Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 Does anyone have a class pet? I would really like one. Any suggestions? Thanks Mel
Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 Does anyone have a class pet? I would really like one. Any suggestions?Thanks Mel Hi Mel we don't have a real pet (no fur, no feathers policy!) but we do have a soft toy in each classroom. This poor toy comes with us when we visit the families at hoe in September and then is sent home overnight with each child in turn - usually decided by drawing names out of a hat. A book goes too and children are encouraged to draw/write about what they do at home with the toy. My class toy is a cat - he/she has been bathed, tumble dried, given many teas and taken to the park over the last five years, and somehow has always managed to find her way back to the classroom. The children grow visably as their contribution to the diary is shared - really worthwhile activity. I have grown frogs from tadpoles and butterflies from caterpillars and the children (and staff) have been fascinated by their development, but never been brave enough to introduce anything with a long ter attachment! Good luck
Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 We have rabbits in our childrens centre. The other day I was in a pet shop and saw some very cute tortoises(think I spelt that wrong!)I remember having one when I was a child and I think they are easy to care for. Unsworth
Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 We had two goldfish given to us as a leaving present by one of the girls that worked with us. We got the children to name them and often get them to help feed them their breakfast in the mornings. Probabaly the most low mantinence pet i can think of!! Unfortunatly we lost one of them a couple of months ago, so as the older children were quite interested in what happened to it they were allowed to be part of a 'happy burial' in the garden! We've had them for 5 years now and they were about a year old when we got them so even though we lost Nemo (original i know, but hey, the kids chose it!) Squishy (the fishy) is still going strong!!!
AnonyMouse_2418 Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 We have fish also and two african land snails called Wendy and Beans -they are about 18months old and about 6" long now. The children love them and help with looking after them.
Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 (edited) I breed french lop rabbits and keep a trio of girls at school, the children have really enjoyed visiting them, feeding them and grooming them - last year we bred our original does which caused much interest and delight amongst the children and staff alike! I keep a page on them on my website under "bunny garden" if you'd like to take a look! laughtonlops website Edited August 28, 2010 by Guest
Guest Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 Carla your bunnies are absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!! If my rabbit wasn't so anti-social I would get one to keep him company like a shot! He had a brother who died quite young (when they were about 7 months), but he hated a rabbit I tried out to pair him with (which fortunately was from a friend so did only come for the weekend as a trial!) - she was female, but he was castrated at 4 months anyway.....but he just loves his soft toys! Suppose he has me too though cos he is inside....oh but yours are lovely! Sorry to hi-jack this thread....!
AnonyMouse_8466 Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 We have a Giant African Land Snail called Slyk Slak. Mrs Ofsted absolutely loved him.
AnonyMouse_79 Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 Bunnies look adorable--wish I wasnt allergic to rabbit fur! What did you want deleting?
AnonyMouse_8466 Posted August 28, 2010 Posted August 28, 2010 What did you want deleting? A duplicate post I think - I invisibilised it! I love the bunnies too - but I don't think they'd like being packed away into our cupboard each day! Maz
AnonyMouse_11396 Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 Hi Maz can you tell me where you were able to get your land snail please and how easy are they to keep. Intrigued as we are a packaway setting to, but would love the children to experience having our very own pet again. Only things we have had in the past are stick insects and tadpoles. many thanks
AnonyMouse_5970 Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 We have two guinea pigs in our Pre-school Room, Shaggy and Scooby (named by the children of course!). They are really popular and very tolerant of noise and handling. But they're very greedy!! They are indoor guinea pigs as we don't have space outside for them but they are happy and healthy. They are awake for much of the day...they have a snooze in the afternoon, but otherwise are always friendly and alert We have some goldfish (which have turned silver for some reason) in our Baby and Toddler Room too. Beehive
AnonyMouse_390 Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 We have African Land snails too, Charlie and Lola. They are really easy to look after, they love having a bath and the childre are fascinated by them. I noticed on Freecycle someone was giving them away so you could try that. I've seen them in our garden centre pet shop. When they lay eggs they lay lots!!!!!! My son has 3, they were the size of pin heads 10 motnths ago, now they are enormous!
