Using Games to Teach Your Child How to Look After a Pet

Though you might not think so now, using games to teach your child how to look after an animal is really effective. We'll tell you how to do it in this article. 

All children love animals. However, it’s important to help them understand that pets aren’t toys. You need to teach your child that having a pet is a huge responsibility, and that they need to take good care of them. In this article we’ll show how using games is essential in order to teach your child how to look after a pet.

Anyone who has children knows that teaching them to take responsibility is no easy task. However, if you can somehow use games to help them learn, then this task gets a whole lot easier. Though you might not think so now, using games to teach your child how to look after an animal is really effective. We’ll tell you how to do it in this article.

Using games to teach your child how to look after a pet

The first thing you need to teach children is that having responsibilities doesn’t have to be boring. They need to know that having a pet can be great fun. Slowly giving them more and more tasks and responsibilities in relation to caring for their pets will help them learn gradually.

However, to make it so that your children actually want to carry out these tasks, you need to treat it like a game, and help them understand that it’s something they should enjoy. Here are just some ideas on how to do it:

Tickling

Depending on the type of coat they have, brushing a dog can be a real pain in the neck. As a result, your child might not be too keen on the idea. However, if you do it together you can turn it into a game. For example, you could start to tickle your child every now and then as you work, or wait until you’re almost done. Your dog might even join in!

This way, your child will enjoy itself, even if it’s doing something it doesn’t particularly like doing. From then on, every time it hears the words, “brush the dog” it will think of the tickling, and will start to enjoy the task.

Water fight

What child doesn’t enjoy a water fight? Using doggy bath time as a chance to start a water fight can be a great idea. Obviously, you’ll have to be prepared to clean up afterward, but it’ll be worth it to see your child smile.

Bathe the dog together, and use the opportunity to splash water at your child. Very soon, he or she will be happy to bathe the dog all on their own.

Walks

Find a place where both dog and child can run around freely without getting lost. Your child might think that leaving the warm, comfortable house to take the dog out for a walk is really annoying. But if you can show them that there are places where they can both run around and play together, they’ll always want to come out on walks.

As well as having fun, you’ll also get them to do some extra physical exercise, which is always a plus.

Treats and rewards

Another idea to keep in mind is to start a more long-term game. Fill a small box with things your child loves. This could be colored pens, chocolates, stickers, sweets, or anything else you can think of. Lock the box and hide it.

Tell your child that the box is like hidden treasure, and if they want it, they’ll have to compete for it. Tell them that for every task they complete in relation to caring for their pet will earn them points. If they reach a certain number of points (you can decide how many points you think is appropriate) they will win the treasure. Using games like this is the perfect way to encourage your child to look after their pet. They won’t be able to resist!