veterinary presentation for kindergarten

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Preschool activities and resources

Theme and activities

Veterinarians.

Use our suggestions to create interesting sensory bins, circle time discussions, role play scenarios, and crafts with your young veterinarians!

In the Educatall Club Coloring pages, word flashcards, picture game, and activity sheets to complement your theme

ALL THEMES See 2024 schedule

Animated discussion

(Open picture game-Veterinarians) Print and laminate the pictures in the format you prefer. Use them to spark a conversation with your group. Ask children questions pertaining to the theme. Add to your discussion by presenting pictures of animals and veterinarians.

Suggested circle time questions:

• Is there a veterinary hospital close to where you live?
• Do you know a veterinarian?
• Can you name 2 tasks performed by veterinarians?
• What do you want to be when you grow up?

During circle time, place a variety of accessories related to the theme on a table in front of your group. Place hair or fur from different animals inside transparent containers. Let children observe them and identify the differences and resemblances. Let them touch them too.

Thematic poster-Veterinarians

(Open thematic poster-Veterinarians) Print and display within your daycare to introduce the theme. 

Stickers-Veterinarians

(Open stickers-Veterinarians) Print the illustrations on adhesive paper and use them to create original stickers.

Educa-theme-Veterinarians

(Open educa-theme-Veterinarians) Print and laminate the elements representing the theme. Use them to present the theme to your group while decorating your daycare.

Educa-decorate-Veterinarians (Open educa-decorate-Veterinarians) Print, laminate, and cut out. Decorate your walls with the illustrations or hang some from the ceiling to set the mood for the theme.

(Open pennants-Veterinarians) Print and cut out. Hang the pennants within your daycare or over your daycare entrance.

Cut out several animal tracks. (Open pet tracks) Glue identical tracks on the floor to create paths and glue the corresponding animals at the end of each path. Encourage children to follow identical tracks to discover the animal they belong to. Cut pictures out of magazines and display them on the wall throughout your daycare.

PICTURE GAME

The pictures can be used as a memory game or to spark a conversation with your group. Use them to decorate your daycare or a specific thematic corner. (Open picture game-Veterinarians) Print, laminate, and store in a Ziploc bag or in your thematic bins.

WRITING ACTIVITIES

(Open writing activities-V like veterinarian) Print for each child or laminate for use with a dry-erase marker.  

ACTIVITY SHEETS

Activity sheets are suggested for each theme. Print and follow instructions. (Open activity sheets-Veterinarians)

VARIOUS WORKSHOPS

Have fun with these wonderful workshop ideas provided by Caroline Allard.

Construction/building blocks:

• Dog biscuits and/or bones can be used instead of blocks.
• Giant bricks can be used to build a doghouse.
• Deposit a bin filled with reptiles and snakes in your area, they can also represent pets!
• All figurines which represent pets can be used (cats, dogs, birds, mice...)

Arts & crafts/Drawing:

• Coloring pages representing various types of pets.
• Dry dog or cat food can be used to make collages.
• Bird seed can be used for collages too.
• Empty toilet paper rolls can be used to create miniature dogs...you can provide models or simply let children use their imagination.
• Feathers can be used for painting. Children will enjoy pretending they are painting with bird wings.

Role play (at the veterinarian's):

• A doctor's kit and/or a veterinarian's kit.
• Collars and leashes.
• Dog and cat toys.
• Dog or cat bed.
• Pictures of different animals can be displayed on the walls.
• A white smock (or a white shirt) and gloves.
• Pencils and papers.
• Empty pill bottles for medicine.

Manipulation:

• Memory game involving pictures of pets from the Educatall club.
• Association game in which children must associate a baby animal to its mother to help children learn animal names.
• Puzzles related to the theme.
• Fur and feathers for observation and manipulation.
• Animal sound association game involving pictures of animals.
• Association game involving animals with fur and animals with feathers.

• Books about pets.
• Photo albums filled with pictures of children and their pets...simply ask parents to provide pictures.
• A few stuffed animals.

Sensory bins:

• A water table can be part of a pet salon. Offer stuffed animals which can be submerged in water, sponges, soap, towels, etc.
• Hide small mice or hamsters (stuffed animals) in wood chips. Children will have fun searching for them over and over again.
• A container filled with water, tiny aquarium pebbles, and plastic fish.
• A container filled with feathers. Children can use them to tickle one another.

Science/kitchen:

• A small container filled with clumping litter and eyedroppers. Show children what happens when you drop water on the litter.

• Try a smell experiment and discuss how a dog's sense of smell is highly developed.

LANGUAGE ACTIVITIES

Word flashcards-Veterinarians The flashcards may be used to spark a conversation with your group, in your reading and writing area, or even to identify your thematic bins. (Open word flashcards-Veterinarians) (Open giant word flashcards-Veterinarians) claws, fur, medicine, scale, collar, syringe, teeth, clinic, cage, veterinarian, feather, vaccine

Picture clue story (Open picture clue story-Veterinarians) Print. Sit in a circle with your group. Begin reading the story and pause for each illustration. Point to the illustrations and encourage children to guess the missing words.

Sequential story (Open sequential story-Veterinarians) Print, laminate, and cut out the illustrations. Children must place them in the correct order to recreate the story.

Who visits the veterinarian? During transition or relaxation periods, show babies pictures of animals. Name them over and over again until they are able to name them too.

Animal sounds

Show children a series of animal pictures. Make each animal sound and encourage babies to make the corresponding sounds.

My veterinarian picture book Cut pictures of animals which visit the veterinarian's office out of magazines. Glue them on colorful cardboard and laminate them. Babies will admire the pictures.

My dog Print a dog outline for each baby. Let them paint their dog with several different colors of finger paint. You may also offer other substances such as Jell-O, pudding, etc.

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND MOTOR SKILLS

Veterinarian of the day

(Open veterinarian of the day) Print, laminate, and display next to your daycare entrance. Before children arrive in the morning, add a picture of the child who shall be the “veterinarian” of the day.

Magnetic veterinarians

(Open models-Veterinarians) Print, color, and laminate the models. Glue them on magnetic paper. Children can play with the items on metal cookie sheets.

Roll & color-3D-Veterinarians

(Open roll and color-3D-Veterinarians) Print for each child. This game can be enjoyed individually or as a group. Children take turns rolling a die, counting the dots, and coloring the corresponding item that can be used by a veterinarian. The first child who finishes coloring his picture wins.

Numbered puzzles-Veterinarians

(Open numbered puzzles-Veterinarians) Print, laminate, and cut out the pieces. Children must arrange them in numerical order to complete the puzzles.

Coloring hunt and seek – Veterinarians

(Open coloring hunt and seek-Veterinarians) Print and laminate. Children must find and color the items at the bottom of the page in the scene.

I move like a... Invite children to move about the daycare like certain animals. You may ask each child to move like a different animal and have the other children guess which animal it is. If you prefer, you may name one animal and ask your entire group to act like it simultaneously.

Yarn toss Determine a starting line. Give each child a ball of yarn and ask them to roll it on the floor as far as possible while holding the end in one hand. Use adhesive tape to mark each child's distance. Who will roll his/her ball the farthest?

Fetch! Purchase several dog bones and deposit three pails (different sizes) in front of the children. They must try to toss the bones into the pails. Write a certain number of points on each pail. Calculate each child's total.

My imaginary pet Encourage children to invent an original pet. They can use modeling dough or salt dough. They can paint or decorate their pet as they wish. Invite children to present their pet to the group during circle time. Help them find a name for their pet and tell you where it lives, what it eats, etc.

The cat chases the mouse (Open model-mouse) Print, cut out, and hide the mice throughout the daycare. Children search for the mice.

Silly kitten Give each child a ball of yarn. Tie the ends in different corners of the daycare (chairs, furniture, etc.) Children become kittens. They push the balls in every direction.

OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

Kitten keeper One child plays the role of the kitten keeper and all the other children are kittens. The kitten keeper must try to catch all the kittens. When he catches a "kitten", he must tickle the child. The game continues and the captured kitten becomes a kitten keeper too.

The dog's hole Each child digs a hole in the sand or in the snow to hide an object. Then, children search for the items.

ACTIVITIES INVOLVING PARENTS

Visit of a veterinarian's office Plan an outing to visit a local veterinarian's office. Invite parents to join you.

Pet shop visit Organize an outing to your local pet shop. Invite parents to join you.

COGNITIVE ACTIVITIES

Medicine preparation

(Open medicine preparation) Print, laminate, and cut out the cards and pills. You will need small containers that will represent pill bottles. Children pick a card to determine the color and number of pills they must insert in a bottle.

Food distribution for hospitalized pets

(Open pet food distribution) Print the bowls as well as a page with pet food for each child. Children cut out the pet food and glue each piece over the bowl that has the corresponding shape printed on it.

Feather patterns

(Open feather patterns) Print, laminate, and cut out the birds. You must have painted clothespins using the same paint colors as the feathers prior to this activity. Children complete the patterns by pressing clothespins on the birds to fix their “broken” wings.

