaky Pigs – Some families have pigs for pets! Build counting skills with this adorable piggie song and chant. The repetitive and rhyming verses continue on as we watch these clean and squeaky pet pigs get very muddy!
How Many in Your Family?– Using the photos from a photo album, count all the people that make up your family. How many moms? How many grandparents? How many pets are in your family? Include anyone who is important to your preschooler. You can do just immediate family, or you can include large extended family members in a family tree.
Research a New Pet – Help your preschooler choose an unusual pet to learn more about. Perhaps a spider or a snake? Do some research either through books or the internet to find out what it takes to care for an unusual pet. How big will it grow? Does it prefer to live inside or outside? How long could the pet live?
Playful Learning Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
Magazine Art – Invite your preschooler to flip through a magazine and find images of pets. Be creative and consider various kinds of pets including spiders, turtles, snakes, and mice. If preferred, they can cut out the pets and use it to create an art activity. If you don’t have access to a magazine, help your preschooler get ideas by using the internet. ***Please remember that young children should always be supervised while online.***
Pretend to be a Pet – Invite your preschooler to be a pet animal and assign a family member to take care of the pet. Encourage your preschooler to make the animal sounds, lap water out of a bowl, and get pet snuggles!
Create in the Kitchen – Get together with a family member and make some homemade playdough. Mixing, measuring, and adding in colors is so exciting to preschoolers, so try mixing colors to make new colors! Can your preschooler use the play dough to make a special pet? Challenge your preschooler to roll a snake or show your preschooler how to make something more complex like a cat or horse.
Social-Emotional Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
Random Act of Kindness – Invite your preschooler to choose a family member and brainstorm how to do something nice for them with no expectation of anything in return. Help your preschooler think of kind things they could do or create for that family member. Perhaps your preschooler could write a thank-you note, take their pet on a walk, or make a special care package full of special favorites. Encourage these acts periodically to model how giving to others is the best feeling. Make it a family-themed activity and devote time to kindness!
Pets Have Feelings Too! – Invite your preschooler to share the feelings that we experience throughout the day. Now encourage your preschooler to question: do animals/pets have feelings too? What makes animals feel happy? What makes animals feel sad or mad? Use magazines, books, or images from the internet to find photos or illustrations of animals that depict their feelings. Invite your preschooler to share how they can make their own pets or a future pet feel happy, excited, or loved.
-
Product on sale* Learn At Home Preschool Lesson Plans BundleOriginal price was: $60.00.$22.00Current price is: $22.00.
Just Plain Fun Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
Dramatic Play Veterinarian Clinic – Invite your preschooler to create a clinic for their stuffed animals including dogs and cats. Encourage your preschooler to label signs for the clinic and round up some supplies like bandages, a bed to rest in, and pretend food and water. Create a bed by gathering blankets for sick animals. Encourage your preschooler to feed the dog, use pretend dog bones, and care for their patients.
Pet Photos –Invite your preschooler to take photos of your pet(s) or pets in the neighborhood. Or go to your local pet store and spot some interesting animals! Once your preschooler has a collection of photos (maybe even on an adult’s phone), spend some time scrolling through the photos and talking about what they found interesting about that particular pet.
Draw a Pet – Draw a portrait with your pet and your family members. No pet? Invite your preschooler to draw the pet he or she wishes they had.
Get Online Activities for a Family and Pets Theme
Online Story – Go to YouTube and listen to the book “Some Pets” by Angela Ditterliza. Discuss the many types of pets spotted in this story. Ask your preschooler to share which pet they would choose and why. What things would that pet need to be happy and comfortable?
Family Fingerplay – Engage your preschooler with this catchy fingerplay about the members of our families. With its catchy tune, this fingerplay helps preschoolers correctly identify the names of family members.
We Are a Family – Listen to this lovely song about families of all shapes and sizes by Jack Hartmann. Bonus points if you teach your preschooler some of the sign language from the song, too! That’s a great gross motor activity!
Make Your Family and Pet Theme Even Better!
Sometimes adding additional themed items creates excitement and interest in the new theme. These are some of my favorite family and pet themed toys and activities!
Related
I’m Sarah, an educator turned stay-at-home-mama of five! I’m the owner and creator of Stay At Home Educator, a website about intentional teaching and purposeful learning in the early childhood years. I’ve taught a range of levels, from preschool to college and a little bit of everything in between. Right now my focus is teaching my children and running a preschool from my home. Credentials include: Bachelors in Art, Masters in Curriculum and Instruction.
