I teach Preschool and looking to get a small pet for the class.?

Question

Am interested in fish perhaps or a small pet, mainly will be handled by myself in case of any allergies or issues with bacteria. Please anyone have suggestions or have had a class pet for young children. I will be keeping and taking care of it during breaks.

Answer 1

i think it would be cool to have a chinchilla for the kids.

Answer 2

I would get a small stuffed animal and put it in a real cage with real food and water, and the kids can "feed' and "water" the "pet" but wont have to worry about allergies, getting nipped, or anything else.

Preschool is waaaaay too young for a real pet.

Answer 3

Perhaps a turtle.  A fish is a good idea, but the kids can't touch it.  Well, they can but eewwww!

Answer 4

Greetings!  I used to have a guinea pig in our classroom.  The children loved him and enjoyed feeding him and loved to watch me clean his cage.  They also loved to feed him and watch him eat.  Special time set aside to pet the guinea pig was also a wonderful experience for the children.

I have seen rats, hamsters, turtles, lizards, hamsters, cooped up chickens, walking sticks, hissing cockroaches and even a tarantula in different programs, as well as fish.

Rats and guinea pigs are probably the best suited for young children.  Tarantulas are really not supposed to be held at all, and hamsters tend to bite (they are also great escape artists).  Guinea pigs are very gentle animals and rats are very friendly unless threated.   Of course that is the way it is with most animals.

One of the things I tell my children in class is that any animal will bite if they are hurt or mishandled.  Animals must be cared for gently so they are not hurt.  My guinea pig has never bitten anyone in three years (one year in the class room and several visits on occasion).

Reptiles are cool to watch, but run the risk of getting salmonella.  Caregivers need to be sure that children who handle reptiles wash their hands after holding them.

I don't know a lot about the care of rats, but you do need to be careful about extra guinea pigs in the cage.  Two males will tend to fight and a male and female guinea pig together will make LOTS of guinea pigs.   Two female guinea pigs get along very well together (so I am told).

Make sure you check with your supervisor and/or director for company policies regarding classroom pets.  Our policies have become so strict that it is not worthwhile to bring in pets.   I hope it's different for you.

Hope that helps.  Take care.

Answer 5

For the past 10 years I have had guinea pigs in my preschool classroom.  If you are going to get it out of the cage, hold it, play with it and talk to it then you only need one.  If you're unable to meet it's social needs then you better get two.  But two means twice as much food, timothy hay, fresh veggies and a larger cage.  Having two this year seems pretty expensive.

Guinea pigs have great personality.  They make many sounds most are very quiet like purring.  They can make a loud whistling noise to ask for some fresh vegetables.  They love to be petted and sometimes purr at the unusual sounds.  Sometimes mine purr when you ring a bell or while I'm reading a story.

Guinea pigs are great but if you are looking for a cheap and easy to care for pet then get the goldfish; you can buy an automatic feeder so you don't have to take them home on weekends.

Answer 6

fish!!!

the kids in my class love them.

Answer 7

I would get a fish.  The kids would be tempted to mishandle small animals and they are so skittish.

Answer 8

When I was a kid we hatched chicken eggs in class. We kept them in an incubator. It was pretty cool!

I wouldn't recommend a hamster or a mouse, b/c I had one of those when i was younger as well and my younger sister dropped it by accident and killed it. I think that would be too traumatic for preschoolers to deal with, I know it was for my sis!

How about a frog?

Answer 9

If you get a small animal, you will need to get TWO.  Guinea pigs, gerbils, mice, rats, rabbits, even some hamsters NEED to be with others of their kind to be really happy.  

I do not recommend hamsters.  They tend to bite and are nocturnal.  Guinea pigs are fairly fragile, so I hear.  Rats are WONDERFUL, but they do have health issues so if you can't afford a lot of vet bills, don't get rats.  Mice are adorable and fun to watch but they really can't be handled much by kids.  Rabbits require a lot of room.  

If you get a small animal, I highly recommend gerbils.  They are diurnal, healthy, sturdy, friendly, cute and very fun to watch!  Get two (or three!) females or two males -- NOT one of each!  Gerbils make wonderful pets!!

Every animal has special care needs so be sure to do plenty of research BEFORE you get a pet.  

Good luck and have fun!

EDIT:  Please, PLEASE be aware that ANY pet you get might at some time need to see a vet.  If you can't afford vet care, please don't get a pet.

