Children Helping Animals
All children are born with kindness in their hearts and given the opportunity to meet animals at a young age, they will more often than not build a natural rapport with them.
Nurturing this love of living creatures is as important for the child as it is for the animals they will affect over their lifetime. Growing up with pets is a beautiful thing.
It allows a child to gain an understanding of and respect for their furry and feathered fellow earthlings but isn’t an option for every family.
There are many other ways a parent can provide their child with opportunities to meet and befriend animals. Including visiting family or friends with pets, nature walks, fostering, and frequenting your local animal shelter or sanctuary.
Kids love to help and learn best when they can get involved. Embrace this and ask them to assist you with feeding and cleaning up after pets and putting food or nesting materials out for wild birds. They may even be able to help feed or clean up after animals in your family and friends’ homes.
Volunteering at animal shelters and sanctuaries is often difficult due to legal age requirements. There are other ways that young animal lovers can help animals outside of their own homes:
- Ask for donations of food, toys, and bedding in lieu of presents for their next birthday party
- Check with the shelter or sanctuary to find out their ‘Wishlist’ items. Try to raise funds to buy them by selling lemonade, crafts, raffle tickets, etc.
- Make toys and bedding for animals awaiting adoption
- Save kitchen scraps for rescued farm animals
- Pick a topic to educate their peers on by creating a presentation for their class or community group
- Older children can write to their local politicians to rally for issues important to them
- Collect pet fur in a bird feeder for wild birds to use in their nest building
- Put water out for native animals on hot days
- Let them use their imagination! Kids can come up with the most amazing, out-of-the-box ideas
- These are all simple activities that don’t take much time or effort and will fill your child with a sense of pride and achievement
When children help animals, it is not only the children and the animals they help who benefit. Enjoy that warm, fuzzy feeling you get from the realization that you are raising a responsible, loving little being and creating a brighter future!
Hopefully, your child will inspire others to embrace a kinder diet and/or lifestyle. In turn, they may make a real difference in their world. Small stones make big ripples.
