Make a Book About Your Pet! (ages 7-9)

In this class, students will create a simple book to draw and write about their pets! Pets are like family to us and it can be so much fun to create stories or memories about them! After class, I will upload a certificate for each student congratulating them for being an author!

After introductions, students will be guided through first making their books, and then writing their stories. In the class video above I provide instructions for 3 different ways to create the book if you'd like to make the book before class. First, we will design the cover of the book. I will have the students create a title, put their name as the author, and perhaps draw a picture of their pet on the cover. Next, they will create a title page, just like in a real book. Finally, students will begin writing and drawing about their pets inside the book. I want to steer away from telling students what to write while also being conscious of staying within the class time frame. Therefore, I will mainly be guiding them through writing their own stories from their own imaginations, but I will also have ideas for titles and sentence frames ready to use and tailor to their pet if needed. Some students, even very young, naturally come up with their own sentences and stories and enjoy doing this as opposed to having someone tell them what to write. Others would prefer to have sentence frames ahead of time to fill in. I can work with both, but if your child might be too shy during class to let me know they need help, please let me know that in advance.

Also, please keep in mind that because some children take a lot of time drawing pictures, at some point during class I will assess where students are at with their stories. Then I will suggest that if they don’t have enough time to draw all the pictures during class, that’s okay because we want to make sure they have their story completely written, and then they can always finish the pictures after class is over.

Students can talk about their pet's name, how old they are, the color of their fur, the type of pet they are, what their pet likes to eat or to do such as playing ball or going for car rides, etc. Students can also write about a funny or heartwarming memory of their pet. It is all up to the student's imagination and experience! I will explain all of this to the learners during class. In my photo for this class, I used a picture of a cat I had that passed away in 2017 named Marley. If I were to write my book about Marley I might say, "This is my cat, Marley. He is big, orange, and has long, fluffy hair. Marley loves to snuggle on my lap while I watch TV or when I sleep. Sometimes he will even hug my neck! He also loves to eat tuna! When we are together, my heart is happy because I love him, and I know that he loves me too."

To make the book you will need 3 sheets of white paper, one sheet of colored paper, a pencil, a pair of scissors, a standard stapler, and crayons or colored pencils. I do not recommend markers because they will bleed through the pages.

I did this activity once with a friend's daughter, and she really enjoyed it. I look forward to creating with your children and hope they take these books away as a positive memory of a fun activity as well as a keepsake about their beloved pet!