Preschool curriculum often includes a lesson about different types of homes. Like people, dogs need shelter too! As a part of a lesson on homes or on taking care of pets, use this STEM inspired activity to encourage your children to create a home for dogs.
Responsible dog owners use crates in their homes to give their dog a safe space that is theirs to use.
This article can be read prior to the activity in order to enrich discussion with your child during the activity: All About Dog Crates
What you will need:
- Blocks of various sizes
- Popsicle sticks
- Any other “building” materials-be creative!
- Dog figurines
- Discuss dog homes with your child, including crates. What would make a good crate for a dog? Encourage them to be creative, even if it is not necessarily realistic (i.e. a dog’s crate that has a park inside, etc.).
- Older children could sketch out their crates prior to building.
- Have them use the items you provided to build their dog crate.
- Encourage them to consider how to much be anchored so that it will stay standing.
- Allow them to reconstruct their crates as many times as they would like and put their dogs inside to “test” it out.
- In conjunction with a lesson about being a responsible pet owners, these coloring sheets are a great follow up: Be A Responsible Dog Owner
References
Donovan, L. (2016, May 19). How to Crate Train a Puppy. Retrieved from https://www.akc.org/content/dog-training/articles/how-to-crate-train-a-puppy/
Max Pixel. (n.d.) Architecture/Buildings [photo]. Retrieved from http://maxpixel.freegreatpicture.com/Block-Building-Building-Blocks-Toys-Construction-717309.