(Open counting cards-Veterinarians) Print and laminate. Write or paint numbers 1 to 9 on a series of clothespins prior to this activity. Children must count the items in each rectangle and press the clothespin with the correct number on it on the corresponding number at the bottom of each card.

Color by number-Veterinarians (Open color by number-Veterinarians) Print for each child. Children must color the picture per the color code.

Educa-symmetry-Veterinarians

(Open educa-symmetry-Veterinarians) Print. Children must color the picture on the right (black & white) to make it look exactly like the one on the left (in color).

Puzzles-Veterinarians (Open puzzles-Veterinarians) Print, laminate, and cut out the pieces. Children must correctly position the pieces to complete the puzzles.

Game-Four veterinarians

(Open game-Four veterinarians) Print, glue the cards on opaque cardboard, and cut them out. Arrange all the cards upside down on the floor or table (so you can’t see the illustrations). Children take turns rolling a die. Every time a child rolls a “1”, he can turn a card. If he doesn’t already have this veterinarian in front of him, he keeps it and places it in front of him for everyone to see. The first child who has collected all four veterinarians wins.

What's missing? (Open association game-Pets) Print and laminate the two series of pet illustrations. Give children the illustrations. The object of the game is to associate the missing parts with the correct pets.

Sequential story (Open sequential story-Pets) Print the story, laminate, and cut out. Children place the illustrations in the correct order to recreate the story.

Pet dominoes (Open dominoes-Pets) Print, glue on heavy cardboard, and laminate. This game is for 2 to 4 players. Each child picks five cards. Deposit the other cards in a stack on the table. Place one card. The first player then tries to place a card with an identical object next to it. Identical pets must be touching. The next player then tries to do the same and so on. If a player does not have a card he can play, he must pick an additional card from the stack. If he still cannot play, his turn is over. The game ends when a player has no cards left.

Hunt and seek-Veterinarians (Open hunt and seek-Veterinarians) Print and laminate. Children pick a card and search for the item in the scene.

Educ-same and different-Veterinarians (Open educ-same and different-Veterinarians) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must circle the illustration which is different in each row.

Educ-pattern-Veterinarians (Open educ-pattern-Veterinarians) Print and laminate. Children must complete each pattern by placing the correct illustrations in the squares using Velcro or adhesive putty.

Educ-math-Veterinarians (Open educ-math-Veterinarians) Print and laminate for durable, eco-friendly use. Children must count the objects and circle the correct number.

Educ-association-Veterinarians (Open educ-association-Veterinarians) Print the game. Glue the first two pages inside a file folder. Cover with Mac-Tac. Laminate the illustrations and cut them out. Stick a piece of Velcro behind each illustration and on each illustration on the board game (you may also use adhesive putty). Children associate the illustrations. When they have found the correct association, they simply stick the card in the correct place.

MORAL AND SOCIAL ACTIVITIES

(Open role play-Veterinarians) Print and laminate the different name tags. Punch a hole at the top of each one, thread a ribbon through the holes, and knot both ends together so that children can wear them around their neck. Distribute the name tags among the children in your group to assign different roles. Print and laminate the cards on which we can see various tools and items used by veterinarians. Press them on the corresponding items using adhesive putty. Display the pictures of animals and veterinarian clinic scenes on the walls in your role play area. Children will have fun pretending they work in a veterinary clinic.

Colorful bandages for self-awareness

Prior to presenting this activity, glue a strip of male Velcro along the top of several pieces of felt (different colors) and cut the pieces of felt into strips vertically to create bandages. Divide your group into teams of 2 children. (Open bandage game) Print, laminate, and cut out the cards. Children pick an “animal” card, a “body part” card, and a “color” card to determine which color bandage they must press on one of their partner’s body parts. The child receiving the bandage must pretend to be the animal illustrated on the “animal” card. The bandages can be wrapped around the illustrated body part (or simply deposited on it).

Veterinary hospital Ask children to bring their favourite stuffed animals from home and set up your own veterinary hospital. Provide your doctor's kit, bandages, latex gloves, blankets, etc. Let children have fun taking care of their animals throughout the day. Variation: Teddy bear hospital. Deposit all the teddy bears you have in a pile and include them in your activities. Use cushions to create tiny beds and offer bandages, a doctor's kit, toy syringes, and anything and everything you have which can be used by your little veterinarians. (Open poster-Teddy bear hospital) Print and display.

The pet and the master Each child selects a partner. One child is the master and the other child is the pet (let children decide what kind of animal they are). The master must care for his pet throughout the day. He must feed him, take him for walks, play with him, etc. The following day, the masters become the pets.

My pet Invite children to bring a picture of their pet to daycare (or a picture of the pet they wish they had). They can take turns presenting their pet to the group. Display the pictures on a special wall.

Silly animals Give each child a piece of white paper that you have folded to create three sections. Ask children to draw an animal head in the top section and then fold the section down before passing the paper to the child sitting next to them. Children then draw an animal body in the middle section before passing the paper along once more. Finally, children draw animal legs in the third section. When everyone is done, unfold the papers to discover silly animals. They will be very unique.

EARLY SCIENCE

Cats see in the dark Try different experiments which can be done in the dark with your group. Have children verbalize what they can and what they cannot see.

Colorful drops Fill a few drinking glasses with water and add food colouring. Using an eyedropper or syringe, let children experiment with different colour combinations.

With a magnifying glass Collect pet hair and feathers (beware of allergies) and purchase magnifying glasses. Let children examine the pet hair and feathers with the magnifying glasses and discuss any resemblances, differences, etc.

CULINARY ACTIVITIES

Creative recipe-Dog biscuits (Open creative recipe-Dog biscuits)

Dog biscuits Ingredients:

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 cups of oatmeal

• 1 cup of water
• 1 spoonful of BOVRIL concentrated bouillon (Chicken or Beef flavour)
• Preheat oven to 350⁰F.
• Combine all ingredients except water in a large bowl. Add the seasoning to the water. When the water is added to the mixture the dough will be heavy!
• Roll the dough until it is approximately 1 cm thick. Sprinkle flour on it so it won't stick.
• Cut the dough with a knife or cookie cutter. Place the biscuits on aluminum paper. Bake for 20 minutes on one side, flip them over, and bake for another 20 minutes. Stop the oven and let the biscuits dry out for an hour or two.

The biscuits are cooled and ready? Give your companion a taste of your creation!

ARTS & CRAFTS

Animal collars

(Open animal collars) Print and laminate the tags. Children can write the names of their “patients” on them using dry-erase markers with your help. Using a hole-punch, make a hole at the top of each tag. Children can slide each tag onto a pipe cleaner and add necklace beads on either side, leaving enough room to be able to twist the pipe cleaner ends together so that they can tie these homemade collars around the necks of stuffed animals.

My veterinarian kit

(Open veterinarian kit) Print for each child. Children fold a piece of black construction paper in two, from top to bottom, and unfold it. They cut 2 suitcase handles out of a second piece of black construction paper and glue them at the top and at the bottom of their open veterinarian kit. Provide cotton swabs, adhesive bandages (different colors and shapes), cotton balls, etc. that they can glue inside their kit.

My miniature veterinarian (Open miniature veterinarian) Print, color, and cut out the pieces. Press them on empty cardboard tubes to create miniature veterinarians that can be hung from your daycare ceiling.

(Open creative coloring-Veterinarians) Print for each child. Invite children to draw their favourite pet in the cage. COLORING PAGES

(Open coloring pages theme-Veterinarians) Print for each child.

SONGS & RHYMES

Vet, vet, erinarian Vet, vet, erinarian Won't you please, won't you please, won't you please, won't you please Take care of my puppy Vet, vet, erinarian Vet, vet, erinarian Won't you please, won't you please, won't you please, won't you please Take care of my kitten

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Vets in action: Primary resource

Learn about the different types of vet and which types of animals they treat.

This PSHE primary resource helps children to understand the work of vets. Discover the different types of vet and which types of animals they treat. What species of animal does an equine vet take care of? Which type of vet treats farm animals? What kind of personality traits should a zoo vet have?

Pupils will discover four different case studies from different vets, examining the variety of work that they do in our National Geographic Kids’ Science primary resource sheet.

The teaching resource can be used in study group tasks for discussion about what it takes to be a good vet. It could be used as a printed handout for each pupil to review and annotate, or for display on the interactive whiteboard for class discussion.

Activity: As a class, ask children what they know about vets. What do they do? Have they ever taken a pet to see the vet? What kinds of animals do vets treat? Read the resource sheet as a class. Would anyone in the class like to be a vet?

According to new figures released by the British Veterinary Association , almost half of vets in the UK (46%) had decided to become a vet while they were still at primary school. Pupils could pick one of the four types of vet listed in the resource and research what kind of characteristics, interests and qualifications you would need to have to work in that role. They could complete the ‘Find your perfect vet job!’ quiz either individually, or quizzing one another in pairs.

