Free Ways to Learn About Community Helpers – Veterinarians

Teaching our children about community helpers is a great way for them to appreciate service, give thanks to those who provide service, and to be good servants themselves. These free ways to learn about veterinarians specifically, will be a great place for kids to start.

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Most of the children I know love pets and animals. Whether it be curious children who like to discover how animals function or other children who are cuddle bugs with their own pets, kids enjoy animals.

That is why many kids find it intriguing that they can be both doctors AND “play” with pets all day. To some of our kids, that is just the ultimate awesome job.

One of my oldest friend’s daughters has made this a reality. This year she flew from New York to Arizona to complete her studies as a veterinarian after completing her undergraduate studies in biology.

One little girl’s dream to play with animals all day and be a doctor will become a reality in just a few short years. How cool is that?!

How important are vets?

Veterinarians (Vets) do so much more than play with animals all day. Pets are part of most of our families, and these doctors make sure that they are healthy, safe, and cared for.

I live in a second world country with no full-time veterinarian. With so many animals on the island and no veterinarian, our community had often been left with absolutely no help for their animals.

Before 2020, South Pacific Animal Welfare (SPAW) – a NZ based charity, partnered with our government ministries to provide veterinary services for our little country. SPAW paid us a visit for a weeks’ time every quarter to treat as many animals as they could.

SPAW would leave medical supplies behind with a few trusted citizens, so that people could reach out to them if they needed minor meds or treatments for their pets.

The SPAW team was due to come in February 2020, but unfortunately, 2020 had different plans for us all.

There was still some hope…

Thankfully, this very year (2020) a group of six awesome individuals – passionate about animals and their welfare- got together to form Tonga Animal Welfare Society, known as TAWS.

TAWS helps support the community with challenges they may face when it comes to animal care. They rock! I know two of these ladies personally and they truly are precious humans who care for the community.

If you want to find out more about TAWS, please feel free to stop by their website HERE. They sell items and have “sausage sizzles” to raise money for their needs and let me put their caseload into perspective. 

In just the last two days, they have serviced over 42 dogs, including anything from dispersing meds to burns and car accidents. I am not sure how they do it, but they try their very best.

My kids and I just never gave a second thought to how important veterinary services were to our communities, until moving to a place where it wasn’t readily available.

Vets and animal care workers are definitely one of the community helpers that more often than not, lack the appreciation they deserve.

If you are studying community helpers this coming year, please include veterinarians.

Write them “thank you” notes, bake the staff some cookies or even go global and donate to TAWS on an island across the oceans that desperately needs the help.

Explore these FREE ways to learn about community helpers – veterinarians – in your homeschool:

Veterinarian! A Community Helper Preschool / Kindergarten Series | The Disguised SuperMom

FREE Vet Printable Coloring Page | MomJunction

Learn about Animal Health with the Community Helper for V | Life with Moore Babies

Veterinarian for Kids | Kids.Kiddle.co

How to become a Veterinarian | Easy Science for Kids

Kids who want to be veterinarians can prepare from a young age | The Ann Arbor News

Veterinarian Unit Study 2.0 | The Waldock Way

Teaching Children to Love Animals – A Veterinarian’s POV | Forever Freckled

Becoming a Veterinarian | KidzWorld

Vets in Action Primary Source | NATGEO Kids

When I Grow Up – I Want To Be A Vet | Simple Living Mama

Veterinary Animal Care Unit Study | Eclectic Homeschooling

Check out these free resources and unit studies on animals and pets:

FREE Equine Science Unit Study Resources

Ideas for Creating a Pet Unit Study | The Homeschool Mom

8 Top Websites Where Kids Can Learn About Animals | Scholastic.com

FREE Cats Unit and Lapbook | Homeschool Share

Dog FREE Unit Study | The Homeschool Scientist

Alaska/ Sled Dog/ Iditarod unit study and lapbook | I Choose Joy

Montessori Inspired Turtle Unit | Mama’s Happy Hive

FREE Turtle Printables And Montessori-Inspired Turtle Activities | Living Montessori Now

Teach your kids with animal/pet-themed printables:

Pets FREE Printable Pack (K-3) | Money Saving Mom

FREE Emergent Readers About Pets | The Measured Mom

Pets Preschool Activities Pack | PreKPrintableFun

Blocks & Stem Center… Building Pet Homes (A FREEBIE) | Pocket of Preschool

Pets & Their Homes Matching FREE Activity | totschooling

My Pet Fish Art Project | Fantastic, Fun, and Learning

Animal X-Rays Matching Activity FREE | totschooling

Use these free worksheets about veterinarians to go alongside your lessons:

Veterinarian Community Helper FREE Worksheet | AllKidsNetwork

FREE Veterinarian Worksheet | AllKidsNetwork

Veterinarian FREE Downloadable Worksheet | Education.com

Veterinarian Center FREEBIES | Mrs Perez Teacher Tools

Head to the library to check out some books about being a vet and having pets:

Books About Pets For Preschoolers | Pre-K Pages

Good Books About Veterinarians And Zookeepers | Pre-K Pages

Books about Community Helpers for Pre-K | PreKInders

Top 10 Books for Kids Wanting to Be a Vet | KidzWorld

Create a veterinary office visit dramatic/pretend play area:

Vet Animal Hospital Dramatic Play | Pre-K Pages

Pretend Play Box – Veterinarian | Growing Play

Dramatic Play Vet Animal Hospital | Pocket of Preschool

Pretend Play Vet’s Office with FREE Printable | Mess for Less

Dramatic Play Veterinarian’s Office Printables | Pre-K Pages

FREE Printable Vet Office Pretend Play Sheet | MomDot

Pretend Play Vet Clinic Printables For Kids | Simple Everyday Mom

Vet Clinic – Pretend Play | No Time for Flash Cards

Ace Pet Vet Plus Dramatic Play | Things to Share and Remember

Pretend Play Veterinarian’s Office | Playdough to Plato

Vet Clinic Dramatic Play Center | Play to Learn Preschool

Be a Pet Vet: Veterinarian Name Tags FREE | Unstoppable Mrs Kinne

Vet Clinic Dramatic Play Activity | Teaching Mama

FREE Vet Clinic Dramatic Play | KinderMyWay

Vet Center FREE Printable | Kindergarten Night Owls

Enjoy some hands-on activities and games all about veterinary services:

FREE Vet Printables | Moms and Munchkins

DIY Toy Stethoscope | Serving Pink Lemonade

Vet Clinic Activities | ikatbag

Animal X-Rays on the Light Table | Where Imagination Grows

Veterinarians – Theme and activities | Educatall

Watch videos about veterinarians and what they do:

Visit the Veterinarian | Sesame Street

So You Want To Be a Vet? – Awesome Animal Vets | NATGEO Kids

I Want To Be a Veterinarian | RADICAL JR

Kids Meet a Pet Vet | HiHo Kids

How To Draw A Veterinarian | Art for Kids Hub

Story time: Paula the Vet by Julia Donaldson | Oxford Owl – Learning at Home

Vet Clinic TV | Children’s Museum Houston

You can share these free ways to learn about community helpers – veterinarians – but why stop there?

Don’t miss out on our other resources for studying more community helpers with your students:

Printables About Community Helpers

Free Community Helpers Printables

Free Community Helpers Handwriting Practice

Help those community helpers – veterinarians – who help our furry (and some not so furry) loved ones throughout the year!

The Tonga Animal Welfare Society can be reached via email at [email protected] or check them out on Facebook and Instagram.