What would you tell a bunch of grade schoolers about rabbits?

[osprey]

My girls’ school has a program called "Character Counts", where each month they choose a positive character trait and put together presentations around that theme.  February’s theme is "Caring", and animals and caring seems like a perfect combination.  I volunteered to bring Marilyn and her babies in to school to let the kids look at them and talk to the kids about responsible pet care.  I plan to talk about my foster Marilyn specifically when I discuss the importance of spay/neuter (she had an unplanned litter), why a domestic animal should never be "set free" (she was found on the streets), the problem of animals in shelters (I will go very softly here, just talking about how lonely the animals are waiting for their forever homes), and the importance of being a good pet guardian (food, water, exercise, vet care).

Can you folks think of anything else that K-6 kids could grasp that is important about bunnies or pets in general?  I am going to hand out bunny themed coloring books (Ontario Rabbit Education Organization has one here that we use at our adoption shows).  Any ideas appreciated.

[Gravehearted]

oo i was going to recommend the bunny coloring book! great idea
you might call Auntie Cindy – she’s done a lot of school education visits with bunnies.

the topics you mentioned are right on – you might also mention why it’s really important that buns live indoors too. I also agree on mentioning that bunnies are a long term commitment over many years too. Maybe also how your bunnies are a part of your family, and not just pets – to kinda emphasize that they’re not disposable, but have feelings.

[Deleted User]

Not to mention, not all animals, no matter how cute and fuzzy want to be held. That is the biggest problem with kids and rabbits.

[Sarita]

Here’s also a link from HRS that has some good ideas as well on teaching children about rabbits:

http://www.rabbit.org/care/Teaching%20Kids%20About%20Rabbits.pdf

It has some activities too that might help.

[babybunsmum]

yes, i think an important point is to explain that the fun part about buns is to watch them quietly & learn about their personalities, rather than expecting them to do tricks & entertain us.   the few people i know (aside from online or my vets office) who talk to me about their experience having a rabbit as a pet ALL say the same thing… "my rabbit was pretty mean & didn’t really do anything."  it breaks my heart to hear this.  poor buns!  some people just aren’t cut out for exotic pets & don’t realize that they will quite likely have to make adjustments to properly care for them.  i think if people just slow down & realize that each creature has a unique personality to observe, how rewarding it could be for the creature and for them.  maybe this can be imparted somehow to this age group?   very cool that you can participate & bring in marylin & her bubs osprey!  have fun

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

I think those are all SUPER topics!!! Great job!

[Scarlet_Rose]

I think how to pet them and how not to pick them up and don’t pull ears would be good things to touch upon as well. : ) …Oh and of course that they do not lay eggs like they may have been told that the Easter bunny does.

[osprey]

Wait, what do you mean they don’t lay eggs SR?  Mine lay eggs all the time, tiny little brown ones, the make gazillions of ’em….

 

[Scarlet_Rose]

LOL! Oh my that’s funny Osprey! : )

[MooBunnay]

I really like what BabyBunsMum said – teaching kids that animals have their own personality, and that they can figure it out all on their own just by observing them would be a great lesson to impart on them I think. Maybe you could turn it into a game somehow, for example, have them watch the bunny for a few minutes and give a prize to kids that can tell you things about the bunny. Or perhaps, since you are bringing in her babies too, let them watch them and say “now which baby do you think is the adventurous one?” or “which baby do you think is the shy one?” I think learning that animals are like litter people helps teach kids how to care for them better.

[osprey]

I forgot to update you guys on this event.  We held it the Friday before the winter break, which make the presentation two weeks ago already.  I brought Marilyn and the babies into my wife’s classroom (she is the science aide at school and her room was free) at lunchtime and groups of kids were allowed to come in and see the bunnies and ask questions.  I did not allow anyone other than my kids to touch the bunnies, it would have been a madhouse if I had allowed that and not fair to the poor buns.  We did not get an exact count, but we figure we had over 300 kids come through!  That is more than half of the school!  The two afternoon kindergarten classes cam first, then the other grades came in after they had eaten their lunches.  I asked the kids about animals that they cared for, we talked as a group about what was important when caring for an animal (food, water, cleanliness, vet care that sort of thing).  The kids also asked questions about bunnies.  I talked alot about spay/neuter and how pet animals have a very rough time when they are “set free” outside.  The kids were very well behaved, but by the end of the hour the poor babies were all huddled together in a pile at the far back of the pen.  Kids were most surprised that bunies would use a litter box and they were fascinated that they play with toys.  Dummy me forgot to bring any toys along, so we just had to talk about it.  I did not prepare any handouts, and it was a good thing because I would have run out right away.  It was fun to do, but boy was I glad when it was over.  I don’t know how teachers do it like that every day!

 

[babybunsmum]

wow what a great opportunity!  they were lucky to have you osprey   i don’t know how teachers do it either.  i was a brownie leader once and i found it quite exhausting… mainly because i don’t have kids & am pretty self conscious about how to keep their attention for extended periods of time

[Scarlet_Rose]

GREAT job!! Sounds overwhelming!

[kimberleyanddarren]

maybe just drop in to the talk that all tiny cute animals will grow up to be big bunnies needing alot of work? and also if you got a bunny now it probably would still be alive when they moved out and set up their own homes and they should think about that!

[Gravehearted]

sounds like a rousing success! that’s great – but I bet it was tiring for you and the buns

[Author]

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