Cats and dogs: how to care for a pet and tell how it feels
Children love pets long before they know how to read one. Our cats and dogs game teaches care, kindness and body language with Pip the puppy and Kit the kitten. All instructions, facts and questions are read aloud, so no reading is needed.
What your child learns about cats and dogs
Your child learns that cats and dogs are different animals with different needs. A dog chews a bone and goes for walks on a leash. A cat chases a feather toy and scratches on a post.
Your child also learns what every pet needs: food made for its kind, fresh water, play and a brush. Last, the game shows that pets cannot talk, but that their bodies tell us a lot.
- Pet words: puppy, kitten, leash, whiskers, claws and scratching post
- Sorting: which things belong to a dog and which to a cat
- Caring: food, water, play and brushing
- Feelings: a happy, playful, scared or sleepy dog, and a cat that says hello, purrs, is scared or blinks slowly
- Comparing sizes: a kitten, a cat and a small, medium and big dog
Why we made this game
Why does the cat purr? Why does the dog wag its tail? Why is the cat hiding? Young children ask questions like these all the time, and they deserve simple, true answers.
So we built the game around a puppy called Pip and a kitten called Kit. Children sort toys and tools into the dog basket and the cat basket, and then look after a pet themselves.
A good pet owner also reads a pet. That is why one screen shows how a dog and a cat show feelings, and gives one clear rule for a scared pet: stay calm and give it space.
Pet advice is easy to get wrong, so we checked every fact in the game against sources such as the ASPCA, the RSPCA and Cats Protection.
What children love about it
On the care screen, children drag food, water and a toy to a dog or a cat. Then they rub a brush over its fur and hear that the pet is fed, clean and happy.
On the sizes screen, they tap a kitten, a cat and three dogs, from small to big. On the feelings screen, they tap a picture to find out what a tail, ears and eyes can tell us.
There are 13 fun fact cards, and the memory game has 4, 6 or 8 pairs.
In the quiz, every right answer is a paw print for Pip the puppy. He walks along the prints and grows. With enough right answers, he grows into a big, happy dog.
How to play it together
Start with the cat-or-dog sorting screen and let your child say the answer before they drag. Afterward, talk about what you saw: the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests talking with young children about what they see on screens.
On the feelings screen, copy the pets. Curl up like a sleepy cat, or do a play bow like a dog. Ask your child: how do you know this pet is scared?
Then look at real pets in a picture book or at the park. Always ask the owner before you pet a dog you do not know, and stay calm and give a scared pet space.