Montessori at Home: Caring for Pets Montessori-Style
Including your child in pet care can be beneficial for their development. You can make pet care an easy part of your children's daily routine at home. The summer can be an excellent time to integrate Montessori principles and practices into our home environments. With that in mind, this week's focus is on how to care for pets, Montessori-style.
Montessori classrooms regularly have pets as part of the community for several reasons. When children have contact with the natural world, especially when they are involved in caring for living things, they develop a deep reverence for life in all its forms. In addition, as children are learning how to care for themselves independently, they can apply their skills to caring for an animal, leading to increased self-control and responsibility. Becoming aware of and attuned to another being’s needs supports the development of increased empathy and compassion.
“Children have an anxious concern for living beings, and therefore, the satisfaction of this instinct fills them with delight. It is therefore easy to interest them in taking care of plants and especially of animals. Nothing awakens foresight in a small child, who lives as a rule for the passing moment and without care for the morrow, so much as this.”
— Dr. Maria Montessori, The Discovery of the Child
Daily Care
If you already have a pet or pets at home, encouraging children’s participation in their daily care is an excellent place to start. The easiest first step is giving a pet food and water. Even young toddlers can do this! The key is preparing the correct amount of food in an easy-to-dispense container. The container can be placed on a tray or consistent place for your child to access, carried to the pet’s food bowl or space, and then poured or placed for the pet.
A small dish of fish food can work if the pet is a fish. A hermit crab might need a small piece of fruit stored in a container that can be easily opened so the fruit can be retrieved and placed into the habitat. A larger animal like a dog or cat will likely need a portion of food in a container that can be poured into their food dish or, in the case of wet food, scooped out and transferred to the food dish.
The same approach can be applied to refilling a water bottle for hamsters or gerbils or pouring water into a water dish for larger pets. Ensure your child can access the water source and has a child-sized pitcher or measuring cup that holds just the right amount of water for your pet.
Break it Down
To make the process most successful, break down the steps and ensure the materials are accessible and child-friendly. Does the container open easily? When pouring, does the food or water come out from one place so it goes where intended? How far is the reach to get food into a habitat? Look at everything from your child’s perspective and anticipate any obstacles.
After figuring out the best materials and set-up, the next step is to show your child how to complete each part of the process. For young children, always ensure there are a limited number of steps. It could help to have a visual guide available, too. For example, if the pet needs to be fed once in the morning and at night, you can have a picture representing this. The visual guide can be laminated or put in a sheet protector and hung at your child’s eye level. Older children can use a dry-erase marker to check off when they have fed the pet.
Cleaning or Grooming
The same practice can be applied to other parts of pet care. Perhaps the food area needs to be cleaned by washing the dishes, wiping a mat, or sweeping spilled food. The learning process can be incremental. In the beginning, maybe your child is just misting something like a hermit crab habitat, but over time learns how to clean the enclosure, too. Other animals might need their bedding replaced or washed. If a pet needs a bath, a young child can fill the tub with water or scooping water for rinsing. Eventually, children can take ownership of more of the process. If your child is ready for more responsibility, they can also learn how to clean or groom your pet independently. Children can be involved in pet care, from brushing to bathing!
Interacting & Playing
Interaction with pets allows children to read nonverbal cues and anticipate needs. Treating animals with care will enable children to practice grace and courtesy, which helps them extend these skills throughout all their relationships. We all appreciate gentle touches, soft approaches, and respectful care!
Different pets require distinct kinds of toys and handling. Children can be involved in creating some play items for particular pets, such as toys on a string for cats to chase or making a yarn pull for birds. Children can get creative with finding things around the house for a pet like recycling toilet paper rolls for gerbils to chew. Older children can research healthy treats or training tips.
Children can take on other responsibilities, too, such as walking a dog or being involved in training. Even small animals can often experience training, such as parakeets learning to make certain sounds or perch on a finger. Having books and resources available for children to learn more about their pets is another nice extension that cultivates more curiosity about what living things need and how to provide for them.
Ultimately, children like to be involved in the care of their pets. It is important for them to feel a connection with their beloved animals and foster the feelings of responsibility and self-confidence that come with it.
If you would like some inspiration for supporting your child’s care of pets, let us know! We are happy to share our experience with having pets in our classrooms.