Using LearnEnglish Kids - British Council


	Most children will enjoy talking about pets. Find instructions for playing 'Pet Bingo' on this page.

more tips

pet mania

Ideas for classroom activities about pets for learners aged 11 and over on the Language Assistant website. Some of the ideas are useful for parents too.

	using learnenglish kids with your child


	Pets

Animals is a topic that you will find in many English coursebooks and will also be a subject that is popular in the school curriculum, especially for younger children. There are many animal-related activities on LearnEnglish Kids, including the topic of pets. You'll find lots of resources about pets here:
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-pets

			With these materials your child can:
			practise the names of animals
			learn how to look after pets and practise words and structures related to looking after animals
			learn animal body parts
			learn about unusual pets and where our pets come from originally
			practise listening with an online game - listen to the animal descriptions and choose the right animal
			listen to a song about animals in a pet shop
			read a story about a family adopting a pet from an animal shelter
			read a story about a pet dog who can't go into the playground
			read longer stories about garden animals and a girl who is looking for her dog's family

The activities range from the simple (matching words and pictures) to more complex activities (such as learning about unusual pets). On the topics page you'll find symbols which give an indication of the best ages for each activity.

You can use these materials to practise English with your child. On this page you'll find an idea for an activity you can try with your child. On the left you'll also see a list of links to resources about this topic on teaching websites that you may find useful.

SOMETHING TO DO WITH YOUR CHILD

			Here is an idea for a game you can try with children at a beginner's level of English. Children of all ages will enjoy this activity.
			Download and print some bingo cards: Bingo cards 1 (160KB) Bingo cards 2 (156KB)
			There are two bingo cards on each download. Each bingo card has the pictures of 6 animals. Cut out the bingo cards.
			Give a bingo card to your child, and keep one yourself. If another child would like to play that would be great! Make sure everybody has a card.
			Check that all players know the names of the animals on their card in English. Practise the names before you play.
			Now download the word cards: Bingo word cards (47KB)
			Cut the bingo word cards out and fold the words up. Put them in a bowl or a hat.
			Take a word out of the bowl or hat and call out the word, for example 'mouse'. If a player has this picture they must shout 'mouse'. The first person to shout gets the word and uses it to cover the picture.
			Continue calling the words. The first person to cover a line of three animals is the winner, and shouts 'Bingo!'.
			Change the cards and play again. You can take it in turns to call the words.