National Kids and Pets Day is a great opportunity to spotlight the special relationship between kids and pets! It’s also the perfect time to adopt a new pet from a local shelter.
Kids with pets enjoy a number of significant benefits, including:
- Pets teach responsibility. Helping with feeding, bathing, walking, and cleaning up after a pet is a good way for a child to learn responsibility, scheduling, and organization. A child who looks after a pet learns to nurture and care for others, too.
- Pets can help with learning. Reading to a pet can be much less stressful and more fun for struggling learners. It’s relaxing and fun, and your child can even involve their furry audience – showing them pictures, for example, or explaining what’s happening on each page.
- Pets provide comfort. Children who are being bullied at school or who are stressed out about some other situation can glean a lot of much-needed support and love from a pet. Pets are also great listeners and the best secret-keepers around!
- Pets help kids stay healthy. Besides the healthy immune-system-building effects of being exposed to a certain level of germs at an early age, pets who need to be walked or played with regularly offer a fun way for kids to get sunshine, fresh air, and exercise.
- Pets bring their families closer together. Whether you’re walking the dog, laughing at the cat’s antics, or even just watching fish swim in their tank, if you’re doing it together, it’s a beneficial team-building activity for your whole family.
Celebrate National Kids and Pets Day by adopting a family pet, or by spending some extra time with yours!
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