Do your kids love pets and animals? The pet unit is always a favorite with preschoolers, and a pet shop dramatic play is a great way to engage kids and have them learn through play. 

This dramatic play is FULL of hands-on activities that are sure to occupy students and have them begging to go back to the pet shop all year long.

Getting Started

If you are ready to transform your dramatic play area into a pet store, this blog post is here to help you get started. My pet theme weekly curriculum includes signs, labels, play money, adoption papers, shopping lists, and more so that you can flip over that open sign on your classroom pet store.

Aside from the printables, I purchased some of the pet items at dollar tree and five below and used pom poms and other small objects already in the classroom. If you want to get even more creative, your students can make some of their own pet supplies out of craft supplies. 

Adopting a Pet

The first stop students make is the pet adoption station. They have the option to adopt a cat, dog, rabbit, turtle, hamster, or bird. Once they make their choice, they use their cutting, gluing, and writing skills to complete their certificate, and then comes the fun part- shopping! 

Introducing this activity is a great opportunity to talk with the kids about the responsibilities of taking care of a pet and brainstorming what things different pets need ("Does a bird need the same supplies as a cat?"). Students love to use this time to share about what pets they have at home and how they take care of them. 

Shopping for their Pet

Each animal has a color-coded section in the pet shop with the items for sale (labels are included) and a price list. Using their shopping list, kids will go shopping for their new pet!

Laminate the list and give them the thrill of checking off their purchases as they go. When they get to the checkout, they can use pet play money to pay the cashier. 

Using Math Skills 

A Pet Shop dramatic play is a great place for students to practice their math skills. Some ways math skills are used: 

• counting the supplies they need to buy or have left on their list (“I see you have checked off 2 items, how many more do you need?”)
• recognizing and naming the numbers on the price list
• comparing prices, which is more or less expensive 
• for older students, using addition skills to find out their total

The great thing about the pet store dramatic play is that since it's not seasonal it can be pulled out all year long! If you are looking for more activities for your pet theme, my weekly curriculum has 5 days' worth of books, activities, and crafts ready and planned for you.