Having stuffed animals in the classroom can provide emotional comfort and academic support. Here are five ways you can use stuffed animals in the classroom.
Reading Buddies
This is probably the most common way that teachers use stuffed animals in the classroom. If you use The Daily 5 for your reading block, you know that Read to Someone can often leave a student left to read alone when a child is absent or there is an odd number of students. When this happens, students can choose to read with a stuffed animal instead. Also, when students need to practice their oral reading fluency, stuffed animals make terrific listeners! They won’t interrupt, they maintain eye contact, and they don’t seem to intimidate or make the student nervous while reading which helps build student confidence.
Listening Buddies
As I mentioned earlier, stuffed animals make incredible listeners! You can set up a station in your classroom where the animals can listen to a child’s worries, help a child celebrate an achievement, or even lend an ear to a tattle or two.
Audience
Speaking and listening skills are something students need to practice. I know I was always terrified to stand in front of the classroom when I was growing up. I may have tackled the ability to stand in front of a classroom full of students, but please don’t make me stand up in front of adults. Chances are some of your students are feeling the same way. Before a student gives a presentation or report in front of the class, you can allow that child to practice in front of a captivating audience of stuffed animals.
Class Pets
Stuffed animals can also be used as class pets. They provide comfort and conversation without the fear of making a mess or triggering allergies. Years ago, I introduced my students to Brownie and Rocks. These two pups traveled home with my each of my students. The students would write a letter to the class sharing about their adventures with the class pets. We never had a lost pup all year long and the pups were very well taken care of. You can read more about these adventures here. Still, if you fear that something will happen to your treasured stuffed animals, you could have your students write letters to the class pets during class time instead.
Classroom Management
Stuffed animals can also be used to assist with your classroom management. If you are as grossed out about hall passes as I am (eww, germs), you can have your stuffed animals be seat fillers. When a child goes to the bathroom or the office, simply place the stuffed animal in the child’s seat. You can also choose to recognize appropriate behaviors you see in the classroom. When the class becomes particularly chatty, you can gently pick up the stuffed animal, walk up to a quiet student, and say, “Pete the Cat sure thinks you are groovy because you are working quietly. Can he come sit by you for a little while?” The other students will quickly quiet down because they, too, want to have Pete the Cat sit on their desk.
Finding Friends
If you are interested in building up your collection of stuffed animals, you don’t need to get carried away with spending a lot of money. You can ask families to donate gently used stuffed animals or even check out some local yard sales. If you are looking for specific characters, keep an eye out at Kohl’s. The Kohl’s Cares program carries popular book characters and Kohl’s donates the money towards different charitable organizations.
I have also found a few friends on Amazon. Here are just a few favorite book characters:
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Caring for & Storing Your Stuffed Animals
Where will you keep your stuffed animals? That is up to you. I definitely recommend having a designated area for your new friends. Not only will this help teach responsibility, but you will easily be able to see if a friend is missing and whether a friend needs a little TLC. I have seen stuffed animals kept on bookshelves, in a large plastic tub, and even next to the window. Find a space where students can easily access them. You also need to make sure your new friends are machine washable. They will need to get a bath occasionally to keep them safe and clean. If you have a stuffed animal that is not machine washable, you might want to consider leaving that friend at home or just keeping it on display.
Do you use stuffed animals in your classroom? I’d love to hear more about how you use them with your students!
Happy Teaching!
I used stuffed animals constantly in ,my second grade class because kids loved them and it motivated them so much.
I used stories the first week of school. I brought a huge bag and let the kids “adopt” one for that week. I didn’t let them keep it at their desk because it was too distracting but they could take it with them to centers and other less structured times. They invented and wrote about the animals character traits and favorites under a hand drawn picture of the animal. They also read nonfiction books about the real animals represented.. I put a lot of their work into class books. I had them write story problems about the animals, used them for graphing lessons, and had the kids measure them. At parent teacher conferences The parents would get to meet the animals and read their kids r Ed later work.
I love the idea of letting students “adopt” a stuffed animal for the week! Thank you for sharing this, Brandilee!
Storie
I have used them in my classroom for years! I teach first grade and my students love them! We call them cuddle buddies. We use them in most of the ways you suggested in your article. I hadn’t thought about putting them on a quiet worker’s desk! Will definitely be using that this year! Thanks!
Hi Sandra,
I love that you call yours cuddle buddies. I’m so glad you found a useful tip. Enjoy your school year!
Storie