International Cat Day | EYFS & KS1 Activity Ideas

**Note: This page is not officially affiliated with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). For official information about cat welfare and conservation efforts from IFAW, please visit their website: www.ifaw.org

Understanding International Cat Day in EYFS & KS1

Meow! International Cat Day, celebrated annually on August 8th, is a purr-fect opportunity to celebrate our feline friends and learn all about them! It's a day dedicated to raising awareness about cat welfare, responsible pet ownership, and the special bond between humans and cats. It was founded in 2002 by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

For early years settings, nurseries, preschools, childminders, and Year 1 and Year 2 classrooms, this day provides a wonderfully relatable and engaging theme for exploring pets, animals, and caring for living creatures. It's about fostering empathy, understanding responsibility, and appreciating the diversity of the animal kingdom. This day offers fantastic planning ideas and inspiration for engaging activities that truly resonate with young minds, making learning about pets and animal welfare both meaningful and fun.

Why Is Teaching About Cats & Pets Important for Young Children?

Integrating lessons about cats and other pets into your practice with young children (aged 0-7) is incredibly important for fostering their social-emotional development, understanding of biology, and sense of responsibility. During their early years, children often have, or wish for, pets, making this a highly engaging topic.

• Empathy and Care: Learning about the needs of a pet helps children develop empathy and understand what it means to care for another living being. This translates to caring for peers and and the wider world.

• Responsibility: Discussing pet ownership introduces concepts of responsibility, routines, and the consistent effort required to look after animals.

• Understanding Life Cycles & Needs: Exploring what cats (and other pets) need to thrive (food, water, shelter, exercise, veterinary care) introduces basic biological needs common to all living things.

• Social-Emotional Connection: Pets often provide companionship and comfort, and discussing these bonds can open up conversations about feelings and relationships.

• Language and Literacy: Learning about different cat breeds, their characteristics, and sounds expands vocabulary and provides rich opportunities for descriptive language and storytelling.

• Real-World Connections: Many children have pets or know someone who does, making these lessons highly relevant and relatable to their own lives.

Engaging Cat & Pet Activities for International Cat Day (0-7 Year Olds)

Making International Cat Day a truly paws-itive experience is easy with these planning ideas and activities perfect for EYFS and KS1 children. The focus is on discovery, empathy, and celebrating our beloved feline companions! Many of these early years and year 1 activities can be supported by the extensive range of printable resources we have available.

Here's some inspiration for bringing the joy of cats and pets into your setting: (Please use your own discretion and knowledge of your children to ensure appropriateness of each activity and safety concerning any materials given and activity undertaken.)

• "What Does a Cat Need?" Discussion: Start by discussing the essential needs of a cat. Use our 'What Does a Cat Need? Poster' and 'What Does a Cat Need? Poster - Colouring' to prompt discussion. You can then play 'What Does a Cat Need? Game' to reinforce these concepts.

• Veterinary Surgery Role-Play: Set up a 'Veterinary Surgery Role-Play Pack' where children can pretend to be vets, nurses, or pet owners. Provide toy animals, bandages, and clipboards. This teaches about caring for sick animals and the role of vets.

• Pet Description: Encourage children to describe their own pets (or an imaginary one) using our 'Pet Descriptions Game'.

• 'My Pet Can...' Activity: Provide drawing or writing sheets for children to illustrate what their pet (or a cat) can do. Our 'Pets - 'My Pet Can' drawing/writing/mark making sheets' are perfect for this creative expression.

• Feed the Cat Pencil Control: Focus on fine motor skills with our 'Feed the Cat Pencil Control Mats' and 'Feed the Cat Pencil Control Sheets', where children can trace lines to "feed" the cat.

• Pet Word & Sound Games: Introduce vocabulary about pets and animal sounds using our 'Pets Word Mat', 'Pet Word Cards'. Explore sounds with 'Animal Description Cards - Phase 1 Sounds', 'Animal Sounds Game', 'Animal Sound Mat - Phase 2', 'Animal Sound Cards - Phase 2', and 'Animal Sound Cards - Phase 2 (Colouring)'. You can also use 'Animal Initial Sound Match Game' and 'Animal Word Slice Puzzles - Phase 2 Sounds'.

• Pussycat Pussycat Song: Sing the classic nursery rhyme "Pussycat, Pussycat" using our 'Pussycat Pussycat Song Words' and 'Pussycat Pussycat Song Words - Colouring'. This is great for rhythm, rhyme, and memory.

• Pet-Themed Arts & Crafts: Provide various art supplies for children to draw, paint, or collage pictures of cats or other pets. Our 'Pets Colouring' pages are ideal for this.

• Pet Counting & Numeracy: Integrate maths by counting cats, paws, or pet food. Our 'Pets Number Multimats - Playdough, Whiteboard & Pen or Loose Parts' are versatile for this. Our 'Pets 2-Piece Puzzles' and 'Pets 2-Piece Puzzles - Colouring' also offer counting and problem-solving.

• 'Our Pets' Display: Create a central display area to showcase children's work and learning about pets using our 'Our Pets' Banner'.

• Planning Support: Don't forget to check out our 'Planning - Topic Plan Ideas - Animals' and 'Planning - Topic Plan Ideas - Pets' for broader context and more ideas.

These activities offer great inspiration for making International Cat Day a memorable and impactful experience in your early years and Key Stage One setting, fostering empathy, responsibility, and a love for animals.

To explore ideas surrounding additional early years events, please visit our 'Special Dates Calendar' page.

Printable resources to support teaching & learning surrounding: ‘International Cat Day’

Additional Pages you may like to explore which cover relevant &/or Connected themes

More Early Years Event Pages for August

Explore special dates (including awareness dates, festivals, celebrations & events) relevant to your EYFS & KS1 children

Browse our ‘Special Dates Calendar’ page using the link below. You’ll find calendars for every month of the year to aid your planning!

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Disclaimer:
This page is for educational purposes only and is intended to support early years and primary practitioners with ideas and resources related to 'International Cat Day'. We are not officially affiliated with or endorsed by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), the founders of this specific awareness day. We do not claim any rights to specific trademarks or official materials associated with this day. For official information, please visit www.ifaw.org.