It’s safe to say that pretty much all kids love animals. Those of us who are passionate about animal rights and animal welfare will often remember the formative experiences with animals that made them fall in love. From treasured memories with household pets to less quotidian animal encounters. From a young age, youngsters form close bonds with their animal friends. Maybe they gravitate to their cuteness, their furry features and the ways in which they are similar. After all, kids can have the same difficulties communicating and controlling their primal urges that their animal counterparts do. And when our kid loves animals, you want to give them some memorable experiences.
4 Unforgettable Animal Experiences For Kids
Here are some unforgettable animal experiences that all kids who love animals would be delighted to enjoy at least once…from a visiting author.
Horse riding lessons
Many parents assume that horse riding is expensive. But even once you factor in the equipment from Equi Supermarket (or your local equivalent), the cost of the lessons themselves and any treats that might curry favor with their new equine friends, you’ll find that riding is about as expensive as any other sport or hobby. Horse riding is beneficial for kids in a number of ways. It teaches them patience, empathy and concentration. It helps them to grow in confidence and build empathy and social skills. Plus, spending time outdoors with horses can be a great stress buster for kids and parents alike.
Zookeeper for a day
It’s likely that you have at least one zoo within reasonable distance of your home. And if your youngster thrills to see the animals on the other side of the enclosures, they’ll likely jump at the chance to be a zoo keeper for a day. Most zoos offer this to animal-loving kids and it’s a great way for them to experience the pleasures and responsibilities that come from working with animals. They get to shadow a zoo keeper, feed and clean the animals and learn all about how things work in the zoo.
Visiting a petting zoo
As captivating as the zoo experience is, some kids are tactile by nature. Things are more vivid for them when they can touch as well as look. These kids should visit a petting zoo at least once. In fact, their conduct at a petting zoo can help you as a parent gauge their suitability to owning a pet. They get taught the correct way to approach and handle animals as well as how to respect them and their needs.
Image by Chelsea Ouellet from Pixabay
Visiting a safari park
Finally, as thrilling as zoo encounters (and even petting zoo encounters) can be, there’s no substitute for getting to see them in their own habitat (or at least something close to it) behaving as they do in the wild. While you may not be able to finance a safari trip in the serengeti, you may be close to a safari park which could be the next best thing. Kids learn about how animals behave in the wild and get to see behaviors that aren’t always visible within the confines of a zoo. Have you shared any of these unforgettable animal experiences with your kids?