Answer 10

As long as no children are allergic to furred animals I would suggest a female Rat. Rats tend to have friendly outgoing personalities and love to be around people. they are like a miniature dog. I recommend a female as they don't tend to smell as much as the males as they are taken proper care of and their cage is cleaned properly. we have one and our two children 4yrs and 21mths adore.

children can handle with supervision and really become attached to them.

Answer 11

Getting a small pet for the class sounds wonderful! Your young students are going to be widely entertained and more eager to pay attention now. Although, taking care of the small class pet has many responsibilities as you mentioned above. Likewise a good class pet in my opinion especially for Preschoolers would be fish in a bowl or a tank. Maybe a small hamster or even a guinea pig. When I was young in elementary school our teacher always used to bring a class pet and be very attentive to it during the breaks. It brought so much more excitement to the class and allowed all of us to experience a small creature that many of us did not have in our households. Good Luck!

Answer 12

feretts are perfect classroom pets!!



they are soft and kids can play with them. They arent dangerous so they are a great pet to have around kids

Answer 13

You Should Consider Choosing Bird, I Don't Know Where you are from, so I Can't decide what kind of bird that suitable for your climate. For suggestion don't  choose a bird that has loud noise. It could be very disturbing. Try to choose a small bird. Before you choose the bird find out where you can find the food for the bird (My friend is so careless about this and has to drive several hour just to get it's food). You could find some thing on the internet on taking care of several kind of bird. It should help to make the bird live long.

Answer 14

a small kitten with white fur would be great. Children love to play with kittens.

Answer 15

i would get a parakeet for your class, and take it home with you  for the weekend or school breaks.  a goldfish would be nice but hard to transport during closed days and weekends.  fish have to be fed everyday.so i would go with a bird

Answer 16

A fish is a good idea but as someone else said they can't touch it.  When I was younger we had hampsters in class.  We were able to play with it and learn about what they eat and so on and so fourth. Also whomever did very well that week in class was able to take him home for the weekend which was a great treat.  It makes a child want to do better knowing they have a chance at getting to take the class pet home for the weekend.

Answer 17

How about a plant?  That way when you go on vacation you don't have to find someone to care for it.  They will still get the idea of caring for something and watching it grow.  They can help water it and give it  plant food.  Christmas Cacti are great because they aren't actually prickly, they flower once or twice a year when cared for properly and they are non toxic.

Answer 18

There was a fish at the preschool where I worked, and the kids kept trying to poke at it with pencils. You should be very clear on rules concerning animals and their treatment.

Answer 19

my child is in preschool and they have a gold fish in a little plastic tank which the teacher can take home with her for weekends or holidays.  She does not have all the pretty little things that you can put in a big tank.  She just has the basics the tank and a plastic plant. She does not have a filter or pump she changes the water her self.  The tank she has for the gold fish maybe a couple gallons, easy to transport. Makes it easy to clean.The teacher picks one child for the week to feed the gold fish.  And they also have a plant that they get to take care of.  I would not recommend anything else because of allergies or the risk of a child or animal getting hurt or the animal running loose in the school.

Answer 20

I would question the parents about any allergies before investing in a pet- even being in the same room can cause a reaction for some people. A fish sounds like a very good idea though. I would stay away from goldfish because they tend to be very dirty which means a lot of maintenance for you. Guppies are very pretty, happy fish- just get all males so they don't reproduce. A ten gallon tank would be a good starter size. Plus, with fish you can leave a feeding shell in the tank over vacations and put the light on a timer and you won't have to move it anywhere. Good luck with whatever you choose!!!

Answer 21

I'd go with a fish.  Goldfish are inexpensive and easy to replace.  I don't have a fancy tank for our fish.  It's a plastic tank and I change the water myself.  Their food doesn't cost a lot of money.

Answer 22

I think having a parrot would be fun, you can teach it to say words and stuff. or like a rabbit, hamster, ferret, a lizard .. something small that would be interesting for your class ^^but I wouldnt suggest getting a fish because their kind of boring

Answer 23

I agree with the other poster that mentioned hermet crabs or fish. You don't want anything that would bite if they tried to handle it and rats, mice, birds, and other rodents tend to be scared and bite.

Turtles can carry diseases.

Also another plus for fish is if they die they are cheap enough to replace and the fun thing the kids can do with hermet crabs is get shells and paint them for them. They love to crawl into them.

Answer 24

Fish or Hermit crabs are good

Answer 25

I think a turtle or a guinea pig are good. Turtles are very easy to manage, and the kids can take it out and hold it. Guinea pigs are more fun, but you would have to give the kids class jobs to feed it and clean the cage and stuff

Answer 26

i would get a full grown anaconda great pet to have and it scares the s***s out of kids