Pet Store Theme Decorating Ideas for a Classroom

Pet Bulletin Board

• Create a bulletin board of a pets for sale. Use photographs of common pets and put prices next to them. You may be able to use the bulletin board for math word problems. Spell out the name of each breed next to the animal so that students will correlate the picture with the breed.

Pet Center

• If you teach lower elementary school, incorporate a pet play center in the room. Discuss how pet stores care for animals. Supply stuffed animals, brushes, plastic food bowls, and leashes. Watch children's imaginations soar as they play "Pet Store" during free time.

Hang Writing Projects

• Let students write about their pets and tell where they obtained them. Many classrooms have clotheslines so you can hang the stories. Students that don't have pets can visit the bulletin board pet store and choose a pet to write about. You can put animal pet wrapping paper or a mural behind the signs.

Decorate with a Real Pet

• A classroom pet, either fish or a small gerbil or hamster, will be kept in the same type of habitat it would have in a pet store. Students can help care for the pet and take turns taking it home on weekends when appropriate.

Pet Signs

• Students can make signs that might be appropriate for a pet store. Display them on the classroom door. Signs might include, "Do not tap on cages," "Pets may not be taken out without Parents," or "Pet Supplies Available." Brainstorm ideas with the class.

Letter or Number Pictures

• Place appropriate pet pictures under letters of the alphabet or use pictures or photographs of pet store animals to reinforce numbers in lower elementary and nursery school classrooms. For example, one collie could be placed underneath the number one and two cats underneath the number two.