N.B.  The following information for mapping the resource documents to the school curriculum is specifically tailored to the  English National Curriculum  and  Scottish Curriculum for Excellence . We are currently working to bring specifically tailored curriculum resource links for our other territories; including  South Africa ,  Australia  and  New Zealand . If you have any queries about our upcoming curriculum resource links, please email:  [email protected]

This PSHE primary resource assists with teaching the following Key Stage 1 & 2 objectives from the National Curriculum :  

2.1 Every state-funded school must offer a curriculum which is balanced and broadly based and which:  

• promotes the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils at the school and of society, and
• prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.  

2.5 All schools should make provision for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), drawing on good practice.

3.1 The national curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge that they need to be educated citizens.

This PSHE primary resource assists with teaching the following Health and wellbeing Early level objectives from the Scottish Curriculum for Excellence :

• In everyday activity and play, I explore and make choices to develop my learning and interests. I am encouraged to use and share my experiences.
• I can describe some of the kinds of work that people do and I am finding out about the wider world of work.

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Health and wellbeing First level  objectives :

• Through taking part in a variety of events and activities, I am learning to recognise my own skills and abilities as well as those of others .

Scottish Curriculum for Second level Excellence Health and wellbeing objectives :

• Opportunities to carry out different activities and roles in a variety of settings have enabled me to identify my achievements, skills and areas for development. This will help me to prepare for the next stage in my life and learning.
• I am investigating different careers/occupations, ways of working, and learning and training paths. I am gaining experience that helps me recognise the relevance of my learning, skills and interests to my future life.

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Third level Health and wellbeing objectives :

• I am developing the skills and attributes which I will need for learning, life and work. I am gaining understanding of the relevance of my current learning to future opportunities. This is helping me to make informed choices about my life and learning.

Scottish Curriculum for Excellence Fourth level Health and wellbeing objectives :

• Based on my interests, skills, strengths and preferences, I am supported to make suitable, realistic and informed choices, set manageable goals and plan for my further transitions.

Download primary resource

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Vet role play – Try this Early Years topic in your setting

• Written By: Wendy Bowkett
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Try creating a vet role play area in your setting, suggests Wendy Bowkett. While patching up poor paws, children will make many new discoveries…

When working in preschool settings, I often find that inspiration for a theme or topic comes from a chance remark of a child during circle time. I also get inspiration when greeting them on a Monday morning with the question ‘What happened during your weekend?’

The idea for a vet role play area came about when a little girl arrived at nursery with a soft toy cat wearing a bandage on one of its front legs.

The child’s daddy had accidentally run over their pet cat when reversing his car out of the drive on Saturday morning. The cat was taken to the vet, had an operation and came home the following day with its leg in plaster.

The children at nursery were fascinated by the event and it sparked off conversations and imaginative play activities with the small world animals throughout most of the day.

During quiet time later that morning, children suggested we make up a story about a dog running out of a garden into the road and what happened next.

The sequence of events was very elaborate but resulted in the play corner becoming a vet role play area. The children thought their toy animals could be checked over to see if they were healthy, to have their vaccinations and, of course, operations – the idea was born!

Setting up for vet role play

Clear a corner of a room and place a few chairs against a wall for the waiting room. Nearby put a chair and table with a notebook and pencils to record appointments.

A toy telephone and cash register complete the reception of your vet role play area. If you have space, place a small screen to separate off an area to create the consultation room. Include an examination table, weighing scales and wipes, notepad and pencil.

The importance of vet role play

Vet role play corners are imaginative, social places. They’re ideal for children to experience and explore different roles in the world of adults.

They provide opportunities for children to understand the views and needs of others. There is great educational value in encouraging children to act out relationships and behaviour unrelated to their everyday lives.

They can learn about people, places and occupations as well as recreate their own experiences.

This kind of imaginative experience is important to a number of children who have no pets and never had the opportunity of visiting a veterinary surgery.

In this case some explanation might be necessary before opening your vet role play. As an Early Years practitioner you could take on the role of the receptionist or vet initially to demonstrate telephone skills, writing appointments and dealing with clients or customers, as well as showing how to handle animals.

Without this prompting, children may just use the area for playing as they would in a home corner, office or shop. Obviously if children are familiar with vets, give them the opportunity to add their experiences and expertise to your vet role play.

Most children may already understand that, apart from emergencies (as in a doctor’s surgery) an appointment is needed. Others may have seen first-hand that the examination table is disinfected after each pet, to prevent the spread of germs.

Ask parents to help

One of our children’s parents was a vet and she brought in several empty unused medicine bottles and syringes (minus needles!), bandages and tubes to add to the vet role play corner.

Some equipment had to be thought about carefully due to safety and hygiene issues. However, although this nursery was in a rural location and the vet role play corner was very popular, we were aware of over-playing the idea when an operating theatre and x-ray machine were suggested!

Vet role play learning opportunities

1. first-hand experience.

(Understanding the world)

Stage a pet-of-the-day month. We had real rabbits, guinea-pigs, chipmunks and hens at our nursery, but we also borrowed soft toys to add to the menagerie.

A mouse, gerbil or hamster may enjoy a couple of hours in your preschool. Rats and guinea pigs make good guests, as do rabbits with careful handling. Include fish, birds, insects and reptiles, or perhaps a quiet cat or dog could pop in for a few minutes.

Introduce scientific concepts. It will be obvious to most children that birds cannot live in a tank filled with water while fish can. However, we need to encourage children to explore and talk about why this is so.

Develop the children’s observational skills by noticing details, spotting differences and discussing what they see. This might include thickness of fur, colours, length of tails, shape of ears or how they move.

Children will notice the smallest of details given the chance. How many claws are there on a guinea pig’s front and back feet? Why do rabbits have such powerful back legs? Do all furry animals have whiskers?

2. Taking care of pets

(Personal, social and emotional development)

An important aspect of having a veterinary surgery in your preschool is to allow children the opportunity of learning how to look after pets . This includes respecting their differing needs and how to care for them.

It gives ample scope for children to express their ideas and feelings and to develop strategies to cope with new situations.

Encourage questioning. Most pets have specific diets to keep them healthy and some foods we eat may be harmful to them. How important are vaccinations and regular weight checks? Can dogs eat chocolate? Should rabbits eat lettuce? What do snakes eat?

Emphasise caring for pets. Many cats and dogs require grooming to prevent matted fur and fur balls. What about budgerigars, hamsters, rabbits and long-haired guinea pigs? How do our pets keep their teeth clean?

All aspects of animal care have parallels with children’s health and wellbeing. Give them plenty of opportunity to compare differences and similarities. Discuss the choices children can make that pets can not.

3. Talking and writing

(Communication and language; Literacy)

Allow children to choose a name for the surgery. Write this in large letters and place in a prominent position. An open and closed sign with pictorial clues can be placed close by with opening times displayed.

Children often hear telephone conversations at home and will begin to recognise different telephone voices and manners. They might use that knowledge when, as the receptionist, they discuss appointment times with a ‘client’ rather than chatter as they would to their mum.

The appointment book, vaccination cards and prescription pad encourage children to make marks as well as write letters.

Many children will begin to recognise words related to pets if relevant magazines, leaflets and books are available for them to look at while waiting for their appointment at the surgery.

Give children time to describe their pet’s symptoms, condition and general health to develop their communication skills. Encourage the use of correct terminology for equipment and diet to expand their general vocabulary.

Use rhyming words, encouraging children to listen to sounds. The mouse might scurry and the rabbit hurry. The little brown dog was lost in the fog.

4. Handling money

(Problem-solving, reasoning and numeracy)

A vet role play corner with a reception and waiting room will no doubt have a cash register on hand so that clients can pay for their pet’s treatment.

This provides an ideal opportunity for price lists to be used with pictorial reference to the coins available. Our corner provided a rabbit consultation for just 20p – a lovely coin to recognise.

How much would a dog visit cost? Do your clients waiting with a pet have some coins ready to pay when the treatment is over?

Set up your vet role play area to offer toys or food for sale. Ensure that price labels are clear with coin picture references attached.

Ask parents to bring sealed, clean, empty animal food bags and sachets, clean grooming brushes and combs or spare leads and collars. Create a small display of goods for sale.

Add balls and quoits (from your outdoor play area) for more variety. Now you have an ideal beginning for comparing, measuring and counting.

Weighing scales add another dimension – are you feeding the new puppy too much or is the old cat too thin?

5. Walk the dog

(Physical development)

Provide a dog-walking service at your vet role play. We decided to try this because two of our local veterinary nurses used to go past nursery walking dogs most days.

The children would take a soft toy dog around the nursery and garden and be timed with a stop watch. Slow walking would take at least five minutes; longer if there was someone to chat with on the way. However the fast route took less than a minute!

A favourite activity was pretending to be different animals:

• mice scurrying on tiptoes
• cats slinking slowly near to the ground then pouncing
• snakes slithering and sliding around the floor
• stick insects moving so slowly that no one notices

Children loved pretending to be one particular animal for us all to guess which they might be. This activity often gave us a real insight into a child’s understanding of the pet they were portraying.

