The recipe for a happy bubble and squeak class workshop

Teaching responsible
pet ownership
Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1
The recipe for a happy bubble and squeak class workshop
Curriculum links
Citizenship unit 3: Animals and us - we all have
basic needs
Every Child Matters links
Being healthy
Learning objectives
} to learn all humans have basic needs
} to learn all animals have basic needs
Year groups
Nursery - Y2
Length
Up to 45 minutes
Overview
An interactive, fun session learning what all animals need
to stay healthy and happy.
Introduction
Introduce Wood Green, The Animals Charity as a place where animals stay.
‘Who do you think might live at Wood Green? Elephants? No. Lions? No. Wood Green look after lots of different pets who do
not have a family to look after them. Families visit the pets at Wood Green and might fall in love with one. If the pet will feel
healthy and happy living with this new family they might be able to rehome them and become the pet’s new family. So what
pets might stay at Wood Green? Cats, dogs, guinea pigs, rabbits, horses, goats, chickens and even mice and rats.’ You
could use soft toy animals to represent the different pets.
‘All the pets at Wood Green are looking for a new family that can keep them healthy and happy. Being healthy and happy is
really important for all pets and also for people.’
‘What do WE all need to be healthy and happy?’ – use photo cards to stimulate answers of food, water, home, friends and
clothes (pages 4-18).
‘So if WE need all these five things to stay healthy and happy, I wonder if pets might need some of the same things as well?’
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Teaching responsible
pet ownership
Class activity
Introduce a soft toy dog as Woody and explain Woody is a dog staying at Wood Green, looking for a new family to keep
him healthy and happy. Ask the children to decide what a dog needs to be healthy and happy, remembering what we
need to be healthy and happy as this might help. Ask volunteers to come and pick something out of a box that dogs need
to be healthy and happy. When they have picked it out of the box, name it, discuss it, and ask them to stand at the front
holding the item.
Teacher’s note: Use the dog needs photo cards (pages 4-13) but where possible replace the photo with real items
(e.g. a tin of dog food).
} Food: dog food and bowl. ‘Would Woody like baked beans for breakfast? Sausage and chips? No all dogs need to
eat special dog food to stay healthy.’
} Water: dog water bowl. ‘If Woody is thirsty he can’t go and turn the tap on and get a glass of water, so he needs a
family that will make sure he always has clean water to drink in his special bowl.’
} Home: dog bed or blanket. ‘All dogs need a home just like we do and in their home they need to feel safe. At
home dogs like to have a special place all of their own to sleep where they feel safe and warm and this can be in
a dog bed or on their own blanket or towel.’
} Friends: dog toy. ‘All dogs love to have friends just like we do to stay happy. Some dogs like doggy friends, some
dogs like people friends and some dogs like both dogs and people as friends. All dogs love to play with toys and
can share these with their friends.’
} Clothes: collar and tag. ‘Dogs don’t wear clothes like we do – have you ever seen a dog wearing a hat and scarf?
Wellie boots? A cardigan?! Some dogs sometimes wear coats to stay warm, but all dogs need to wear a special
collar and tag whenever they are outside. The tag needs to have their name on and their address or phone
number in case they get lost.’
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Teaching responsible
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Repeat for a guinea pig or other small animal (pages 14-18):
} Food: guinea pig pellets. Guinea pigs need special food to stay healthy and wouldn’t like to eat dog food or
cheese sandwiches. Guinea pigs also need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables as well as their special food to stay
healthy like we do.
} Water: water bottle. If a guinea pig is thirsty they can drink water from a special bottle which keeps their water
clean. They lick the end using their tongue which makes makes the water come out, a little like turning a tap on!
} Home: hutch and run. To stay happy guinea pigs need a special home called a hutch (or a shed) and also a run
with lots of room to exercise in and play in – pets need healthy exercise just like we do.
} Friends: guinea pig friend. All guinea pigs need a friend and the best friend for guinea pigs are other guinea pigs!
Rabbits don’t make good friends for guinea pigs as they might accidentally hurt the guinea pig when they are
jumping around using their big back legs. Some girl guinea pigs like to live with lots of friends in a big group called
a herd.
} Clothes: no clothes. Guinea pigs don’t need to wear clothes like we do as they have lots of hair to keep warm.
However we do need to keep their hair healthy and some guinea pigs need a lot of brushing with a special brush
to keep their hair healthy.
Individual or pair activity
‘Can you draw all the things a dog or a guinea pig needs to stay healthy and happy around the picture of the animal and
label them?’ Pages 19-20.
Plenary
‘I hope you have all learnt that we need some things to be healthy and happy just like animals have things they need to
be healthy and happy. Can you remember what a guinea pig needs to be healthy and happy?’ Use a child’s drawing to
help them remember the answers.
‘If anyone has a pet at home that isn’t a dog or guinea pig, maybe tonight when you go home you could find out what
your pet needs to stay healthy and happy.’
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Food
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Water
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Home
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Friends
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Clothing
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Food
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Water
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Home
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Friends
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Clothing
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Food
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Water
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Home
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Friends
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Clothing
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Name:
Dogs
Can you draw all the things Woody the dog needs to stay healthy and
happy and label them?
Water bowl
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Name:
Guinea pigs
Can you draw all the things Squeak the guinea pig needs to stay healthy
and happy and label them?
Guinea pig food
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