Desk Pets in the Classroom Are The New Craze and We’re Obsessed!

Discipline is one of the most important parts of teaching. While making lesson plans, teaching social emotional skills, and constantly assessing your students are crucial, none of these things can happen without discipline in your classroom. Desk pets are a new methodology, and they are changing many classrooms for the better.

Read on to learn more about what desk pets can do for you and your students, and make sure to download these FREE printables to add to your lesson!

What are desk pets?

Desk pets are simple. They are a small animal that each student gets to adopt, name, and care for throughout the school year. Some teachers use animal-shaped erasers and other teachers use plastic animals available at dollar and discount stores. You might even use animal-shaped beads, which can be found at craft and hobby stores. What the actual pet looks like matters far less than how students care for their pets.

How do I give out desk pets?

Each student gets to choose, adopt, and name a pet. It’s up to you how the adoption process works! Many teachers hold an adoption ceremony on the first day of school to set the rules from the very beginning while other teachers introduce desk pets after the daily routine has been well-established. Have your students fill out an adoption certificate to make the relationship with their pet binding and important.

How do desk pets influence behavior?

Throughout the day, students have the chance to earn classroom currency or credits that they can use to purchase things for their pets. When you see a student displaying appropriate behavior, you can give out these rewards. (It’s a good idea to give students an envelope or folder to keep their money in so it doesn’t get lost!)

Perhaps students can earn a desk pet dollar for lining up correctly the first time or having all their supplies ready when the lesson begins. At the same time, if a student is displaying poor behavior, you can charge them for those choices, which means they lose some of their hard-earned money. Students might lose a dollar for talking during instruction or for failing to listen the first time. Further, if students are too distracted by their desk pets, you can place them in pet daycare on your desk for a short period of time.

What can students do with their money or credits?

This is the most enjoyable part of owning a desk pet. You can open your desk pet store when it’s convenient for you. Set prices on the items in your store and allow students to spend their classroom money. As a bonus, this helps teach students how to save as well as how to budget for what they want for their pets.

What can I sell in my store?

Anything! Start a collection of tiny erasers in a variety of themes or small beads in a variety of shapes and colors. Offer holiday-themed items, such as pumpkin-shaped beads for Halloween or heart-shaped beads at Valentine’s Day. Miniature containers can become food and water bowls or beds for the desk pets. Small squares of felt or fabric can become blankets for the pets. You might even allow your students to buy friends for their desk pets! It’s key to keep a rotating selection of items in your store so students don’t get bored and lose interest. If there are new things to buy on a regular basis, students will have more incentive to keep behaving so they can keep earning money.

How do I keep the desk pets organized?

Your students’ desk pets can become a nightmare if they don’t have a home. A small reusable container is the perfect size to corral each pet, as well as all the items and accessories your students begin to collect. Label each home with a student’s name and it’s easy to identify who each pet belongs to. Make it a rule that the pet and everything the pet owns must stay in the home unless you give permission for students to play with their desk pets.

Download and include these fun printables to make it official!

Yes! Printables make your desk pet discipline policy more effective. An adoption certificate makes your students’ desk pets official. Passing out paper desk pet dollars is much more effective at encouraging students to make good choices than simply keeping track of what each student has. It’s also a lot easier for you and puts the responsibility of saving money on the kids. The act of giving you a desk pet dollar for poor behavior is also quite effective at helping children remember to make good choices. You might also include a price sheet for your store so your students have a constant reminder of what they’re saving for and how much more they need to save.

Turning the responsibility for earning classroom money over to your students helps them take charge of their own behavior. While they are learning to save, they are also learning the benefits of making good choices. It’s a win-win for your classroom!