Another important aspect of the vet role play corner was learning handling techniques. With some pets it required firm handling while being gentle – a difficult concept for under-fives to grasp. The children were also seen quite regularly cleaning the consulting room and floors to keep germs to a minimum.

6. Make a fish tank

(Expressive arts and design)

Obviously a vet role play corner is designed to encourage imaginative skills. The experiences offered by a veterinary surgery can develop the senses. With the use of a variety of materials, children can explore the colours, textures and shapes they have experienced.

Help children to create animal puppets, masks or make observational drawings and paintings that use their own ideas or those of others.

Try some craft work. We made beautiful collars for our soft toys. Some of our kittens had gems attached to fabric, felt or soft foam measured to fit around each neck. A couple of children made matching leads.

Hang fish shapes in an open box with a backdrop of a blue colour wash to create fish tanks and aquariums for extremely colourful tropical fish.

Fill clear plastic drink bottles with twigs and attach stick insects made very simply by folding and shaping thin card strips of greens and browns.

Wendy Bowkett is an author and ran her own private day nursery for 15 years.

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Dramatic Play

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Change the dramatic play center into a Vet Animal Hospital Dramatic Play area and embed a ton of learning into their play!  They won’t even know they’re learning.  My students LOVED taking care of the pets and making all the pets at the pet hospital feel better.  If you want all my Pet Hospital printables (plus much more) click HERE .

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Vet Animal Hospital Dramatic Play 

Our class did a pet theme for four weeks.  The photo above was taken after the four weeks.  The first week we spent a few days creating the Pet Hospital.  Students created the pet bedding by cutting strips of paper (fun fine motor work), creating the cages and making various props for the pet hospital.

For small group, students added words to the signs and labels for the center.  I have a multi-age classroom with three-, four- and five-year-olds.  Some students are scribbling, some are writing letters, and some are sound spelling.  Making signs and labels provides students with a meaningful way to practice sounds, talk about and write letters.

Each week, I add one or two new props to keep the students excited and engaged in play.  On the wall, I posted photos of pets.  The photos are from a wall calendar.  Wall calendars have fabulous photos you can use all over your classroom.

Each tool has its own tub and label.  Labels show students where things belong.  We turned the fridge into the medicine cabinet.  We used a roll of toilet paper for bandages.

The pet hospital in action is so exciting for the students!  The pet owners had to make appointments with the receptionist. With this activity, students were identifying numbers, talking about time, and writing!

When the pet owners arrived with their pets, they could to sit in the waiting room and fill out a pet patient form all about their pet.

What did the vet do?  Give check ups and listen to the pet’s heartbeat using a stethoscope.

If the pet is sick or hurt, the vet gave the pet medicine.

The vet measured the pets using a dog bone ruler.  This is a fun way to practice measuring and counting during play.

The vet weighed pets on a scale.  I didn’t have a scale so we made one.  We covered a piece of cardboard with foil and taped the edges.  A pre-k friend wrote numbers and drew a button on the top.

The vet completed a vet report explaining how they took care of the pet after the exam.

Broken bone?  The vet gave the pet an x-ray on the x-ray machine (aka the light table). Examine REAL pet x-rays to determine if the bone is broken.  Don’t have room for a light table? Try this table top light table .

The groomer stand was stocked with various tools and supplies to clean the pets.

The groomer brushed the animals’ teeth, cut their hair, washed and dried them and wrote a groomer report.

Students can learn so much through pretend play when you intentionally embed learning opportunities into their play.  Make their play purposeful and powerful!  Play with them and have fun learning.

Grab my Vet Pet Hospital Dramatic P lay HERE .  I did all the work for you.  Just print, prep and teach.  You don’t have to create anything!

If you need pet themed ideas for all the centers in your classroom, I have a giant list of my go to  Pet Themed Activities HERE .  Don’t forget to grab the Goldfish Graph FREEBIES while you are there too!

Like it? Pin it for later!

hey, i’m jackie!

I’m Jackie, your go-to girl for early childhood inspiration and research-based curriculum. 

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Comet at the Vet: Sharing Veterinary Medicine with Kids

You’re a middle-school student faced with an animal patient: Comet, a ten-year-old Bichon Frise whose leg appears injured after a jump from a bunk bed. What do you do?

Fortunately, there’s no pressure. You’re only taking part in a simulation, Comet’s health is not really in your hands, and the dog you are about to bandage is made of stuffing and cloth—you’ve still got 15 years to go until vet school!

These hands-on learning opportunities are brought to life by students belonging to the BIPOC Club at the MSU College of Veterinary Medicine, with coordination and support from College outreach specialist Micaela Flores. They partnered with Michigan GEAR UP and the MSU Office of College Access Initiatives to educate kids from diverse backgrounds about career paths in veterinary medicine.

The students from BIPOC Club (DVM students Kimberly Guzmán, Nicole Hamlin, Lindsay Jordan, Uzma Manzoor, Jade Ognibene) walked 150–200 eighth-grade students at a local Lansing middle school through a fictional patient scenario: having them consider how to evaluate and treat Comet. As part of the virtual walkthrough, students practice bandaging a patient of their own—a stuffed dog, not a real one.

“The students were provided a stuffed animal and bandaging equipment to follow along the case presentation of how to fix a broken bone,” explains Kimberly Guzmán, co-founder of BIPOC Club. “They seemed very engaged with placing bandages and learning how they too can become veterinary doctors."

Following Along

• First, students meet Comet, their patient. Comet is having difficulty walking after his leap from the top of a bunk bed. Students are challenged to identify what they should do first: perform surgery? Take x-rays? Do nothing at all?

• After students identify the next step (to take x-rays), presenters from the BIPOC Club teach them the anatomy of a dog’s leg. Together, they study real x-rays.

• It’s time to bandage the broken bone. Using their stuffed animal, students practice wrapping the three layers of bandage: the cotton cast padding, the gauze bandage, and the splint with colorful adhesive bandaging tape.

The presentation closes with a discussion of what’s next for Comet, and young students talk about ways they could gain experience working with animals if veterinary medicine interests them.

“Outreach and mentorship programs are vital to expose students to different careers,” says Guzmán. “Diversity, equity, and inclusion groups, such as MSU’s BIPOC Club, Latinx Veterinary Medical Association, and the Association of Asian Veterinary Medical Professionals can especially help expose underrepresented communities to veterinary medicine. We must continue this work.”

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Teacher Guide Lesson Plans

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The Life of a Bovine Veterinarian

Food supply veterinarians help protect what we eat, veterinarians help protect the environment and assist in disaster recovery, how veterinarians and american zoos help endangered species, veterinarians help animals in space, emergency care veterinarian, veterinarians in biomedical research.

A bovine veterinarian is one who works with beef cattle or dairy cows and their calves. These busy veterinarians never know for sure what the day will bring. While many appointments are scheduled in advance, an animal emergency on a ranch or a farm can happen at any time.

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Endangered species are animals or plants at immediate risk of extinction because of habitat loss, pollution, introduction of other species, or over-exploitation. Animals currently facing extinction include one-third of all the earth's amphibians, nearly half of all freshwater turtles, one in eight species of birds, and one in four mammals.

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When the emergency room veterinarian first arrives at the hospital, he/she consults with the veterinarians and veterinary technicians from the previous shift. Next, the veterinarian performs "rounds" during which the staff reviews the cases of all the animal patients in the hospital and discusses each one's diagnosis, care, and treatment plan. Usually the rest of the day centers around caring for the current animal patients, consulting with specialty veterinarians on complicated cases, updating owners about their pets, writing reports and ordering medicines, and treating emergency cases as they arrive.

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Veterinarians who work with animals in a research environment may work for a company or for the U.S. Government. Veterinarians working in pharmaceutical and biomedical research firms develop, test, and supervise the production of drugs, chemicals, and biological products, such as antibiotics and vaccines for human and animal use.

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Tips for providing P-12 students career day–type presentations about the veterinary profession

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Children begin forming career aspirations in elementary school, and in many cases, adults find themselves in careers that they decided on before 12 years of age. 1–3 Tai et al 4 report that eighth-grade students who had an expectation of a career in the life sciences were nearly twice as likely to graduate with a baccalaureate degree in the life sciences as were others who did not have that early expectation. Preliminary research has shown that introducing young students to veterinary medicine through formal curricula and activity books can positively impact their attitudes toward and interest in science careers, increase their desire to study science in college, and influence their perceptions of veterinary medicine. 5,6 And educational experts cite classroom visits by role models and opportunities for role-playing by students as important means for students to learn about careers and the educational requirements needed to attain their occupational choices. 2,7

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are frequently invited to participate in career day activities at local schools or community centers. These presentations can provide an opportunity to encourage young students to pursue careers in the veterinary medical profession and provide information about the breadth of opportunities that the profession has to offer. But, for individuals who have not provided presentations in the past, accepting such an invitation can be intimidating. The present report was written by a team consisting of a veterinarian, elementary school teachers, and high school teachers and is intended to provide tips for veterinarians and veterinary technicians planning to visit classrooms or community centers to give career day presentations.

