Want to raise an animal lover and wildlife appreciator? Here's my top tips to get them hooked from an early age
Bringing up a child who loves nature, wildlife and animals doesn't have to be left to chance. There's plenty you can do to foster an interest from a really early age - birth in fact! Here's some tips on how to ingrain an appreciation of our natural planet into your children.
The research says it's good to start early
Baby's brains develop at lightening speed. So fast in fact that during their first 5 years of life their brain develops connections faster than any other time in their life and it also works very differently to an adults. We say children are like sponges and this is because they are absorbing and processing all they see and hear around them at an astonishing rate.
You baby will hit what are called cognitive milestones throughout all of their early life with certain ages being leant to specific brain developments. From birth to three months it is mainly about basic senses, exploring their body and their environment. Three to six months is where they are honing their skills more, reacting and responding to familiarities and copying other's behaviour and expressions. Six to nine months researchers have found babies can spot the difference between something that's real and not real and also the differences between things such as colour, size and shape. By nine to twelve months babies understanding of the world is much greater and they can take pleasure in more tasks such as looking at picture books or handling toys.Then as children grow through the early years their understanding and the sophistication at which they can interpret and respond to the world around them grows as they do.
So you see even in those very early months your baby's brain is taking in a whole host of information and building connections, sorting and filing for when they have the physical skills on which to act on the information they've received.
How can we help our little learners and their development?
Children are born interested and ready to learn. So it shouldn't be that hard to help them thrive by simply being encouraging, supportive and building an environment at home in which they can learn and be inquisitive. They don't necessarily need lots of things, they need adults who can help them explore their environment as well as new ones, ask questions, help them discover new things and generally be enthusiastic about all the things your child is learning every day.
Feed the brain the things you want it to learn
You have this brain in front of you that is like a sponge, ready to soak up all that is around it. You have a choice as to what you feed that brain, what sustenance you provide and how you nurture it. You could just throw in the usual baby paraphernalia - some mindless rattles, soft toys, maybe some Disney characters or Peppa Pig. Something that keeps their attention. Or you could feed their brain and start to build recognition.
Of course we can't force a child to grow up to really love anything. Interests forced upon our kids are more likely to result in the opposite reaction where they actually grow up to hate it and feel too much pressure.
But you can model the behaviour you want to see and provide the best possible circumstances for them to develop their own natural love for something such as nature and wildlife.
Here's 5 actions you can take
1. Show don't tell
This is a powerful one. Instead of preaching, sometimes we need to show our children how awesome something is. Sometimes actions are much louder than words. If we show our children how interested WE are in wildlife then it will peak their own curiosity because we all know how children love to be up in your business.
Let your children see you read up on animals, watch nature programs, go to events and festivals or even just show that you enjoy going out into nature for a walk or can notice things in the garden or the park. Call them out, share your enthusiasm and make it a part of your every day experiences together.
2. Read together
Reading a little together every day is a powerful way to set strong roots not only for a love of books but also subject matter. Choose titles that celebrate wildlife, there are literally thousands of animal themed books out there for you to discover. Head to your library and grab a handful to explore together. Make it a ritual where you set time aside to learn about an animal together through books.
And don't forget there are lots of different kinds of books - board books, interactive books, story books, fact books... don't get stuck thinking your child should only be interested in one kind because of their age.
Reading from birth helps your baby develop language skills long before they can talk and can be an important bonding tool. Remember they are taking it all in regardless of their age and ability! Introduce animal themed picture books as well as longer stories to fuel that imagination.
3. Experiences not things
It can be easy to fill our homes with toys and books and general things to keep our babies and children amused but actually experiences are much richer and more powerful. Put aside time (and a budget) to share some animal encounters with your children from a young age. Nothing will beat seeing animals in real life where they can really get to grips with behaviours and personalities as well as seeing them as living things rather than flat pictures.
This could be anything from a big family holiday on safari in the savannahs of Africa to a trip to your local petting zoo. You could even visit an animal shelter or a friend who has pets to give your child a close up experience. It doesn't have to be expensive and involve tickets to zoos or wildlife parks to build in some real life animal experiences to your week.
Check out your local city farm as many have baby and toddler friendly sessions.
