Parenting Content // Vital Lessons About Animals Your Child Can’t Live Without*

Animals used to be an essential part of the life of the average person until recently. But with the advent of the industrial revolution, and the move from country to city living, the role of animals diminished. Yes, we still keep pets, but that’s about it.

For children, animals can remain a mystery until they are a lot older. So what do parents need to teach their children now about farm animals before they hit school? And how can they help them learn at home?

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Animals Are Delicate, Just Like Children
Most children understand at an unconscious level that animals are living, breathing beings, just like them. As such, they’re just as liable to feel pain, even if they can’t express it in ways that kids understand. Introducing children to animals at an early age can really help develop their skills of empathy.

You could go to the farm, but the animals themselves don’t have to be physically present. Manufacturers like Ostheimer, for instance, make animal-shaped toys to which children can quickly become attached. Toys are a great way to help children practice how they should treat animals if they ever meet them in person.

Baby Animals Often Have Special Names
What is the name of a baby horse? A foal. A baby pig? A piglet. A baby sheep? A lamb. For children, this distinction is important. It’s related to why they are referred to as children, and mummy and daddy as adults.

If you really want to go to town, you can learn the baby names of some of the more obscure animals on the farm. Always handy if you happen to play a game of Trivial Pursuit.

Chickens And Ducks Lay Eggs
For young children, the origin of eggs can be a bit of a mystery. They are unlike practically any other food out there. There are plenty of videos online of hens and ducks laying eggs. It’s not that mysterious a process, but it can give them a sense of where their food comes from.

Dogs Sweat Through Their Tongues
As children grow up, they soon discover their place in the animal kingdom. But some perplexing questions remain. One of the biggest is why dogs sweat through their tongues.

As it turns out, it’s not dogs who are unusual in this matter, but humans who sweat from every pore on their bodies. Dogs sweat through their tongues because this is the only way they can evaporate liquid to help cool them down. The rest of their bodies is covered in fur.

Sheep Must Be Shorn
Sheep are domesticated animals. They are so domesticated, in fact, that they require the care of humans to survive. Sheep wool thickens so much throughout a season that leaving it on the sheep can harm their chances of survival.

Do your kids love sheep? If so, there are dozens of fun games online where you can play the farmer and shear sheep. Games show them what a sheep looks like after it’s been sheared.