What is a Desk Pet?
Desk pets can absolutely be a successful classroom incentive for the upper elementary student. It isn’t just for lower elementary, but there are a few different ways I suggest you cater this incentive to older students.
I can remember my very first year of teaching, going into the Target dollar spot and seeing all of the mini erasers. First year teacher me knew that I just had to have them all. I can also tell you that they sat in a cute little organizer up in my cabinet for probably the first three years of teaching, and I never touched them. Then I had one parent, 4 years ago, donate a set of three-dimensional animal erasers, and my class went crazy. There wasn’t the term “desk pet” floating around yet, but that was pretty much what we had in our room before this whole craze happened.
And it just started to spiral from there. First it was just an animal erasers sitting on their desk. Then I pulled out a few of those mini erasers from my giant collection and offered them as accessories. As time continued on, students began building habitats using wax-covered string called monkey string on Amazon. It’s grown and developed over the years into a fun classroom community builder!
Desk Pets for the Classroom
I’ve seen teachers use this as a classroom management system with lower elementary students, but not a ton in upper elementary. I know why.
5th graders are often at this in-between phase. They still love some things that we think are mostly for younger students, and yet they’re very excited to grow up and be mature. These desk pets fall into the younger category. However, this way of introducing the desk pets and the system revolving around them caters perfectly to upper elementary students because they are able to create accessories to go with their desk pets.
I used desk pets as a branch of my classroom economy. Students earn money throughout the week for a variety of different things, and if you’re interested in learning more about this classroom economy, you can read this post here. Because this is just one part of my classroom management system, students who aren’t into desk pest are not required to participate. They can choose to spend their money on things that they do like.
Desk Pets Classroom Guidelines
Before I allow my students to adopt a desk pet, I go over classroom guidelines and rules. I start by giving students a clear square adhesive Target pocket on the corner of their desk. I let students know that their desk pet (and anything they choose to build for their desk pet) must stay within the border of this clear square. This clear adhesive pocket allows the students to swap out the floor of their desk pet habitat. By giving the students this very clear boundary, it ensures that the habitat will not become disruptive or distracting while the students are learning.
Classroom Desk Pet Zoo
I also make it very clear that the students aren’t to touch their habitat or pet throughout the day. This can be very tempting for some students as it is sitting on the corner of their desk. If a student cannot handle this temptation, then I have a zoo. The zoo is a collection of desk pet habitats up on a shelf where the students cannot touch. They can still have a desk pet (or more like a shelf pet😂), and they can still participate in building a habitat for that pet. However, the pet will not be sitting on their desk until they are able to demonstrate a little bit more self-control. It often only takes one or two pets visiting the zoo for students to realize that when I say not to touch the pet during the day, I mean it.
You may decide that making a desk pet zoo is actually a better option for your class overall. Just have a shelf or a large flat area where each student can have a space to build a habitat for their pet. Creating clear guidelines around adopting a desk pet will set students up for success and make it a manageable classroom incentive.
Desk Pet Classroom Management
I have to admit that when I first saw the idea of eraser animal desk pets (thanks to that parent who brought in the erasers four years ago), I thought my 5th graders would be too old for that. Boy, was I wrong! They were so excited to adopt different pets, build habitats, and create accessories. They absolutely blew my mind with their imagination and creativity. I quickly realized the opportunity that was right in front of me to use this as part of my classroom management strategy.
This is really how all classroom management should go – find something that your students love and use that as a motivator. I run a full classroom economy in my classroom which you can read more about in this blog post. Because my students have lots of opportunities to earn classroom cash, I have desk pets available for purchase. This means that the students will be working throughout the week to earn their money which they can use to purchase the pets or the habitat materials, but they don’t have to.
I don’t require my students to participate in desk pets, but it is an option for how they can spend their money. I did have a few students who were just not into it. Had I had only used a desk pet classroom management system, I would have lost the motivation of those students. But because I use desk pets as part of my classroom economy, those students who weren’t into desk pets could choose to spend their money on other things they enjoyed. When we’re just not quite sure how effective a classroom management strategy will be, choice becomes imperative.
Where to Buy Desk Pets
Some of the links below in this desk pets blog post are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
There are lots of places now that are offering little desk pet sets that include Walmart, Target, Michaels, etc. However, I have found the best desk pets are from Amazon. I really like this set because it’s not too expensive, the pets are more 3D, and there is such a wide variety of animals.
Depending on the guidelines that you set up, you may only need one desk pet per student and this set would be the perfect amount. In my classroom, I do allow students to adopt more than one pet. However, they are only able to have one desk pet out on the corner of their desk at a time.
Once students get started adopting a desk pet and collecting the building materials, they often go home and tell their parents all about it. At that point I send an email with the materials that we use and the Amazon links if parents would like to donate more materials.
Desk Pet Habitat
This is the part that makes desk pets come alive. This is where the students get to apply their creativity and imagination to creating a three-dimensional house or habitat. I have the students use monkey string (or wax-covered string) to create their desk pet houses. This string is just a material the students use and make it into anything they can imagine. I have seen igloos built for a polar bear. Collars and leashes made for small dogs and cats. I’ve even seen a table and chairs constructed for a panda bear. Below you can find some actual photograph examples from the students in my class.
Personalization and Creativity
Another perk to providing just the materials for building a desk pet habitat is that students can switch it up. When it comes time for Thanksgiving students can have fall decorations in their habitat. When it comes to the winter holidays students can add Christmas lights, a Christmas tree, or even a snowman. This monkey string allows students to build and rebuild items to go in their desk pet habitat. I think this open ended style of habitat design is really what makes it suitable for upper elementary.
It also helps to keep students from getting bored with a certain classroom management strategy. Holidays and seasons are always changing and so do the habitats sitting on the desks of my students. I’ve had my students turn their desk pet into a mini character from their favorite book. I’ve seen a full Pioneer wagon constructed just out of monkey string while we studied pioneers. What we’re learning is always changing and so are the habitats that sit on their desks.
A Few Things to Look Out For
As I mentioned before, setting clear guidelines for desk pets is an imperative step in their success as a classroom management tool. Students often get so excited to construct things for their desk pet habitat, that they just can’t seem to help but touch. They would have their hands all over at the habitats while I’m teaching during the day. By setting aside certain times of the day that students are allowed to work on their habitats, it eased that tension that they felt in waiting for construction time. I allowed desk pet habitat construction as morning work, on Fridays during our class store, and as an optional activity when I would read aloud at the end of the day. Students were so excited after purchasing their monkey string, they would occasionally bring the monkey string home with them and bring back fully assembled accessories to put in their house.
Also as mentioned before, you could do more of a class zoo instead of individual desk pets. Students could still have plots of land that belong to them. They could purchase their desk pet and be responsible for building the habitat of that pet in a central classroom location instead of on their desk.
Other Posts You May Like
3. Desk Pets | A Great Classroom Motivator for Positive Student Behavior
Desk pets may not work for every classroom, but in my fifth grade classroom they have been a hit. Even the students who weren’t so sold at the beginning of the year, got into it when they saw the rest of their peers constructing these elaborate habitats. By aligning it with my classroom economy, desk pets are just one option of how my students can spend the classroom cash they earn. Start by setting very clear guidelines that work for your class specifically and holding the line when students break them. What can be a very fun incentive can quickly become a distracting toy if the guidelines are not strictly upheld. It is my hope that implementing a desk pet incentive in your room will bring your students just as much joy as it has brought my students over the years.
Some of the links below in this desk pets blog post are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