4. Have an animal of the week
If you are really keen on inspiring your child to grow up to love animals then you could pick an animal of the week to chat about at home. Why not download a picture and print it out and look up some facts online that you can talk about together. Ask your child some questions to get a conversation going such as what do you think they eat? Do you know where they live? What colour is their fur? You could even go one further and get them to act out some of the animal's moves like bouncing like a kangaroo!
You could keep a file or folder of each of the animals and then take time to look back on them at the end of the year to chat about which were your favourites and why. You could also write a wish list together of the animals you would love to see in the wild (or just in real life) together so you have some goals to aim for.
5. Play outside
This might seem a bit obvious but children who play outside are more likely to notice the small things in their environment such as bugs and insects, flowers and leaves, the weather, smells and textures and the contrasts between natural and man made things.
Teaching children that all life is important and part of an ecosystem can help them to build empathy and a connection to our planet. Go looking for ladybirds or woodlice and they will delight your toddler as much as a gorilla or elephant!
Consistency in how you approach being outdoors will show your kids that there is a whole world out there that they can explore and investigate.
What else can help foster that 'animals are awesome' attitude?
We all know how helpful screen time is as a parent (and we all know that we probably use it a bit too much, but that' modern life!) So how about using it more mindfully to expose children to content that is going to help with their learning and develop core interests.
There are some really amazing animal themed programs and podcasts for children if you know where to look. Our personal favourites can mostly be found on CBeebies with Andy's Adventures, Maddie Moat and Octonauts being high up on the list. What I think is important to note with these types of programs is that they don't humanise animals (like Peppa Pig does) they are informative and show just how amazing the natural world is but in an accessible way. My son has taught me tons of animal facts courtesy of Octonauts!
If listening is more your thing then there's some great animal podcasts out there too. Try the A-Z of Wildlife for kids where they choose an animal for each letter of the alphabet or Audiomoves at the zoo which gets children thinking about the characteristics of animals and how they use their bodies. And of course there's also The Wild Walk of Fame my very own podcast which I have to get a plug in for ;)
Finally weaving animals in to your everyday play is also a great way to help your little ones grow a love for them as they get older. Try to think outside the box and beyond all of the usual, most popular animals. Lankakade have a wonderful selection of wooden toys that feature a huge range of animals from tigers to toucans and much more!
You can also keep an eye out in charity shops or on second hand sites for animal figures as these come up often. Schleich are a famous brand but there are lots of other makes out there and definitely worth picking up second hand.
There's some amazing play accounts on Instagram that can give you ideas and inspiration on how to set up fun animal themed play at home but remember you can just keep it simple and pair a couple of toys and a book so your child can explore a theme in a simple but engaging way!
To sum up how to raise a little animal lover
That was a lot of info but I hope you found it helpful and that I have given you some good ideas on how you could bring to life the natural world for your children even when they are babies.
In summary here's what we covered:
- Feed their brains what you want them to learn way before they are walking or talking. It's all going in and building connections so the earlier you start the more normal and familiar seeing animals will be
- Model the behaviour you want to see in your kids. Be enthusiastic and curious and let your children see you being interested in nature and hopefully they will want to follow your lead.
- Pick up some books and make reading about animals part of your everyday routine. Choose books that really champion wildlife and don't forget that babies are never too young to be read to!
- Share some experiences together whether thats an animal themed family holiday or a trip to the local petting zoo. Think about how you can get some real life experiences with animals so your children can see they are living, breathing things.
- Have an animal of the week that you can do more of a deep dive into. Look up some facts, find a book, theme your play or head outside and visit it. Celebrate and spark conversations about one animal a week.
- Play outside as often as possible even if you don't encounter any wildlife at all. Building your child's confidence of being in and surrounded by nature will help to set those strong foundations as they grow up. Help them to notice the smaller things in their immediate environment and that humans are built to be outdoors!
- Watch, listen and play with animal themed content. Stay away from the Disney and Peppa Pig (at least some days) and fill your world with animal themed shows and toys instead. The more your kids see a huge variety and range of animals the more they will want to learn about them.
I hope you feel less daunted about how to raise a wildlife loving child. A lot of it comes down to appreciating that even babies are capable of taking in a huge amount of information and storing it away for when they have the skills to regurgitate it. So it is never too early to start with sharing a love for animals, filling their days with animal experiences and of course all important reading time to really cement that language and vocabulary around nature and out wild planet.
