Famous Pets

Have you ever seen an animal in a movie and wondered how they act so convincingly? It turns out, pet actors go through extensive training to perform on the silver screen. Here’s a behind the scenes look on what it takes to train a professional dog actor.

Koko was arguably the most famous gorilla in the world. She was one of the first gorillas to successfully use sign language to communicate with humans. Learn Koko’s story and how she learned sign language. Afterward, think about what you would like to ask or say to a gorilla!

The White House is a wild place and we’re not talking about politics... There have been a wide range of presidential pets throughout history; ponies, raccoons, even snakes have had the distinction of living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Learn more about some of the more peculiar presidential pets throughout history!

Famous animals are often celebrated with sculptures and other forms of art. For example, the famous racehorse Secretariat has a large bronze statue at the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington Kentucky. Using play-dough, create a sculpture of a famous animal you admire. You can choose your own or one of the animals we’ve learned about today!

Get 3 or more friends and take some time to get moving by playing animal tag! Mark 4 corners of a square playing field. Make sure you have ample room to run. Choose someone to be “IT” and have them call out an animal. Everyone then has to move as that animal until all the remaining players have been tagged.