General Considerations

Visitor requirements —Many schools and community centers require visitors to complete a volunteer form and undergo a criminal background check and a sex and violent offender registry check before they can visit with minors. Additionally, many schools and community centers will require visitors to sign in and sign out at the main office and use a visitor pass. Some will require visitors to be accompanied by school personnel at all times and might have designated parking areas for visitors. Be sure to ask what requirements and policies you need to follow as a volunteer and guest of the school or community center.

Live animals —Animals can be an excellent means of engaging students, but careful consideration should be given before live animals are brought into a school or community center. First, the school's or center's leaders should be consulted as to whether animals are allowed in the facility. If animals are allowed, the teacher should be consulted to determine whether there are any students or adults in the classroom who have a fear of animals, have allergies to animals, or are immunosuppressed. Next, the type of animals and age of the students should be considered. The ultimate goal is for students to have a positive experience. Some students have an innate fear or have had negative experiences with certain animals. Although positive experiences can help alleviate the fear, you are not likely going to accomplish this during a 20-minute presentation. The temperament of the animal should be considered. For example, a pet dog might be great with children, but might not be great with 30 children. It is recommended that dogs (and other animals as reasonable) be current on all vaccinations and undergo behavioral testing and certification before they are used for educational purposes in a public place. Human health risks that animals might pose should also be assessed. The CDC recommends that reptiles, amphibians, poultry, ferrets, and items these animals have contacted not be handled by children < 5 years old, senior citizens, or individuals with weakened immune systems. 8,9

If live animals are allowed in the facility and do not pose a health, safety, or fear risk to students or adults, consider the impact on your presentation. Once an animal is observed, the students’ attention will immediately shift from the content of your presentation to the animal. Decide if and how the information you are delivering can be enhanced by the use of a live animal. Consider revealing the animal toward the end of the presentation, once your talking points have been delivered, to provide an interactive experience or demonstration that positively reinforces the content of your presentation. Remember that student exposure to animals will vary. Be sure to remind students of appropriate ways to interact with the animal before revealing it. Also remember to discuss the importance of hand washing after handling animals and ensure that hand washing occurs after animal contact and before eating. To reduce contamination and reinforce the concept, hand sanitizer can be provided if hand washing is not immediately feasible.

Prepresentation Meeting with the Teacher or Community Center Team

Logistics —It is strongly advised that you contact the teacher or community center team at least 2 weeks before your presentation to arrange a time to meet and discuss your presentation plans. Meeting after regular school-day hours is generally preferred if you are meeting with a teacher. This prepresentation meeting will give you a chance to review logistics, including travel time to the location, parking options, location of the main office, check-in and checkout procedures and time needed to complete these procedures, approval of your background check, location and layout of the classroom or presentation area, audio-visual equipment availability, Internet availability, time allotted for your presentation, and classroom or center rules. The last is important because, as a guest, you do not want to break any rules that students are expected to follow.

Age and experience level —During the prepresentation meeting, you should discuss the content of your presentation. The teacher or center team can help you ensure that the content and type of presentation are appropriate for your audience's age and experience level. For example, a slide presentation might be appropriate for high school students but not desirable for first graders. The teacher or center team can also inform you of what their students already know that is related to your topic. For example, the teacher or center team can help you determine the level of exposure the students have had to animals. Some classrooms and community centers have resident animals (eg, dogs, cats, fish, and rodents) that students see daily. Students might have pets at home. Students might have gone on a trip to the zoo. Keep in mind that experiences in pet ownership and veterinary care might be reduced in communities with a low socioeconomic status.

Cultural relevance —Ask the teacher or center team to describe the demographics of the student population so you can ensure that your presentation is inclusive. Using materials that portray culturally diverse images of veterinary professionals in action and highlighting the accomplishments of culturally diverse veterinary professionals allow all students to see themselves in successful veterinary medical careers. 10

In traditional African-American and Latino cultures, learning is contextual. Stage setting, or preparing for a task, is an important part of problem solving. 10 To help set the stage for your presentation, you might provide scrubs, lab coats, or scientific notebooks to use during the presentation. This can encourage excitement about learning.

Research has shown that communal communication and cooperative group learning can facilitate learning by African-American and Latino students. 10 Communal and cooperative learning is easier to implement in a community center setting than in a formal classroom. Hands-on activities that foster communal learning give the presentation content personal meaning and facilitate mastery by the children. 10,11 Group activities encourage students to work in partnerships and small heterogeneous groups on learning tasks that have multiple parts. In this way, each group member can contribute to the overall goal. Before any group activities begin, provide students time to introduce themselves to their group members and discuss what they each hope to learn. Lastly, encourage students to write and draw about what they learned after the presentation. Successes can be celebrated by displaying essays and artwork.

Interactive activities —If you are planning interactive activities, determine in advance whether all students will be physically able to participate or what modifications you need to make for the activity to be inclusive. You can let the teacher or center team know if you would like any background information presented to the students in advance of your visit, but should expect to provide them with needed resources.

Get feedback on the safety and appropriateness of items or animals you are planning to bring for students to see or handle. Again, keep in mind that once you give students something, they will be distracted from the presentation. If you are planning on bringing food items such as candy, discuss the appropriateness and ensure none of the items contain ingredients (eg, peanuts) that are allergens for students. If you will be using handouts, ask how many students are in the class so that you can bring sufficient copies or arrange for the teacher to have copies ready.

Room preparation —Discuss the arrangement and setup of the presentation room. The more the teacher or center team knows ahead of time, the more prepared they can be when you arrive. Decide where you want your students to be. Older students might remain at their desks. Younger students might be seated at desks or tables or on a carpet on the floor.

Student management —Managing students during presentations can sometimes be a challenge for visitors. Students who do not know you might test your authority. Similarly, you might not be familiar with the students and any special needs they might have. One way to personalize your presentation is to request that students wear name tags so you can address them by their first names.

Be sure to ask the teacher or staff member in advance whether there are any students with special needs in the group. Students can have visible and invisible disabilities. A group might include a student who uses a wheelchair or a student with a cognitive disability. Work with the teacher, student aide, or staff member to ensure that any group activities are inclusive.

Lastly, confirm that a teacher or staff member will be in the room with you at all times and that students with special needs will have a student aide as needed. Your function will be as a content expert and role model. The teacher or staff member in charge should be responsible for assisting with students who are not listening, students who are misbehaving, or students who have needs during the presentation (trips to the bathroom or the nurse). The teacher or staff member can even help with the presentation.

Preparing for the Presentation

Your presentation should be practiced and polished. Incorporate your passion, enthusiasm, humor, and even a dash of showmanship. Use voice inflection to create drama and excitement in your talk. Teachers are almost like actors on a stage, and you will have to bring some of those qualities to prevent students from becoming bored. Listening to a lecture for 50 minutes from someone they don't know can be difficult for students, and you have to remember you are competing with video games, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, television, movies, and so on. A wonderful, quick, and easy-to-read book that describes effective teaching strategies is entitled Teach Like a Pirate , by Dave Burgess. 12

Keeping a presentation exciting takes work. Think about the amount of time you are asking students to sit. A good rule of thumb is that student attention span is equal to 1 min/y of age (ie, an 8-year-old can give 8 minutes of attention before needing to move). If you are speaking for > 12 to 15 minutes, switch your presentation medium to allow for some movement (eg, slides, handouts, artifacts, video clips, games, activities, labs, or demonstrations). Text is not particularly exciting, so if you are using slide presentations, make sure to include color, video clips, pictures, or diagrams. If students participate in movement activities, always begin with rules and consequences for not following the rules so that no one gets hurt.

Asking students questions during the presentation increases student engagement. Your responses to questions should be age appropriate. Avoid saying “no” if an elementary school student gives an incorrect answer. Alternative responses include the following:

• That is not what I was looking for, but I like the way you are thinking.

• Keep thinking, I like how you are trying.

• That is close. Who would like to help?

• I think you were answering ______, but I was going for ________. Do you want another shot at it it, or would you like to call on a friend to help you with this one?

Prizes for correct answers for groups of elementary school students could be distracting. Instead, save giveaway items for students to take home at the end of the presentation.

For high school students, you can improve attention by bringing prizes (candy, pencils, pens, key chains, stickers, etc) to give to students who answer questions correctly, calling on students by throwing a ball to them, or putting their names in a bowl and drawing them to answer questions. Students want to feel as though they are part of the presentation, not just being lectured to. High school students will be held more accountable for the information presented if they know they could be called on.

Attire —Your attire should be neat, clean, and professional and should correspond to the aspect of the veterinary medical profession you are representing. For example, small animal clinicians could wear scrubs or business attire and an examination coat. Large animal clinicians could wear coveralls. Military veterinarians should don their uniform. Researchers can wear a lab coat. A name badge is recommended.