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 one problem with fur and feathers is the chance that someone will have an allergy to it in some way... having a family who get hayfever like symptoms from both... and neither knew until one had an indoor guinea pig.. adorable and a really good pet for young children, but after a while caused too many problems so had to be passed on to a happy home. Rabbits are not usually recommended for young children if they are allowed to pick them up the hind legs can give a strong kick and cause problems. Land snails are great if you can cope with the egg disposal... some find it hard to remove and destroy the eggs, there are so many of them. Hamsters are nocturnal, sleep all day and can bite, had our fair share of those at home, would not recommend for a setting. we too had the fish, lasted for years with me abusing their care, change water wash stones and weeds put pack! No filter, no special water conditioning.. then had a staff member come in horrified at how I was caring for them and looked after them 'correctly' which led to their demise! seems they were very happy with my approach of no fuss, get on with it! Inge
AnonyMouse_13453 Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 we too had the fish, lasted for years with me abusing their care, change water wash stones and weeds put pack! No filter, no special water conditioning.. then had a staff member come in horrified at how I was caring for them and looked after them 'correctly' which led to their demise! seems they were very happy with my approach of no fuss, get on with it! Inge He he - ours thrived on neglect too! He was won at a fair by my daughter who was given strict instructions not to do anything that would result in her winning a fish! He lived for 15 years with that sort of 'care and attention' and wouldn't tolerate friends we bought to keep him company. We replaced him with 2 fish (at £1.50 each) from the pet shop and I also bought a couple for Preschool at the same time. The children love them and they're really great for upset children who find it hard to settle as they are incredibly calming to watch. I brought them home for the holidays and put them all together and they've had great fun - even coped with us being away for a week (I put a couple of those pellet things in the water). Sadly the smallest died this week, so there's just the three of them. It means a trip to the pet shop again, so do I get two new ones for Preschool and keep 3 here, or just one and take one of the trio?
Guest tinkerbell Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 My class has 2 goldfish,I asked at the local pet shop about keeping them in a classroom and the manager was very helpful when he heard about our class he said he would donate atank and fish! I said we would do it properly and write to him . which we did.....they came with all the pump,gravel, etc and set it up for us...we sent thank you letters etc Pets at Home is the name of the company . School has two guinea pigs which are kept outside and each class has a half term of feeding ,cleaning out , stroking etc all the children in school have to have a permission slip signed to say they are allowed to handle them....my TA is allergic to fur and feathers! Tinkerbell
Guest heleng Posted August 29, 2010 Posted August 29, 2010 We had two class guinea pigs in our shared Nursery and Reception classes- Molly and Squeak. The children loved them, they were indoor pets but we had a run for taking them out. We advised all parents about them when they came for first meetings and checked allergies etc. We did decide to give them up after a year. We didn't have enough staff to have them out every day with the children (as this would tie up the supervising adult and there were times when there was only me with Reception) and so although I handled them every day they were stuck in their cage for a large proportion of the time. Also I took them home every holiday and they appeared happier in the home environment, the first few days back at school they would hide in their house and not come out to 'talk' to the children. We did offer them to other classes for a term/ half term etc but most of the classes just didn't have the room or the time to look after them properly.
AnonyMouse_4544 Posted August 30, 2010 Posted August 30, 2010 I had Two Giant African Land Snails George and Betty in the FSU and two guinea pigs Flash & Gordon who retired to live here but I'm getting more guinea pigs for Y2
Guest Posted August 30, 2010 Posted August 30, 2010 Hi guys, i was thinking about getting a rabbit keeping it in the outside area. Im going to buy a hutch and a cover and take it home during half terms and holidays and wkends. Just wondering do you have to have a policy on this?
Guest heleng Posted August 30, 2010 Posted August 30, 2010 I had to do a full risk assessment first and it had to be passed by our governors.
Guest Posted August 30, 2010 Posted August 30, 2010 Hi heleng, Was your risk assessment very lengthy? Im just trying to find a copy of a risk assessment for pets to put together to pass onto the comittee of our pre school
AnonyMouse_3735 Posted August 31, 2010 Posted August 31, 2010 Hi guys, i was thinking about getting a rabbit keeping it in the outside area. Im going to buy a hutch and a cover and take it home during half terms and holidays and wkends. Just wondering do you have to have a policy on this? here is a previous post about pets.. rabbits are discussed as to being suitable for this age group.. Inge
Guest heleng Posted August 31, 2010 Posted August 31, 2010 I've tried to attach my risk assessment. risk_assessment_pets_in_school.doc
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