FAMILY FOCUS

FAMILY FOCUS
PARENTS PAGE
Child care providers, please copy this page and give to parents.
It’s a Good Thing: Children & Pets...
...but is it right for your family?
There are lots of reasons why families choose to have pets.
Children benefit from shared responsibilities of pet ownership. Let’s be honest! No
child can be 100 percent responsible for caring for a pet. It takes adult involvement
and support for pet ownership to be successful. Children’s involvement with pets
contributes to a child’s self-esteem and self-confidence, assists in building trusting
relationships with others, and helps in developing non-verbal communication,
compassion and empathy. Pets fill different needs for different children. Some of
these needs include:
• A trusted confidant to share thoughts and secrets.
• Learning about life lessons including reproduction, birth, illnesses, accidents, death, loss, and grief.
• Connecting with nature and learning respect for living things.
• Developing responsibility by providing daily care.
• Physical activity…walks, fetch, and other games.
• Love and affection. Pets give children unconditional acceptance.
• Physical contact and comfort through quietly sitting, cuddling and stroking with the pet. Pets comfort children when they are feeling lonely.
As parents, you will want to ask yourself some questions before getting a pet.
Children under age 3-4 years have difficulty controlling their impulses and
aggressive/angry emotions. Provide adequate supervision when young children are
with pets. Older children will need parental support and back up in learning to care
for a pet. If you already have pets, these questions may help guide you in teaching
your children to care for family pets.
Is this a good time for the family to
add another family member?
It is not recommended to give a pet for
a Christmas, birthday, or other holiday
gift. Major events are often filled with
emotion, excitement and activity. If a
pet is to be the gift, consider giving the
child the things to care for the pet, such
as a cage, aquarium, food, leash and
collar.
Are you moving, expecting a new
baby, or other major life changes?
Is there a family history of allergies
and asthma?
If so, talk to your doctor about way to
minimize the effect a pet would have on
your family and suggestions for what
type of pet to get.
Choose the type of pet your family
wants and then do some research.
Do you want a fish, dog, cat, bird, ant
farm, butterfly kit, tadpole-frog kit,
corn snake, leopard gecko, rat or guinea
pig? Parenting.com lists many of these
animals as good choices. Parenting.com
does not recommend iguanas, turtles,
hamsters, gerbils or rabbits.
How long will it live?
Are you prepared for that length of
commitment? Parrots can live 60 years
or more. A rabbit with good care can
live for 20 years.
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How much care will it require?
What kind of medical care will it need?
How much will it cost to care for the
pet?
FAMILY FOCUS
PARENTS PAGE
Great books about pets include:
DOG BISCUIT RECIPES
from www.cooks.com
BISCUIT RECIPE #1
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. cornmeal
2/3 c. Brewers yeast
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
3 beef or chicken bouillon cubes
dissolved in 1 1/2 c. boiling water
Mix well and roll out 1/2 of dough
to a 3/8 inch thickness. Cut into
desired shapes. Bake at 375 degrees
for 20 minutes on an ungreased
cookie sheet. Turn oven off but
leave biscuits in oven until crunchy.
Makes about 1 pound of biscuits.
• The Perfect Pet by Margie Palatine and Bruce Whatley
• Emma’s Pet by David McPhail
• Helen the Fish by Virginia L. Kroll and Teri Weidner
• My Big Dog by Susan Stevens Crummel and Janet Stevens
• Clifford The Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell (and any in the series)
If you choose not to add a pet to your family, there are still plenty of fun ways to
learn about animals. You can take care of a friend’s pet while they are on vacation.
Your child can adopt and pretend their favorite stuffed animal is a pet. Help them
to make a bed or habitat for the pet. Gather supplies for grooming and feeding
the pet. Imagine together! Pet owners and their friends can make homemade dog
biscuits. See recipe at left from www.cooks.com.
What if your child is afraid of animals?
It’s normal. Many children develop fears of animals at various times. Respect your
child’s fear. Don’t fight it. Validate how they are feeling and support them whenever
they are around the animal. Get down on the child’s level and look at the animal
from their point of view. It may be that a large dog’s wagging tail is hitting the
toddler right in the face. Work slowly to reintroduce the pet and give plenty of
support. Do not force the child when the child is expressing reluctance, hesitation
or fear. If fears persist and anxiety appears in additional areas, consult with your
pediatrician.