Content —Your presentation should excite students about the breadth of careers in the veterinary profession, inform students of the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed, and explain the steps to becoming a veterinarian. The depth of information provided will depend on the age of your audience. Begin your presentation by introducing yourself and letting the students know the topics you will be discussing. Create dialogue and interactions throughout your talk. Students will learn more when they are engaged in a dialogue rather than listening to a monologue. Ask the students questions and encourage them to ask questions also. As you prepare your content, think about creative ways you can make your presentation interactive. You can even keep a notepad or voice recorder with you to record thoughts immediately so your ideas are not forgotten.

Resources for content can be found online at the AVMA website 13 and at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine website. 14

To excite students about the breadth of careers in the veterinary profession, you might consider starting your presentation by finding out what students already know about animals and veterinary medicine, describing the members of the veterinary team, explaining the variety of careers the veterinary profession has to offer, and then asking the students to guess what type of veterinary professional they think you are. For a presentation to elementary school children, you could ask how many have animals at home or how many have visited the zoo. However, you should use these questions simply to gauge the experience level of the group, as asking individual students to tell you about their pets or their visit to the zoo can quickly derail the lesson. First, all students will want to have a chance to tell the group about their animals and animal experiences, and those who do not get the opportunity to do so will feel left out. Second, students who have not had exposure to animals might not feel included in the discussion.

You can, however, call on students in response to questions such as “Do you know what a veterinarian does?” and “Do you know what a veterinary technician does?” Use analogies to human medicine to help students understand the various roles veterinarians can play, explaining that just like human doctors, some veterinarians are family doctors, whereas others are specialists or experts in certain types of animals (dogs, cats, horses, cattle, birds, etc) or certain body parts (heart doctors, eye doctors, skin doctors, etc). Describe careers in fields other than clinical practice, such as research and the military.

With this introduction, you can then ask the students to guess what type of veterinary professional they think you are. Call on the students to answer, and give them hints as necessary by suggesting that they look at the way you are dressed or telling them what kinds of animals you work with.

For high school students, you might consider using a slide presentation with images of the veterinary team in action as you describe the breadth of career opportunities. Ensure, however, that your images include individuals of both genders and various races and ethnicity so the students can envision themselves as veterinary professionals.

Once students have identified what type of veterinary professional you are, you can then personalize your presentation by telling them, in a manner the students can relate to, what you might do in a typical day. Telling your personal story helps establish a connection with the students, and students will be more vested in the information you provide. Personalization might also give you credibility on the material you are presenting. As you talk about your work, use anecdotes from your own experiences. Relating information about veterinary medicine to experiences the students may have had can also help improve understanding. Another way to engage students and help them remember information is to involve them emotionally. Both sad and funny stories can be effective, and the “gross” factor can be especially effective for teenagers.

Think about incorporating some items that students can touch and pass around at this time in the presentation. Students love to manipulate things and learn best when they can use all their senses. Students will hear your words, see your slide presentation or handout, and be able to touch the items you brought. Items you could bring to pass around include things you use in your everyday work, such as, for a small animal practitioner, a stethoscope and otoscope; for a dairy practitioner, a balling gun and magnets; and for a surgeon, plates and screws. Other items could include enteroliths, foreign bodies, radiographs, bones, or preserved parasites.

Discuss the skills and knowledge students will need to become a veterinarian or veterinary technician, and explain how students can pursue a career in the veterinary profession. For younger students, this could mean talking about a desire to work with people and animals and a willingness to work hard at school and be a problem solver. For older students, you could focus on specific courses (math, biology, physics, etc) they will need, along with traits they will have to develop, such as good communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.

Finally, explain the steps necessary to becoming a veterinarian or veterinary technician, including the educational process. For older students, you might also want to talk about the steps needed to become a specialist or researcher.

Questions —Remember to organize your presentation to allow time for students to ask questions, and be prepared for unexpected questions. For elementary school students, you should decide whether you are going to have students hold their questions until the end of the presentation or ask during the presentation. Allowing questions during the presentation can distract other students and interfere with the presentation. Another method is to have students write questions on sticky notes and then choose a few to answer without having to call on anyone.

Some common questions to prepare for include the following:

• How do you help animals?

• How do you give animals medicine?

• What is it like to be a vet?

• Why did you want to be a vet?

For high school students, nothing is more frustrating than when a presenter says, “Hold all questions until the end.” Often, time runs short and they never get to ask their question. Allow the presentation to be interactive and dynamic, and use some of the questions to somewhat guide your presentation. Be flexible. It doesn't mean you can't say, “I'll have to take the rest of the questions later” or “We may have time for stories at the end.” Some common questions to prepare for include the following:

• What courses should I take in high school?

• What can I do outside of school to prepare?

• What are the salaries of veterinarians and veterinary technicians?

• What grades do I need to be eligible to get into veterinary college?

Feedback —Feedback is important so that you can continually improve your presentations. An easy way to get feedback from elementary school students is to ask them to draw a picture about what they learned from your presentation. High school students can complete a short questionnaire. Examples of questions include the following:

• What did you like most about the presentation?

• What did you like least about the presentation?

• What was the most important thing you learned from the presentation?

Presentation Day

Allow an extra 15 to 30 minutes in addition to the time you think it will take you to arrive and check in. This will be especially important if you are presenting at the beginning of the day at a school or the end of the day at a community center. Traffic can be a little tedious as school busses are loading and unloading and as parents are dropping off and picking up kids. If you are going to a high school, be especially wary as you will be sharing the road with inexperienced drivers.

Remember that you are the visitor, and respect the authority of the teacher or community center team and their rules while you are a guest. Be flexible. Even though you have thoroughly prepared your presentation, the day may move in a slightly different direction than you originally planned. That is okay. Find ways to make connections with the students to get them moving back in the right direction. Don't be afraid to redirect inappropriate student behaviors (like talking to another student while the presenter is talking). Defer to the teacher or community center team member in charge if you are not sure how to answer a question or handle a situation. For elementary school students, find a way to get the students’ attention, or ask the teacher how he or she does so. Some suggestions include the following:

• A rhythmic clap.

• A call and response. (You can teach this to students at the beginning of the presentation: “1, 2, 3, eyes on me”; students respond with “1, 2, eyes on you.”)

• Lights out.

• Countdown to 1.

• Play music. (Let students know ahead of time that when they hear the music, they are to give you their attention.)

Remember to save items for students to keep until the end of the presentation. A nice time to hand out these items is after the feedback forms have been collected.

Academic Standards

Although there is no core standard that addresses career awareness and education, the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards include speaking and listening standards. 15 For example, several grade 5 listening and speaking standards 15 (eg, 5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions…with diverse partners…, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly; 5.2: Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally; and 5.3: Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence) could be applied to a career day presentation.

Veterinary professionals have the opportunity to influence the future of our profession by being role models for young students and providing them the information and support they need to succeed. By building relationships with schools and community centers and developing presentations for elementary and high school students, they also have an opportunity to broaden participation in the veterinary profession.

1. Trice AD . A retrospective study of career development: I. Relationship among first aspirations, parental occupations, and current occupations . Psychol Rep 1991 ; 68 : 287 – 290 .

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2. Magnuson CS , Starr MF . How early is too early to begin life career planning? The importance of the elementary school years . J Career Dev 2000 ; 27 : 89 – 101 .

3. Amass SF , Adedokun O , Cipriani Davis K , et al. Mapping our future: developing the pipeline for a diverse workforce . In: Greenhill LM , Cipriani Davis K , Lowrie PM , et al, eds. Navigating diversity and inclusion in veterinary medicine . West Lafayette, Ind : Purdue Press , 2013 ; 55 – 62 .

4. Tai RH , Liu CQ , Maltese AV , et al. Planning early for careers in science . Science 2006 ; 312 : 1143 – 1144 .

5. San Miguel SF , Burgess W , Cipriani Davis K , et al. Impact of using a veterinary medicine activity book in the classroom on fifth and sixth grade students' depictions of veterinarians . J Vet Med Educ 2013 ; 40 : 426 – 430 .

6. San Miguel SF , Carleton Parker L , Adedokun O , et al. Fat dogs and coughing horses: K-12 programming for veterinary workforce development . J Vet Med Educ 2013 ; 40 : 419 – 425 .

7. Bobo M , Bertina HL , Durodoye B . Changing patterns in career choices among African-American, Hispanic, and Anglo children . Prof School Couns 1998 ; 1 : 37 – 43 .

8. CDC website . Reptiles, amphibians, and Salmonella . Available at: www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellafrogturtle . Accessed Feb 4, 2014 .

9. CDC website . Animals in schools and daycare settings . Available at: www.cdc.gov/features/salmonellafrogturtle . Accessed Feb 4, 2014 .

10. Gay G . Culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice . 2nd ed. New York : Teachers College Press , 2010 .

