[Marie]

Animal provide an opportunity to be loved unconditionally in a non-judgemental environment.

[Cassie S]

Animals displayed in your classrooms really help children and put smiles on their faces. They can mimic their expressions and just have fun making the faces.

[Beth]

I think animals are a great idea to use for teaching especially younger children. Introducing animals in books, puppets. For in classroom pets probably not to many allergies and maybe scared of animals.

[Sydney]

I believe that including a pet in the classroom environment can be incredibly beneficial to both staff and students. It can help children enhance skills in areas such as responsibility, teamwork and empathy. Animals in the classroom is also proven to help reduce anxiety and specific behaviors.

[VANESSA]

Animals can teach children empathy responsibility passion.

[Esme]

In our toddler classrooms, we are only allowed to have aquariums. I noticed children love to feed them and watch them. We do need to remind them to only use their eyes to watch and their works stays on the floor or table. We also let them crush boiled eggshells with a mortar and pestle to add calcium for the snails and shrimps. We also put Pothos plants and they are thriving, it shows a nice ecosystem. The children learns to respect the animals and plants.

[brenda]

Yes, I think having animals in the classroom can help with learning. It teaches compassion if it’s with an animal that can be held along with responsibility with having to feed and water and also cleaning the cage. If it’s an animal like caterpillars/butterfly’s children get to watch and learn about the life cycle of the animal, along with taking care of it such as making sure it has the appropriate foods and nutrients that they need to survive.

[Brianna Stertz]

I believe animals are a very effective teaching tool, from animal yoga to make an animal face.

[Shannon Millcian]

yes animals can be very therapeutic which can support those that have had traumatic experiences.

[Trainer]

Great point, Shannon! Animals can provide therapeutic support for students with traumatic experiences.

[Jessica U]

We had a girl who started as a toddler at our school. She was one who needed feedback and praise from authority figures. She started to notice though that she would get more attention when she would not make good choices. A lot of times the teachers would yell her name across the room in a sharp and disapproving tone. She had several sets of teachers who would get easily frustrated at her choices and instead of building a more personal relationship would instead fall back on yelling or lecturing at her. I feel like if those starting teachers could’ve tapped in to what she was really looking for (time, attention, love) they could’ve solved a lot of their frustrations and headaches and helped give tips to future teachers of hers.

[Skylar Dotson]

I think animals are an effective teaching tool because they are exciting and fun for children which helps keep them curious and engaged. I had two teachers who had trained classroom dogs and they were very helpful to my learning. We can also make a connection between animals and humans to help children learn about the world around them.

[Trainer]

Skylar, I agree! Animals are engaging and can help children make connections to the world. Great point!

[Sarah]

Animals are a fantastic addition to the classroom. It teaches the children to care for something other than themselves, gives them responsibility and ownership, and even can build teamwork skills with their classmates.

[Angie Burrell]

Pets have always been a way to help children who are introverted feel comfortable, children who are grieving feel love and those who are hyper find calmess.

[Autumn]

I find that animals and how they express their emotions is a KEY skill in teaching children how to be expressive in their own feelings. When kids are exposed to different ways of how to interact with the world they are free to able to relate or find differences between themselves and others.

[Amanda Shaeffer]

<div><em style=”font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; -webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%;”>I think animals are a great teaching tool. Kids can learn so much from having them in the classroom. They will learn how to take care of them and for them to have compassion and soft hands when interacting with them. They can also learn information about them and how they live. I think picking an animal you’re comfortable with and that is age appropriate will be the best for your classroom.
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