BISCUIT RECIPE #2
2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. white sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. butter
1 whole egg
1/2 c. non-fat dry powdered milk
Mix with 1/2 c. cool water
Knead for 3 to 5 minutes or until
dough forms a nice ball. Roll to
about 1/2 inch thick and cut into
desired shapes. Bake on lightly
greased cookie sheet for 30 minutes
at 350 degrees. If desired, one can
add chicken broth or beef bouillon
to recipe for flavor.
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PARENTS PAGE
Fun Kid Activities...Let’s Travel!
If you are traveling with children this
summer, keep these fun ideas handy to
keep minds active and little hands busy
and out of trouble!
Stock up at the dollar store on toys and
activities (like crayons, washable markers
and paper) and dole them out periodically
during the trip. Wrapping them can make
this even more fun.
Sometimes the best toys aren’t toys at all,
but things you have around the house.
Consider taking along a roll of masking or
clear tape, magnets and a cookie sheet, or
colorful pipe cleaners (good for making
sculptures). Even an empty plastic jar
with a screw-on lid can provide lots of
entertainment for a young toddler.
Hand or finger puppets can provide hours
of entertainment. Preschoolers and older
children can even have fun making their
own sack puppets.
If you have a portable DVD or MP3 player,
this is a great time to pull it out.
For more imaginative fun, a travel-size
Magna Doodle or Etch-a-Sketch is fun, too.
Stickers and paper or Colorforms can
provide hours of fun.
Make up stories about passing cars. Does
that family in the blue car live with their 30
pet pigs in a castle? Maybe the family in the
silver minivan is on their way to meet their
cousins who are from Mars? The sillier, the
better!
Build a story together with each family
member taking his turn. The first person
can start with a silly statement such as
“Once there was a little boy named Charlie
who lived at the zoo.” The next person adds
on to the first statement, and so on.
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Bring sing-along CDs to listen to in the car.
Consider bringing a Frisbee or ball to play
with at rest stops. Getting rid of some of
their “wiggles” will make sitting in the car a
lot easier.
Lacing or threading toys are good to take
when traveling.
Make a felt board before your trip by
covering a heavy piece of cardboard (about
the size of a sheet of paper) with felt.
Cut out shapes from colorful felt and let
your child create his own pictures with the
shapes. If you’re really ambitious, you can
cut out other items from felt, too – alphabet
letters, numbers, simple objects like flowers,
birds, etc. If you have room, you can also
cover the lid of a shoebox with felt and
store the felt pieces inside the box.
Play 2-Minute Tens. One person chooses a
category such as foods, cookie varieties,
dog breeds, automobile models, animated
movies, and so on. The next person tries to
name ten items in that category in less than
two minutes. A twist: Allow fewer than two
minutes, or for older kids, require that items
be listed in alphabetical order.
Play Car Colors. Each player chooses a
different color. Everyone then tries to spot
25 objects of their chosen color. When an
object is spied, the player calls it out so that
others can verify it, then writes it down on
his list. The player with the highest tally
after a set time wins. Younger children will
need the help of an older family member to
keep their lists.
Play Sing It Out. The first player sings the
entirety of a single song, such as “Twinkle
Twinkle Little Star.” The next player repeats
the song, leaving off the last word. The
following player leaves off the last and
second-to-last words. (It’s surprisingly hard!)
Players have to sing the song correctly on
their first try or they’re out. The singing
continues around the car until all the words
have been left out.
Play I’m Thinking of a Relative. One player
thinks of a relative. The others take turns
asking simple yes-or-no questions to help
them guess the person’s name: Is the person
an adult? Is the person a male? The player
who guesses correctly thinks of a new
person.
Play Hungry Alphabet. One person says, “I’m
so hungry, I could eat an apple.” (Or any
other food that begins with the letter “a.”)
The next person says, “I’m so hungry I
could eat an apple and a banana.” The third
person says, “I’m so hungry, I could eat an
apple, a banana, and a cookie.” The game
continues in this way with each person
adding a kind of food beginning with the
next letter in the alphabet. The game ends
when someone forgets to say something
that is already on the list, or they can’t think
of a kind of food that begins with the next
letter.