veterinary presentation for kindergarten

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

• Written By: Wendy Bowkett
• Subject: Topics
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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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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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Come explore the world of the Center for Veterinary Medicine!  Find out about how we protect you and your pets by making sure you and your pets have safe food and medicine.

We have interesting and fun facts and activities for all ages.

Elementary School Age

• Meet the CVM Animal Pals
• Name the Animal Baby Matching Game (PDF - 732KB)
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• Think Food Safety and Be Salmonella Safe
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FREE NATURE PLAY ACTIVITIES + PRINTABLES

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By Penny Whitehouse

Vet play for kids: free printable resources

Children are naturally drawn to helping animals and whether they’ve experienced an animal in need first-hand or simply love animals, this vet play activity is a winner.

I’ve also created some free vet play printables that will help extend their learning further (download them below).

Vet play builds:

• Connections with animals
• Animal knowledge
• Empathy for animals
• Real-world knowledge
• Problem-solving
• With the printables: Scissor and literacy skills

Vet play set up

It’s pretty easy to set up a vet space to encourage real-world play.  Your set up can include but isn’t limited to:

• Play doctor equipment (we already has a stethoscope)
• Thermometer
• Pretend medicine
• A little table for check-ups
• Play knife (for surgery)
• Boxes (places to keep animals overnight)
• Phone (to ring customers when an animal need to be picked up)
• Stuffed or toy animals
• Vet play printables (see below)

Vet Play Printables 

These free printables will encourage children to think and advance their learning in this activity.

Vet Appointment Sheet  

This next appointment printable is great to have on hand with more than one child involved in the activity (or if it’s mum and child). Children love to fill out the appointment cards and deliver them to ensure animals have their regular check-ups.

Vet Surgery Animal Record Sheet

Your kids will love these vet animal record sheets. Kids will love creating scenarios where animals have been hurt, they’ll love writing how the animal was treated too. Signing their name will also make them feel like a real vet.

If your children aren’t yet familiar with types of animals, this basic animal classification activity would be a good way to explore this.

Set up a vet play area and watch the area come to life. Your children will simply adore this activity,  print out the vet play printables today and encourage more play in your home or classroom.

Nature Play Pack

June 19, 2013 at 5:47 am

Hi!! how ,uch i always enjoy yout blog! We should collaborate for the world animal day the 4th of october!

Would you like to do a bloghop with me? Please write me! Love, angie

June 22, 2013 at 7:51 am

Yes, we must collaborate! I’ll email you shortly. I just have to get a couple of important post done and then I’ll email you xx

June 19, 2013 at 6:55 am

Bondi Vet is one of our favourite shows and my girls have been playing their own version of the show. My eldest wants to be a dancer and a vet (not sure how that works!). I’m going to print out the resources you have created to add to their game. Thanks Penny!

June 22, 2013 at 7:53 am

Can’t we have nine career choices in our lifetime now? She can be a vet and a dancer and still have lots of left over career choices after that. 🙂

SO glad your girls will use them Kirri. That makes me super happy!

June 19, 2013 at 8:40 pm

My daughter would love this and whilst we’ve played vets before, the addition of your awesome printables will take it to a new level. Thanks so much for sharing! Pinned 🙂

June 22, 2013 at 7:54 am

Thank you Debs! I noticed that you pinned it. I really appreciate your support hon.

June 19, 2013 at 9:40 pm

This is just to sweet….i love the pics of your little vet, isn’t she just gorgeous!! Wonderful printables, my girls are loving hospital play at the moment but with the loss of our doggy friend recently they are very interested in all things ‘animal doctor’ so i think it might be a good time to do this sort of play…thanks so much for sharing Penny x

June 22, 2013 at 7:55 am

Thank you Jode. She really did suit being a vet. I loved the massive gloves! he he he

June 20, 2013 at 5:31 am

This is so cute. Thanks for the printouts. I especially liked the classifications on the Animal Record Sheet.

June 22, 2013 at 8:05 am

I couldn’t help adding some wildlife education in there Mama Carmody 😛

June 21, 2013 at 1:23 pm

I always wanted to be a vet when I was little and so I would have loved this. You have provided us with so many support to encourage and set up this play. Thanks so much. I look forward to doing it with my little girl this arvo.

June 22, 2013 at 8:10 am

I can;t remember wanting to be a Vet. I always wanted to be a zoo keeper I think. They, while I was a zoo keeper, I got to really see what Vets do and I was blown away. I think I would have loved to have been a vet!

hope they liked the resources it Kate!

June 21, 2013 at 3:42 pm

What a wonderful dramatic play idea. We haven’t played Vets before but are sure to now!

