My Top 5 Tips for Setting up a Pet Themed Circle Time

Hello everyone, and welcome back to a brand new episode of Elevating Early Childhood!

Today’s episode is one many of you have been asking for.

It’s part 3 of my circle time series!

But before we start, let me ask you a question: Are you searching for ways to make circle time more fun and engaging for your preschool students?

If your answer is a resounding “YES!” — and I’m sure it is — then you’ve come to the right place!

Today, I’ll be discussing how to create fun and engaging circle time activities for a pets theme in your preschool classroom.

My pets theme is one of my most popular ones — kids love animals — and I thought I’d share a demo lesson with you!

So, are you ready?

Let’s dive in!

Prep Your Materials

The first thing you’ll have to do is prep and gather all of your materials to make your amazing circle time come to life. 

Usually, I have a container that’s already filled with all the materials that I’ll need for circle time. For today’s episode, the circle time will be pet themed — more precisely, cat themed —. Here’s what’s in my container:

• My class puppet.
• A bag of mystery items related to the story.
• A picture of my own cat.
• The book I’ll be reading aloud to the children.
• Pom poms.
• A cat poem/fingerplay I’ll be introducing for circle time.
• Supplies to create cat masks — which go with my poem —.
• A circle time game.

I also want you to know that this isn’t the only way to create a fun and engaging circle time — these are just some ideas to help you get started. You can put your own spin on this, the world is your oyster!

Have all your materials prepared and ready before your students come to class. Once that’s done, you can move on to the circle time itself.

Pet Themed Circle Time Activities

Once everything is ready and set up, you can start your pet themed circle time activities. Keep reading to learn how!

Step #1: Start With an Introduction

I always start by introducing the topic of circle time. I use my class puppet — Allie the alligator — and have it ask me what story we’re going to read that day. Then, I have Allie bring me the mystery bag and I make it super fun for the students.

I act all excited and curious and ask questions like “Oh, you want to show us something? Is that so? Oh, it’s a bag! Should we look inside?”

Step #2: The Cat Is Out of the Bag

Start bringing things out of your mystery bag and showing them. You can do this in different ways. 

You can show the children the bag and pull the items out yourself. You can also show your students the bag, pull the items out yourself, and ask the children to tell you more about them. Or — and this is the best way for me personally — you could invite your students to take turns reaching into the mystery bag and ask the class to tell you about the items they pull out.

Once that’s done, show them the picture of your chosen pet. For me, it’s my cat, Ginger. I tell them more about Ginger, how she is, and what she likes — laying on our deck chair in the sun —.

Then, ask the children if they have a cat or if they’ve ever petted a cat. Now, this is when everyone will want to answer. Listen to a few of the children’s responses, and when it gets too much, remind them that they’ll be graphing their favorite pets later during the week.

Step #3: Today’s Story

Now you’re going to move to reading your book! My book of choice for this cat themed circle time is Lola Gets a Cat by Anna McQuinn. 

But before doing that, you can bring attention back to the picture of your cat. For me, it’s a picture of Ginger. I bring attention back to her and ask them “What color is Ginger’s fur?” Orange, or course!

And that’s when I bring out the orange pom poms! I say “Ginger is orange and soft just like these pom poms.” And I pass the pom poms around so each child has one. Then I ask them that while I’m reading the story, they have to pretend that the pom pom they have in their hands is a cat and pet it.

This guarantees that during your read aloud you’ll have their eyes, ears, and hands engaged with the story. 

Finally, during this step, you can also introduce the word “cat” — or the word for the pet of your choice — in sign language, and sign it during the story.

Step #4: Introduce Your Poem

Once you finish the story, it’s time to read your poem. I usually read my 5 Little Kittens poem with the whole class.

I wrote this poem based on the tune to 5 Little Pumpkins, and the children absolutely love it. You can do the same and create your own songs; it’s super easy!

Make sure to focus on vocabulary during the poem reading. If you hit a word they don’t know, engage them with questions about it, ask them if they understand it, and if they can play-act it.

Step #5: Time for a Game

It’s now time to play your circle time game! I like to play a cat game — to keep up with the theme —. You can do the same (the instructions for the game are in the video above), or make your own.

Once you’re done with the game, ask your students to return the pom poms, and dismiss them to select their centers. 

I discuss all of this in more depth — with a lot of examples for the visual learners amongst you —, so, if you’d like to learn more, make sure to watch the video above!