11. Ukpokodu ON . How do I teach mathematics in a culturally responsive way? Identifying empowering teaching practices . Multicult Educ 2011 ; 19 : 47 – 56 .

12. Burgess D . Teach like a pirate: increase student engagement, boost your creativity, and transform your life as an educator . San Diego : Dave Burgess Consulting Inc , 2012 .

13. AVMA website . AVMA tools for K-12 educators . Available at: www.avma.org/kb/k12/pages/avma-educational-resources.aspx . Accessed Feb 4, 2014 .

14. Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine website . Fat dogs and coughing horses: this is how we role . Available at: www.vet.purdue.edu/engagement/sepa . Accessed Feb 4, 2014.

15. Common Core State Standards Initiative website . Implementing the Common Core State Standards . Available at: www.corestandards.org . Accessed Feb 4, 2014 .

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Tips for providing P-12 students career day–type presentations about the veterinary profession

Children begin forming career aspirations in elementary school, and in many cases, adults find themselves in careers that they decided on before 12 years of age. 1 – 3 Tai et al 4 report that eighth-grade students who had an expectation of a career in the life sciences were nearly twice as likely to graduate with a baccalaureate degree in the life sciences as were others who did not have that early expectation. Preliminary research has shown that introducing young students to veterinary medicine through formal curricula and activity books can positively impact their attitudes toward and interest in science careers, increase their desire to study science in college, and influence their perceptions of veterinary medicine. 5 , 6 And educational experts cite classroom visits by role models and opportunities for role-playing by students as important means for students to learn about careers and the educational requirements needed to attain their occupational choices. 2 , 7

Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are frequently invited to participate in career day activities at local schools or community centers. These presentations can provide an opportunity to encourage young students to pursue careers in the veterinary medical profession and provide information about the breadth of opportunities that the profession has to offer. But, for individuals who have not provided presentations in the past, accepting such an invitation can be intimidating. The present report was written by a team consisting of a veterinarian, elementary school teachers, and high school teachers and is intended to provide tips for veterinarians and veterinary technicians planning to visit classrooms or community centers to give career day presentations.

General Considerations

Visitor requirements.

Many schools and community centers require visitors to complete a volunteer form and undergo a criminal background check and a sex and violent offender registry check before they can visit with minors. Additionally, many schools and community centers will require visitors to sign in and sign out at the main office and use a visitor pass. Some will require visitors to be accompanied by school personnel at all times and might have designated parking areas for visitors. Be sure to ask what requirements and policies you need to follow as a volunteer and guest of the school or community center.

Live animals

Animals can be an excellent means of engaging students, but careful consideration should be given before live animals are brought into a school or community center. First, the school’s or center’s leaders should be consulted as to whether animals are allowed in the facility. If animals are allowed, the teacher should be consulted to determine whether there are any students or adults in the classroom who have a fear of animals, have allergies to animals, or are immunosuppressed. Next, the type of animals and age of the students should be considered. The ultimate goal is for students to have a positive experience. Some students have an innate fear or have had negative experiences with certain animals. Although positive experiences can help alleviate the fear, you are not likely going to accomplish this during a 20-minute presentation. The temperament of the animal should be considered. For example, a pet dog might be great with children, but might not be great with 30 children. It is recommended that dogs (and other animals as reasonable) be current on all vaccinations and undergo behavioral testing and certification before they are used for educational purposes in a public place. Human health risks that animals might pose should also be assessed. The CDC recommends that reptiles, amphibians, poultry, ferrets, and items these animals have contacted not be handled by children < 5 years old, senior citizens, or individuals with weakened immune systems. 8 , 9

If live animals are allowed in the facility and do not pose a health, safety, or fear risk to students or adults, consider the impact on your presentation. Once an animal is observed, the students’ attention will immediately shift from the content of your presentation to the animal. Decide if and how the information you are delivering can be enhanced by the use of a live animal. Consider revealing the animal toward the end of the presentation, once your talking points have been delivered, to provide an interactive experience or demonstration that positively reinforces the content of your presentation. Remember that student exposure to animals will vary. Be sure to remind students of appropriate ways to interact with the animal before revealing it. Also remember to discuss the importance of hand washing after handling animals and ensure that hand washing occurs after animal contact and before eating. To reduce contamination and reinforce the concept, hand sanitizer can be provided if hand washing is not immediately feasible.

Prepresentation Meeting with the Teacher or Community Center Team

It is strongly advised that you contact the teacher or community center team at least 2 weeks before your presentation to arrange a time to meet and discuss your presentation plans. Meeting after regular school-day hours is generally preferred if you are meeting with a teacher. This prepresentation meeting will give you a chance to review logistics, including travel time to the location, parking options, location of the main office, check-in and checkout procedures and time needed to complete these procedures, approval of your background check, location and layout of the classroom or presentation area, audio-visual equipment availability, Internet availability, time allotted for your presentation, and classroom or center rules. The last is important because, as a guest, you do not want to break any rules that students are expected to follow.

Age and experience level

During the prepresentation meeting, you should discuss the content of your presentation. The teacher or center team can help you ensure that the content and type of presentation are appropriate for your audience’s age and experience level. For example, a slide presentation might be appropriate for high school students but not desirable for first graders. The teacher or center team can also inform you of what their students already know that is related to your topic. For example, the teacher or center team can help you determine the level of exposure the students have had to animals. Some classrooms and community centers have resident animals (eg, dogs, cats, fish, and rodents) that students see daily. Students might have pets at home. Students might have gone on a trip to the zoo. Keep in mind that experiences in pet ownership and veterinary care might be reduced in communities with a low socioeconomic status.

Cultural relevance

Ask the teacher or center team to describe the demographics of the student population so you can ensure that your presentation is inclusive. Using materials that portray culturally diverse images of veterinary professionals in action and highlighting the accomplishments of culturally diverse veterinary professionals allow all students to see themselves in successful veterinary medical careers. 10

In traditional African-American and Latino cultures, learning is contextual. Stage setting, or preparing for a task, is an important part of problem solving. 10 To help set the stage for your presentation, you might provide scrubs, lab coats, or scientific notebooks to use during the presentation. This can encourage excitement about learning.

Research has shown that communal communication and cooperative group learning can facilitate learning by African-American and Latino students. 10 Communal and cooperative learning is easier to implement in a community center setting than in a formal class-room. Hands-on activities that foster communal learning give the presentation content personal meaning and facilitate mastery by the children. 10 , 11 Group activities encourage students to work in partnerships and small heterogeneous groups on learning tasks that have multiple parts. In this way, each group member can contribute to the overall goal. Before any group activities begin, provide students time to introduce themselves to their group members and discuss what they each hope to learn. Lastly, encourage students to write and draw about what they learned after the presentation. Successes can be celebrated by displaying essays and artwork.

Interactive activities

If you are planning interactive activities, determine in advance whether all students will be physically able to participate or what modifications you need to make for the activity to be inclusive. You can let the teacher or center team know if you would like any background information presented to the students in advance of your visit, but should expect to provide them with needed resources.

Get feedback on the safety and appropriateness of items or animals you are planning to bring for students to see or handle. Again, keep in mind that once you give students something, they will be distracted from the presentation. If you are planning on bringing food items such as candy, discuss the appropriateness and ensure none of the items contain ingredients (eg, peanuts) that are allergens for students. If you will be using handouts, ask how many students are in the class so that you can bring sufficient copies or arrange for the teacher to have copies ready.

Room preparation

Discuss the arrangement and setup of the presentation room. The more the teacher or center team knows ahead of time, the more prepared they can be when you arrive. Decide where you want your students to be. Older students might remain at their desks. Younger students might be seated at desks or tables or on a carpet on the floor.

Student management

Managing students during presentations can sometimes be a challenge for visitors. Students who do not know you might test your authority. Similarly, you might not be familiar with the students and any special needs they might have. One way to personalize your presentation is to request that students wear name tags so you can address them by their first names.

Be sure to ask the teacher or staff member in advance whether there are any students with special needs in the group. Students can have visible and invisible disabilities. A group might include a student who uses a wheelchair or a student with a cognitive disability. Work with the teacher, student aide, or staff member to ensure that any group activities are inclusive.

Lastly, confirm that a teacher or staff member will be in the room with you at all times and that students with special needs will have a student aide as needed. Your function will be as a content expert and role model. The teacher or staff member in charge should be responsible for assisting with students who are not listening, students who are misbehaving, or students who have needs during the presentation (trips to the bathroom or the nurse). The teacher or staff member can even help with the presentation.

