Daycare Lesson Plans on “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons”

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These Daycare Lesson Plans on “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” are a favorite among preschoolers and daycare providers alike. Pete’s groovy attitude, bright colors, and catchy stories make him an ideal focus for engaging and educational lesson plans.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons provides endless inspiration for literacy, math, art, music, and social-emotional development. Whether you’re singing about shoes, counting buttons, or rocking out to music, Pete helps create a classroom full of good vibes and happy learners.

For a printable version of this lesson plan with supply list, daily schedule, and the Oklahoma ELG’s listed for QRIS, check out this “Pete the Cat and His Groovy Buttons” daycare lesson plan on Etsy.

Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons is a fun book that kids love! This little book is one of our favorite books to read in a large group, and it’s perfect for teaching color words, counting, and even making a number sentence.

Pete is one fun cat rocking his favorite shirt, even when he loses his groovy buttons, he just keeps singing! Pair this story with cat activities, cat coloring pages, and different activities like celebrating a fun Pete day.

It’s also a great companion to other cat books like Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes and Pete the Cat: Rocking in My School Shoes. Don’t forget to grab your Pete printables in the lesson plan on Etsy for even more learning fun!

Introduction to Pete the Cat

Start your week by introducing Pete the Cat to the kids. I like to start every lesson plan with a book. “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” is our first story. Use a felt board with a simple cat shape, or a large printed image of Pete. Explain that he’s a blue cat who loves to sing songs, wear cool shoes, and have fun even when things don’t go his way.

After reading, encourage the kids to retell the story using colored button cutouts and a picture of Pete. Use phrases from the story like “Did Pete cry? Goodness no!” and let the kids echo your words.

Literacy Activities with Pete the Cat

Story Retelling and Sequencing
Create flannel board pieces or laminated cards for the key parts of “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons” Have kids put the events of the story in order. First Pete loses one button, then another, then another. This helps build comprehension and sequencing skills. If you don’t have a flannel board, you can just use some colored buttons as you do the sequence.

Letter Recognition
Use Pete the Cat-themed letter cards to match uppercase and lowercase letters. You can create a “button matching” game where one button has an uppercase letter and the other has a matching lowercase letter.

Name Recognition with Pete
Print out a picture of a Cat for each child and write their name in bold letters on its shirt. Have the kids decorate “their Pete” and then use them on a bulletin board.

Create Your Own Pete Story
Help kids invent a story about Pete using their own ideas. Draw or paint pictures of what Pete does.

Pete the Cat Math Activities

Counting and Sorting Buttons
Provide buttons in different colors and sizes. Let children sort them by color or size, then count how many are in each group. You can even use a balance scale to compare groups.

Number Match Game
Use Pete the Cat cards with numbers on one set and buttons with dots on another. Have the kids match the number to the correct quantity of dots.

Patterns with Pete
Give the kids buttons in various colors. Start a simple AB, AAB, or ABC pattern and have the children figure out what comes next.

Art and Creativity

Design Your Own Buttons
Provide a blank button template and let kids color or decorate their own unique buttons using crayons, markers, tissue paper, glitter, and more.

Pete the Cat Puppet
Have children make paper bag puppets or stick puppets of Pete using construction paper. They can use them to act out their favorite Pete stories or invent their own adventures.

Music and Movement

Sing Along Songs
Sing the Four Groovy Buttons song.

My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons

My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons

Movement Game: Follow Pete
Play “Follow the Leader” with a plush Pete or a paper cutout of him. Do silly moves and encourage the kids to copy, jumping, tiptoeing, twirling, etc. It’s a fun way to build gross motor skills.

Groovy Buttons

Button Toss Game
Based on “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons,” create a game where kids toss large buttons (or beanbags) into a basket labeled with numbers. Count how many they get in and talk about adding or taking away buttons.

Sink or Float with Buttons and Shoes
Use a tub of water and gather various buttons and toy shoes (plastic buttons, foam shapes decorated like buttons, barbie shoes, doll shoes, etc). Let the children guess which items will sink or float and then test them. This introduces early science concepts in a simple, fun way.

Social-Emotional Development

“Did Pete Cry?” Discussions
After reading “Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons”, ask kids how Pete felt and what he did about it. Discuss how we can stay calm and positive even when things go wrong.

Emotion Matching Game
Create faces of Pete with different expressions—happy, sad, surprised, angry, etc. Let children pick a face and describe what might make Pete feel that way. Use this to help kids learn to identify and talk about their emotions.

Helping Pete Problem Solve
Pose simple social situations where Pete needs help—like “Pete lost a toy” or “Pete can’t find his friend.” Let the children suggest ways Pete could handle the problem. This encourages empathy and problem-solving skills.

Dramatic Play

Pete’s Shoe Store
Set up a pretend play area with buttons, a cash register, price tags, and play money. Kids can take turns being Pete, the cashier, or a customer. They can talk about what color they want, what they’re for, etc.

Snack Ideas

Button Cookies
Make sugar cookies and use a straw or toothpick to poke “button” holes in the center. Decorate with colored frosting to represent Pete’s groovy buttons.

Blue Cat Toast
Spread blue-tinted cream cheese or yogurt on toast and add fruit for eyes and a smile to make it look like Pete the Cat.

Take-Home Connection

Pete the Cat Book Bags
Send home a Pete the Cat-themed activity bag with a book, a small stuffed Pete or puppet, and a few simple games or coloring sheets. Invite parents to read the story with their child and return the bag for the next child to use.

Daycare Lesson Plans Based on Literature

For more ideas for daycare lesson plans that are based on literature, check these out:

• Daycare Lesson Plans on Shakespeare to teach kids about poets and drama.
• Check out these Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” of a children’s favorite by Eric Carle.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “Anne of Green Gables” for enrichment that shares about gardening, friendship, and farm.
• Another favorite is the book we read to our daughter every night before bed when she was a child. Daycare Lesson Plans on “Goodnight Moon”
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Very Busy Spider” are a great way to show how interesting spiders really are.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on Huck Finn can teach loyalty, friendship, and camping themes.
• This Daycare Lesson Plans on Wuthering Heights teaches about weather and classic literature.
• Daycare Lesson Plans on “The Secret Garden” are full of fun and stories about friendship, flowers, gardening, and more.