Little Veterinarians Unite

Fresh off the success of Little Medical School – How to be a Sports Surgeon, my eager/reluctant young homeschoolers were excited to dive into the life of a Veterinarian with How to Be a Little Veterinarian from Classroom in a box. This kit combines passions shared by all three of my younglings; stuffed animals, costumes, and how to projects. So excited were they upon its arrival, that rather than wait for science class the next day, they tore into the box straight away. While my ten year old took point, his younger siblings retrieved the earlier kit, so that they could play alongside him.

Contents:
Light Weight Lab Coat
Plush Dog
Recipe Card
ID Badge
Dog Bandanna
Tick Stickers
Pet Assessment Form
Modeling Dough
Dog Bone Cookie Cutter
Adoption Certificate
Tick Removal Poster
Diploma
Gloves
Markers
Tweezers
Tape Measure

This kit follows the same pattern as the first at home professions kit we did. There are five activities to follow along with, as you learn a little more about animal medicine along the way to graduation.

In your first activity you adopt a pet. Mostly this involves snuggling with the stuffed toy provided and filling our the adoption paperwork. One child takes responsibility for the animal, and chooses a name, whilst a parent or sibling presents the animal to the child. We talked about the responsibilities that come with adoption, and about some people we know who foster dogs while they wait for their forever homes.

After adoption, you need to perform a physical exam to gather information about the health of the animal. Activity 2, the nose to tail exam, has you go through a worksheet to check the health of your new pet. No snot was found, the fur was shiny, and the overall verdict from our vet in training was that the animal was healthy, but with small cuts on his paws!

After the nose to tail exam, the third activity is to ensure the healthy growth of your animal. Using the instructions and enclosed tape measure you take specific measurements of the animal. My kids all remember getting measure at their own check ups each year, and thought that it was funny how similar people medicine could be to animal medicine.

In the same vein, while we had recently been learning in Cub Scouts about healthy eating, the fourth task was all about healthy treats for your dog. What I enjoyed about this task, was it’s emphasis on making treats for your animal out of ingredients you have right at home, none of this processed stuff you wouldn’t give your kids. Before making the cookies you can use the modelling dough to practise cutting our bones of different thickness, and making your own size bones for bigger dogs. Much like the Sports Surgeon kit, we found the included dough to me too messy for us to use, and so we just pulled out the play-dough.

The final activity is absolutely perfect for us, living as we do in the Maine woods; Tick removal. A short description of ticks is followed by step by step instructions on how to remove one. As we recently had to dig one out of my husbands soft middle, I need all my kids to understand the importance of seeing to this quickly. The Tick poster that comes with this kit is likely to be a permanent fixture, not just at Veterinary school, but in the Pinault house in general.

You finish with graduation, and by reciting the school oath. If you are anything like us you will sing in a pseudo School House Rock style.

At the end of the day, all three of my kids at ages four, eight, and ten, loved learning how to be a Veterinarian, each taking something different away from the activities. Much like the Sports Surgeon kit, they were thoroughly engaged and entertained throughout. While the Tommy John stuffy from the first kit is the new nightly snuggle buddy of my eight year old, the ten year old has adopted the pet from this box, his name is now Steve, and he is doing well thanks to my little Veterinarians.

This would be a great kit to have in your pocket for any snow days, or Covid19 days, that we might have in the 20-21 school year, or just for fun! Our school district just announced distance learning till September 30, so we are definitely on the hunt for more products just like this one!

GeekMom received this item for review purposes.