Preparing for the Presentation

Your presentation should be practiced and polished. Incorporate your passion, enthusiasm, humor, and even a dash of showmanship. Use voice inflection to create drama and excitement in your talk. Teachers are almost like actors on a stage, and you will have to bring some of those qualities to prevent students from becoming bored. Listening to a lecture for 50 minutes from someone they don’t know can be difficult for students, and you have to remember you are competing with video games, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, television, movies, and so on. A wonderful, quick, and easy-to-read book that describes effective teaching strategies is entitled Teach Like a Pirate , by Dave Burgess. 12

Keeping a presentation exciting takes work. Think about the amount of time you are asking students to sit. A good rule of thumb is that student attention span is equal to 1 min/y of age (ie, an 8-year-old can give 8 minutes of attention before needing to move). If you are speaking for > 12 to 15 minutes, switch your presentation medium to allow for some movement (eg, slides, handouts, artifacts, video clips, games, activities, labs, or demonstrations). Text is not particularly exciting, so if you are using slide presentations, make sure to include color, video clips, pictures, or diagrams. If students participate in movement activities, always begin with rules and consequences for not following the rules so that no one gets hurt.

Asking students questions during the presentation increases student engagement. Your responses to questions should be age appropriate. Avoid saying “no” if an elementary school student gives an incorrect answer. Alternative responses include the following:

• That is not what I was looking for, but I like the way you are thinking.
• Keep thinking, I like how you are trying.
• That is close. Who would like to help?
• I think you were answering ________, but I was going for_______. Do you want another shot at it it, or would you like to call on a friend to help you with this one?

Prizes for correct answers for groups of elementary school students could be distracting. Instead, save give-away items for students to take home at the end of the presentation.

For high school students, you can improve attention by bringing prizes (candy, pencils, pens, key chains, stickers, etc) to give to students who answer questions correctly, calling on students by throwing a ball to them, or putting their names in a bowl and drawing them to answer questions. Students want to feel as though they are part of the presentation, not just being lectured to. High school students will be held more accountable for the information presented if they know they could be called on.

Your attire should be neat, clean, and professional and should correspond to the aspect of the veterinary medical profession you are representing. For example, small animal clinicians could wear scrubs or business attire and an examination coat. Large animal clinicians could wear coveralls. Military veterinarians should don their uniform. Researchers can wear a lab coat. A name badge is recommended.

Your presentation should excite students about the breadth of careers in the veterinary profession, inform students of the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed, and explain the steps to becoming a veterinarian. The depth of information provided will depend on the age of your audience. Begin your presentation by introducing yourself and letting the students know the topics you will be discussing. Create dialogue and interactions throughout your talk. Students will learn more when they are engaged in a dialogue rather than listening to a monologue. Ask the students questions and encourage them to ask questions also. As you prepare your content, think about creative ways you can make your presentation interactive. You can even keep a notepad or voice recorder with you to record thoughts immediately so your ideas are not forgotten.

Resources for content can be found online at the AVMA website 13 and at the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine website. 14

To excite students about the breadth of careers in the veterinary profession, you might consider starting your presentation by finding out what students already know about animals and veterinary medicine, describing the members of the veterinary team, explaining the variety of careers the veterinary profession has to offer, and then asking the students to guess what type of veterinary professional they think you are. For a presentation to elementary school children, you could ask how many have animals at home or how many have visited the zoo. However, you should use these questions simply to gauge the experience level of the group, as asking individual students to tell you about their pets or their visit to the zoo can quickly derail the lesson. First, all students will want to have a chance to tell the group about their animals and animal experiences, and those who do not get the opportunity to do so will feel left out. Second, students who have not had exposure to animals might not feel included in the discussion.

You can, however, call on students in response to questions such as “Do you know what a veterinarian does?” and “Do you know what a veterinary technician does?” Use analogies to human medicine to help students understand the various roles veterinarians can play, explaining that just like human doctors, some veterinarians are family doctors, whereas others are specialists or experts in certain types of animals (dogs, cats, horses, cattle, birds, etc) or certain body parts (heart doctors, eye doctors, skin doctors, etc). Describe careers in fields other than clinical practice, such as research and the military.

With this introduction, you can then ask the students to guess what type of veterinary professional they think you are. Call on the students to answer, and give them hints as necessary by suggesting that they look at the way you are dressed or telling them what kinds of animals you work with.

For high school students, you might consider using a slide presentation with images of the veterinary team in action as you describe the breadth of career opportunities. Ensure, however, that your images include individuals of both genders and various races and ethnicity so the students can envision themselves as veterinary professionals.

Once students have identified what type of veterinary professional you are, you can then personalize your presentation by telling them, in a manner the students can relate to, what you might do in a typical day. Telling your personal story helps establish a connection with the students, and students will be more vested in the information you provide. Personalization might also give you credibility on the material you are presenting. As you talk about your work, use anecdotes from your own experiences. Relating information about veterinary medicine to experiences the students may have had can also help improve understanding. Another way to engage students and help them remember information is to involve them emotionally. Both sad and funny stories can be effective, and the “gross” factor can be especially effective for teenagers.

Think about incorporating some items that students can touch and pass around at this time in the presentation. Students love to manipulate things and learn best when they can use all their senses. Students will hear your words, see your slide presentation or handout, and be able to touch the items you brought. Items you could bring to pass around include things you use in your everyday work, such as, for a small animal practitioner, a stethoscope and otoscope; for a dairy practitioner, a balling gun and magnets; and for a surgeon, plates and screws. Other items could include enteroliths, foreign bodies, radiographs, bones, or preserved parasites.

Discuss the skills and knowledge students will need to become a veterinarian or veterinary technician, and explain how students can pursue a career in the veterinary profession. For younger students, this could mean talking about a desire to work with people and animals and a willingness to work hard at school and be a problem solver. For older students, you could focus on specific courses (math, biology, physics, etc) they will need, along with traits they will have to develop, such as good communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.

Finally, explain the steps necessary to becoming a veterinarian or veterinary technician, including the educational process. For older students, you might also want to talk about the steps needed to become a specialist or researcher.

Remember to organize your presentation to allow time for students to ask questions, and be prepared for unexpected questions. For elementary school students, you should decide whether you are going to have students hold their questions until the end of the presentation or ask during the presentation. Allowing questions during the presentation can distract other students and interfere with the presentation. Another method is to have students write questions on sticky notes and then choose a few to answer without having to call on anyone.

Some common questions to prepare for include the following:

• How do you help animals?
• How do you give animals medicine?
• What is it like to be a vet?
• Why did you want to be a vet?

For high school students, nothing is more frustrating than when a presenter says, “Hold all questions until the end.” Often, time runs short and they never get to ask their question. Allow the presentation to be interactive and dynamic, and use some of the questions to somewhat guide your presentation. Be flexible. It doesn’t mean you can’t say, “I’ll have to take the rest of the questions later” or “We may have time for stories at the end.” Some common questions to prepare for include the following:

• What courses should I take in high school?
• What can I do outside of school to prepare?
• What are the salaries of veterinarians and veterinary technicians?
• What grades do I need to be eligible to get into veterinary college?

Feedback is important so that you can continually improve your presentations. An easy way to get feedback from elementary school students is to ask them to draw a picture about what they learned from your presentation. High school students can complete a short questionnaire. Examples of questions include the following:

• What did you like most about the presentation?
• What did you like least about the presentation?
• What was the most important thing you learned from the presentation?

Presentation Day

Allow an extra 15 to 30 minutes in addition to the time you think it will take you to arrive and check in. This will be especially important if you are presenting at the beginning of the day at a school or the end of the day at a community center. Traffic can be a little tedious as school busses are loading and unloading and as parents are dropping off and picking up kids. If you are going to a high school, be especially wary as you will be sharing the road with inexperienced drivers.

Remember that you are the visitor, and respect the authority of the teacher or community center team and their rules while you are a guest. Be flexible. Even though you have thoroughly prepared your presentation, the day may move in a slightly different direction than you originally planned. That is okay. Find ways to make connections with the students to get them moving back in the right direction. Don’t be afraid to redirect inappropriate student behaviors (like talking to another student while the presenter is talking). Defer to the teacher or community center team member in charge if you are not sure how to answer a question or handle a situation. For elementary school students, find a way to get the students’ attention, or ask the teacher how he or she does so. Some suggestions include the following:

• A rhythmic clap.
• A call and response. (You can teach this to students at the beginning of the presentation: “1, 2, 3, eyes on me”; students respond with “1, 2, eyes on you.”)
• Lights out.
• Countdown to 1.
• Play music. (Let students know ahead of time that when they hear the music, they are to give you their attention.)

Remember to save items for students to keep until the end of the presentation. A nice time to hand out these items is after the feedback forms have been collected.

Academic Standards

Although there is no core standard that addresses career awareness and education, the English Language Arts Common Core State Standards include speaking and listening standards. 15 For example, several grade 5 listening and speaking standards 15 (eg, 5.1: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions…with diverse partners…, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly; 5.2: Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally; and 5.3: Summarize the points a speaker makes and explain how each claim is supported by reasons and evidence) could be applied to a career day presentation.

Veterinary professionals have the opportunity to influence the future of our profession by being role models for young students and providing them the information and support they need to succeed. By building relationships with schools and community centers and developing presentations for elementary and high school students, they also have an opportunity to broaden participation in the veterinary profession.

Acknowledgments

Supported by a Science Education Partnership Award from the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the ORIP or NIH.