Kids can provide hours of real, practical moments that can fill your memory bank for years to come. Pets, with their unconditional love can delight and entertain us for hours. Put kids and pets together and you've got a sure fire source of warm moments that will become warm memories that can never be duplicated.
You may already have a pet and when the kids landed in your care, they inherited that pet. And I'm sure that the transition from having a quiet house to one filled with laughter and barking is one that brings pure joy to most grand parental situations. However, there is a lot more that lies just below the surface in these relationships than just the happiness of rolling and tumbling and playing fetch. Lets look at the reasons pets can be so important to a child's growth.
1 Emotional Development -- Chances are these little ones have come into your home because of some trauma in their lives. Stress, anxiety and fear of separation are all a result of this trauma and nothing can resolve some of these issues like the unconditional love of a pet. The development of empathy, compassion and a sense of responsibility will be the added bonuses that come with kids interacting with animals they love.
Additionally, having responsibility for such things as feeding, pet cleanup and exercising the pet, will give the young ones a sense of accomplishment and help them show their love for the pet. Caring for a pet can help occupy time for the child and be a real divergence from other thoughts or actions, especially in the early months of your relationship. Pets are famous also for reducing stress and anxiety. Even if it's only a parakeet or a Gerbil, it's amazing how caring for a creature that is dependant on your attention to their needs, will build memories that kids will not forget.
2. Stimulating the Brain -- So how many times on a warm summer day have you heard, "Grandma, there's nothing to do". And you of course, rattle off about 10 different things they could be doing and they will then tell you they've done those things before and they want something new to do. Enter the family pet. Getting kids off their pads, TV or other screen entertainment is a challenge every day. But when all else fails, encouraging kids to do something creative with their pet can often have an impact on this ongoing dilemma. Dressing up the dog or cat, building a home for them out of cardboard (the minute we put out a cardboard box, our cat is in it). Creating an obstacle course for the dog or a series of tunnels or bridges for the cat or, providing a moving toy for the parakeet to ride on -- all these scenarios and many more can be made part of a child's otherwise "boring day".
The important thing about all these activities is that they provide little brains with stimulation for a child who will otherwise be sedentary a good part of the day. And it's not just the the physical aspect that is part of these activities, the mental stimulation that comes with creating something for their pet is equally as important. When I was a child I would spend hours building rock roads, bridges and buildings for my toy trucks. There was a squirrel that was fascinated by what I was doing and would hang around near where I was playing. Finally I put walnuts in the bed of my toy truck and drove it around my roads. If I stopped to go to the bathroom or other activity, the squirrel became very bold and would snatch nuts from my little vehicles. May not seem like much but the fact that I can remember it to this day either means I was easily amused or the effort I put into these kinds of activities presented a form of satisfaction that stays with even after all these years
3. Educational Opportunities -- Pets can be a resource for learning about biology, animal behavior, and veterinary care. Hands on experience with animals can ignite a child's curiosity about science and nature, enhancing educational growth. When I was about 6 years old, we had a cat that was pregnant with what turned out to be five babies. When the birthing began I became fascinated by the process and how the act of giving birth was accomplished. Of course, it was kind of gross too so I carefully kept my distance, watching everything with a renewed sense of wonder at how females especially, were stronger and more resilient than I had previously given them credit for. After the mother had cleaned up the scene, there were little squealing fur balls with their eyes sealed shut and food on their mind. That's when the fun began. I remember spending hours watching their progress as they climbed all over me as well as their mother and then, when their eyes were opened, how they were so curious about the world around them. That small bit of animal husbandry made me want to learn more about how nature worked especially when we weren't looking.
As I progressed into my high school years, biology became one of my favorite subjects. That was, of course, before it progressed into chemistry, and the study of electrons and microbes. Then I couldn't wait to go out and play baseball. But biology always stuck with me well into college. And having a pet, even into my adult years, was a constant source of curiosity and learning. Pets also provide us with ongoing fascination with how they think and learn. We often turn on YouTube for our cats. By putting on a video of birds and
squirrels we keep them fascinated for hours watching and listening to the sounds and watching the antics of small wildlife. Teaching pets simple tricks or finding ways to keep animals satisfying their own curiosity is another way pets can inspire kids to move through the stages of growth with their the animal by their side.
If you think that a new pet might be just the ticket for helping your kids concentrate on something other than themselves, make sure they are part of the process. There's further education to be had by having them pick out the animal they want. The humane society is full of pets in need of a home and it's a treat to watch the children interact with an animal they are meeting for the first time. If you have more than one child, helping all of them to agree on the pet will take a bit of diplomacy but having them all on board with the choice. And keep in mind, as enthusiastic as your children might be about a new pet, you will be the one picking up the slack when they forget to walk, or water or feed this pet(s) so be sure to satisfy yourself in this adventure.
4. Physical Activity -- Pets, especially dogs, encourage a wide range of physical activity. Walking, playing and exercising with pets can help kids stay active. A frisbee and a dog can make for hours of exercise and fun and may help the kids meet the neighbors when said frisbee ends up over the fence. But beyond the fun of the little ones chasing the dog or cat around, there's the added benefit, oh sedentary one, of getting up off the bark-a-lounger and showing them that grandpa can make a frisbee sail for hundreds of feet. The ohhhs and ahhhs from the little ones at this display will be a delight you shouldn't miss.
So now we've got kids running around, dogs running around and grandpa trotting around and the benefit to all is not to be sneezed at. Physical activity is something that pets bring to the table that is a integral part of a child's growth and often is the highlight of the day. If you are fortunate enough to live in a rural area and have the means, a horse, poney or even a cow can provide for memorable activities that involve another form of physical exercise. Getting a calf ready to show for 4H or the county fair can require plenty of effort. Getting a dog ready for a dog show or doggie obstacle course or a cat for a cat show or even a bunny for the fair, involves plenty of work. All this may be out of your scope of activity but there's no doubt that animals of all sorts can provide a real chance for getting physical energy into your and your kid's daily routine.
5. Social Interaction -- Anyone who has walked a dog or even a pot bellied pig in most any neighborhood will find themselves stopping to chat with other animal walkers. The same can go for children and their neighbors when it comes to outside activity. Children who are normally shy will often suddenly become chatty when talking about their little friends. Most of the activities mentioned above will often involve opportunity to interact with others. Children are gregariously social when they get to know someone that has common interests to their own and pets are a big one. I've seen our own little ones encouraging other children to interact with our cats and thus begins a little friendship that has animals in common.
In the classroom I have seen kids who normally would stumble their way through a presentation to the class,suddenly become fluent in the language of their pet. I had a turtle as a child that I sometimes took to school for show and tell. Invariably other kids would ask all kinds of questions about "Dugan" that would fill the time with and provide them the opportunity to hold a pet they otherwise may not have had. We had a neighbor who actually had a skunk as a pet and it was an endless source of fascination to us kids because he smelled just fine and seemed unwilling to spray any one of us. I learned later that skunks are actually quite good pets and there are actual "Skunk Societies" where people get together to compare notes on their black and white little friends. I'm sure there are many such gatherings of all kinds of pets and the fact that they all have these animals in common speaks to the power of pets to encourage and even initiate social interaction.
For all the above reasons, pets are an important part of growing up and providing your "littles" with the opportunity to engage in these kinds of activities will help them grow up with a healthy attitude towards others.
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