Valuable Lessons Kittens Teach Children

Cats are adorable as kittens as they race through the house at breakneck speed in search of fun or mischief. Many soon become cherished family members that stay with the family for many years to come. If you have children at home, the kittens can teach them a lot about responsibility. What valuable lessons can kittens teach children?

Children Learn Responsibility Through Chores

Children can learn how to take care of the household kitten as soon as they are old enough to put away their toys and follow other simple instructions from their parents. Start off with assigning your children age-appropriate tasks that are not too taxing or complicated for them to carry out.

Filling up kitty's water bowl each day is a good place to start. Then as children get older, you can teach them how to measure out the right amount of cat food, the importance of scooping cat litter on a daily basis to keep the cat's quarters clean and how to brush the cat's coat to keep it looking and feeling luxuriant.

Children Learn How to Unselfishly Nurture Others

Even the best behaved and most well-intentioned children are at times self-centred when it comes to commanding their parents' time, attention and getting their own way in matters. Bringing a new kitten into the home lets children see firsthand that they will not always command all of their parents' time, but that there is another life that needs to be cared for in order to thrive and grow strong.

Kittens are vulnerable and helpless in the early stages of their lives and depend on their mothers and then on their new owners for survival. Children can learn a valuable lesson in how to unselfishly nurture others by observing the way in which their parents take care of the new kitten by holding it, feeding it and teaching it how to interact with others in the family. By imitating their parents' good example, children will come to see that nurturing the kitten is a team effort that everyone in the family can have a share in.

Kittens can teach everyone in the family valuable life lessons, but especially young children. Using the kitten as an example, children can learn responsibility by carrying out age-appropriate chores and tasks such as feeding and watering the kitten and taking care of other basic needs. Children can also learn much about how to unselfishly nurture others by seeing how a young kitten is dependent on them and their family for survival.