Ant Farms And Children - Made For Each Other

Ant Farms And Children - Made For Each Other

By:


Get an ant farm. That's what I always tell parents who want to know how to introduce their kids to other animals, to keeping a pet and to learning about the natural world.
Children love insects, they are fascinated by their alien looks, so different to anything we see at larger scales, and watching a few ants in an ant farms can teach all sorts of observational skills too. It also engenders a sense of responsibility for others when they realize that the ants in the ant farm depend on them for food and water. Ant farms provide the perfect environment in which to watch small creatures doing what they do naturally.

That is the reason that insects as a group, and ants in ant farms especially, make the best pets for children (and adults too if you ask me). When I use the term pets, it should be realised, naturally, that no ant or any other insect is ever going to show any of the attributes of a dog or cat. No cuddles, no throwing a ball or stick to be retrieved, no snoozing in front of the fire. And this is true of spiders, amphibians and reptiles too of course. What we're discussing here are small creatures that have an educational value for children, both in terms of nature study but also social responsibility too. And ants in an ant farm is as small as you're likely to get.

Scientific research shows that adults who have had the responsibility of caring for a pet when they were a child tend to be more responsible and sensitive parents than those who never had a pet as a child. It's common sense. If, as a child you discovered that neglecting your pets leads to bad things happening then it's bound to improve the way you behave towards your offspring in whom you have a serious genetic investment.

So what options do we have? Well, it makes sense to think about running costs need to think about running costs. Some of the bigger, and to my mind, more exciting insects come from tropical climes and will need heated accommodation if they are not to die. You may also find that some carnivorous species, such as praying mantis, will only eat live prey, and so feeding costs might be an issue.

In all these cases the outlay is comparatively small, compared to say, the costs of feeding a dog, but, of course, the experience of keeping a dog and a tank of insects is completely different.

Once set up, unless you have special lighting, an ant farm costs nothing to run. It can easily be filled with ants from your garden and the ants can be fed on a variety of small crumbs or seeds. Could anything work out less expensive that that? In my opinion, for small children, an ant farm will be the most entertaining and interesting of all the options open to you.

About the Author:
Find out a whole lot more about ants and ant farms at www.antfarmcentral.com



Article Originally Published On: http://www.articlesnatch.com


Tags: , , , ,

|

Loading...
Related....
Videos...

Recent Pets Articles

Comments

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Loading

Site Navigation:

Copyright 2005-2011 ArticleSnatch, LLC - All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service.