Why are children so fond of animals? From teddy bears to favourite TV
and cartoon characters, animals are a key part of a young child’s development.
Children’s educational specialist Stephanie Cooper has identified 5 key areas
where animals play an important role:
Finding out
Children love to discover more about animals, where and how they live and the
things they need.
The incredible richness and diversity of the animal kingdom makes it
fascinating for young minds to explore. Creatures of all shapes, colours and
sizes are all around us and provoke questions and thought – why do some animals
fly and others swim? Who eats who? Where do they live? Do fish sleep? Animals
inspire a natural desire to learn and acquire knowledge, and to have that
knowledge tested. They hold a fascination that begins in childhood and stays
with us throughout our lives – in some ways they are so much like us, and in
others they are so totally different.
Communication
Finding out more about animals encourages children to have fun with words and
pictures, by describing and questioning.
Children love seeing how animals behave and this includes hearing the sounds
they make. The simplicity of a ‘moo’ a ‘quack’ or a ‘woof’ makes them easy for
children to mimic. This in turn represents an early opportunity for imaginative
role play games.
The simple act of stroking a rabbit, or watching the penguins being fed at
the zoo, involve non-verbal communication and emotional responses such as
purring or smiling that strike a chord with children and help them to learn
about different ways of interacting.
Feeling good
Understanding and caring about other living things helps children to find out
more about themselves.
Children quickly learn that animals are living beings and as such share many
of our own characteristics. Children especially relate to small animals that,
like them, need to be looked after and cared for. By imagining animals to have
human feelings of happiness and sadness, children may learn to be kind and to
treat others with care and respect, which helps them to build their confidence
and self-esteem. Making connections between their own lives and actions and
those of the animals that surround them is both fascinating and reassuring for
children as they make sense of their world.
Maths
Looking at patterns, colours, shapes, numbers and measures in the animal
world helps children to develop mathematical skills.
The animal world contains many natural shapes and colours, which helps to make
learning fun and interesting – counting hairy spiders legs or cute little
piglets is infinitely more appealing than fingers or beads! And because the
numbers, colours and shapes appear in the ‘real’ world of animals, the content
is more relevant and more memorable – the white milk that they drink comes from
the brown cow that lives on the farm, the oval egg comes from the chicken that
says ‘cluck’ and the yummy honey comes from the buzzy bees in the garden!
Physical development
Looking at the way animals move helps children to learn little movements like
writing and drawing
Which is more fun? ‘Jump!’ or ‘Bounce like a kangaroo!’? ‘Run’ or ‘Run as fast
as a cheetah!’? Mimicking animal movements is imaginative and fun, providing an
ideal stimulus for varied physical exercise and development. Children can also
learn how to be gentle with insects and small animals, to move slowly so as not
to scare timid creatures, as well as stroking, patting, holding, cupping hands
for feeding, and tickling.
CBeebies Animals Magazine has developed an Animal Picture Maker game to mark
the launch of the magazine:
Benefits of the game
• Encourages spending fun time together with your child
• Enables learning about animals and where they live, including some noises
• Encourages your child to be creative by making a picture
• Helps child to develop their hand eye coordination and computer skills by
using the mouse
About Stephanie Cooper
Stephanie worked for 8 years in education specialising in the early years. She
was a teacher in two London boroughs before becoming deputy head teacher of a
large primary school in South London. After two years as an advisory teacher for
literacy, she spent two further years writing books for parents as well as
writing for magazines and newspapers.
Stephanie is now Group Editor of BBC Pre-school magazines at BBC Worldwide.
Ideas For Sharing Stories
With Children
This two-part article discusses the ways in which stories and
storytelling play an important role in children's lives. Techniques are
offered for using stories to help develop children's verbal skills and
imaginations. This is part one.
Parenting Discipline - Teaching
Children Self Respect, Self Control and Empathy
For many parents, the words parenting discipline have very negative
connotations. There is the association with their own childhood and the
often unpleasant memories that thinking of discipline raises. Then there
is the association of the word discipline with ideas around corporal
punishment, with spanking, hitting and hurting children.
Who Owns The Problem; Parent or Child?
It is tempting for parents to assume ownership and responsibility for everything that goes on in the life of their child. However, when the parent jumps in too soon to solve the problem or give the answer, the child never learns to trust his own judgment and become a critical thinker.
Parenting - Making A Schedule This article on the benefits of scheduling your day as a parent
really struck home with me. It took me a while to work this out for
myself when I had young children at home, and I wish I had done so - and
benefited from the much calmer household that was the result - sooner!
Being Left Is The Definition Of A Mother
To be a successful mother you must be left. Not left handed, nor to the
left politically, but just left. This necessary abandonment comes in
gradual stages and the steps toward this goal are painful to be sure.
The Uneducated Palate
When did you learn to really enjoy food? How about experiencing taste
and textures? I think children develop a taste for food a lot sooner
than we think.
Ways of Dealing With
Separation Anxiety
All parents will remember how difficult it was to leave their children
when they were young, and some of us had to deal with unhappy children
suffering from separation anxiety, again and again and again! Veronica
shares some tips on how to make the partings easier.
Math Games
for the Active Child
To put it in a nice way, my son is rather squirmy. He doesn't like to
sit still for very long unless he's playing a video game, then it's just
amazing. So instead of constantly telling him to sit down and do his
math, we take it outside or up the stairs, literally...
