Pets are great for children. They help them learn responsibility and they teach kids to be kind and gentle to creatures smaller than themselves. Too bad I’m not a pet person. Now, I don’t have anything against animals – I just prefer not to have them in my house. So I was on a quest to find ways to expose my son to animals without the work of owning a pet.
We tried visiting petting zoos and the regular zoo before stumbling across our local farm. This farm is run by a non-profit organization that works closely with the school district to offer outdoor learning opportunities to children.
Each week when we visit the farm my son loves looking at the horses, pigs and cows but I think his favorite thing to do is pet the farm cat. I love it. He gets exposure to animals, learns to be gentle with small
creatures and gains a respect for where our food comes from.
Now, I know that not every community is going to have a farm close enough to visit once a week but there are still plenty of places where you can expose your child to animals.
Bottom line, explore your community. The internet is a great resource but many of the smaller community places may not be represented. I had looked for weeks for animals in my area before finally asking our great librarian who referred me to the farm.
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