June 22, 2013 at 8:11 am

Yay Hannah. We hadn’t played vets either but we’ve been doing it lots since this post 🙂

July 14, 2013 at 11:02 pm

Love this Penny 🙂 xo P

September 11, 2014 at 11:41 pm

wow! talk about perfect timing! at store yesterday my LO begged, cried and did NOT get a little cute stuffy kitty w/big big eyes, just like the one in photo. she is also a very reluctant reader/writer! i have come to end of my rope w/that lol! but now, you saved us BOTH: 1-LO will get her kitty as a surprise after school today 2- i will get her ‘reading’ & writing FOR SURE!!! Thank you ever so kindly for sharing this for FREE–its priceless to ME!

September 12, 2014 at 7:15 am

I am so glad I have helped Jeanine and I hope she enjoys her new kitty and gives it a good check up every week! 🙂

October 31, 2016 at 1:18 am

make more pretend printables please

October 31, 2016 at 1:48 pm

What kinds of pretend play printables would you like me to make?

[…] Vet Play for Kids: Free Printable Resources from Wildlife Fun 4 Kids […]

[…] I set up a veterinary office with a doctor imaginary play kit the library had from a previous event. I had emailed the parents the day before to ask that their child bring in a stuffed animal. (I had a few extra on hand in case anyone forgot.) We first had to fill out their patient card, using this animal record sheet from Mother Natured. […]

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• Vetschool Tails

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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On Monday, March 6, 2023, veterinary students and veterinarians who applied to internships and residencies were given results from the Veterinary Internship and Residency Matching Program.

Breanna Demaline, a fourth-year veterinary student, was selected out of six student leaders nationwide to receive the Regional Leader of the Year award from the Veterinary Business Management Association. Demaline explains her involvement with the VBMA.

Clerkship students traveled around Mexico treating equids and growing their clinical skills through daily practice. The students had the opportunity to work in partnership with Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and Universidad Veracruzana (UV). They shared their experiences with unique patients, rare conditions, and singular procedure conditions that are difficult to replicate in a hospital setting.

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Teacher Guide Lesson Plans

Ideal for grades 4-6, this Guide contains background information, lessons, and activities that expand upon what veterinarians do to protect animals, people, and the environment. The lessons are based upon the photos and timeline represented on the AVMA classroom career poster. Choose a category below and then select your grade level.

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.

View entire backgrounder  

Grade 4 Activity: Interview Questions to Ask a Veterinarian (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: Life Cycle Stages of a Dairy Cow (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: Food Production Veterinary Science (PDF) Crossword Puzzle: Puzzle (PDF) | Puzzle solution (PDF)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a program called Food Safety and Inspection Services (FSIS) . The inspectors employed in the program are veterinarians who have the responsibility of making sure that the eggs, poultry, and meat we buy are wholesome and safe.

View entire backgrounder

Grade 4 Activity: My Letter to a Friend  (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: Food Supply Veterinarian Facts (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: Questions about Food Supply Veterinarians (PDF) Crossword Puzzle: Puzzle (PDF) | Puzzle solution (PDF)

Scientists, regulators, and the public are becoming increasingly concerned about the presence and impact of emerging chemical contaminants (including pharmaceuticals, veterinary medicine residues, nanoparticles, and degradation products) and emerging persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. Veterinarians assist in protecting the environment by identifying and tracking contaminants from sources like confined animal feeding operations or fish hatcheries to prevent contaminants from polluting waterways (lakes, rivers, and streams) and ground water aquifers.

Grade 4 Activity: My Disaster Preparedness Plan (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: The Impact of Environmental Pollutants on Animals and Humans (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: How Emerging Contaminants Impact the Environment (PDF)

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.

Grade 4 Activity: Endangered Animals Right Here (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: Interesting Facts About Polar Bears (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: Zoos Helping Endangered Species (PDF) Crossword Puzzle: Puzzle (PDF) | Puzzle solution (PDF)

Veterinarians who train to become astronauts desire to work with other researchers to study what happens to people and animals in space where there is no gravity—also known as zero-g. They perform experiments on Earth and on space shuttle missions in order to observe the long-term health effects of space travel and a zero-gravity environment on experiments with animals. This kind of research has led to improved lifestyles of astronauts during subsequent space missions and continues to provide new information for future human life in space.

Grade 4 Activity: Animals in Space (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: My Profile as an Astronaut (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: Creating Animal Experiments in Space (PDF)

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.

Grade 4 Activity: My Veterinary ER Journal (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: My Pet Emergency First-aid Kit (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: Disaster Pet Care Planning (PDF) Crossword Puzzle: Puzzle (PDF) | Puzzle solution (PDF)

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.

Grade 4 Activity: Learn about West Nile Virus (PDF) Grade 5 Activity: A Dog Named Triumph (PDF) Grade 6 Activity: How Animal Research Helps Fight Cancer (PDF) Crossword Puzzle: Puzzle (PDF) | Puzzle solution (PDF)

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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.

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