Pet Chores for Kids

Par t y Props

Home Made Keep kids enchanted (well, for 30 minutes) with a craft that’ll spark their imagination. The Fairy House Color-In 3D Wood Puzzle by Creatology comes with all they’ll need to deck out a pad fit for a sprite, including paint, brush, glitter, and fairies—just supply glue. $10; michaels.com

Flying Colors Hand out Fairy Wings to get each guest into the spirit and wear home (and hey, they’ll probably wear them every day for the next month). $27 for six; lolasaturdays.com

Floaty Fungus

Inflate the whimsical mood with this giant Toadstool Mushroom Shaped Balloon. Tape one to a wall or cluster a few in a bare corner. And when the kids are hop ped up on sugar, grab it to expend some of that energy with a rowdy game of “Keep up the balloon .” $10; ellieandpiper.com

GA R D E N VA R I E T Y

These adorable tea sandwiches come together like magic. A large fl ower cookie cutter can shape the whole sandwich, then a small round cookie cutter cuts a circle in the top slice to reveal a pop of color. You can layer deli turkey under American or cheddar cheese for orange, cream cheese under cucumber slices for green, and Swiss cheese under ham for pink; or simply spread on some raspberry jam for red.

Shop the Party

Hover your phone’s camera over the smart code to link to all the fairy-themed supplies.

Pet Chore s for K id s

If you’re hoping your children will scoop the poop, you may be barking up the wrong tree. But there are plenty of other ways all ages can help out.

by J E N N Y C O M I TA

H AV I N G A F U R R Y family member means tacking extra tasks onto your to-do list. Some are a joy—who doesn’t want an excuse to take a walk in the park on a beautiful day?—while others are less than savory. Not even the most devoted animal lover considers changing the litter box to be a fun way to spend some time.

Can you enlist the kids to help? Well, while a preschooler shouldn’t be handling the worst of pet duties yet, they can pitch in with other things, from meals to playtime. Pet care presents an opportunity for kids to learn responsibility, just like making their bed or setting the table.

Sharing the burden not only lightens your load, it also has undeniable advantages for both kids and critters. “When a child feeds, brushes, or trains their pet, it strengthens their bond,” says Karen Engwall, an elementary-school teacher turned dog trainer in Kansas City, Kansas, who teaches pet care and training to 8-to-12-year-olds via the online education platform Outschool. “From that bond, the pet, especially a dog, learns to respect the kid and listen. Otherwise, a dog will often avoid or ignore children in favor of the adults who meet more of their basic needs.”

The right age for your child to start pitching in depends on both their maturity and your pet’s temperament, according to Arden Moore, author of A Kid’s Guide to Dogs and A Kid’s Guide to Cats. “I’ve seen 9-year-olds who are better at handling pets than some teens,” she says. “But regardless of age, your kids should team up with you initially. Make the introduction to pet chores fun. Kids, like pets, respond best to positive reinforcement.”

Feeding Time

“With parental supervision, even a 4-year-old is capable of putting a scoop of food into a bowl,” Engwall says. But children playing pet waiter also need to be able to grasp animal-safety basics. “Kids need to know, for example, that when a dog is eating, you don’t go near it because some dogs can be food aggressive,” says veterinarian Quincy Hawley, D.V.M., who with his wife, fellow vet Tierra Hawley, D.V.M., lives outside Fayetteville, North Carolina, with their two daughters, three dogs, a cat, a blue-crowned conure parrot, and a chicken. “The larger the animal, the more important this becomes. An angry German shepherd can cause more physical damage than a Chihuahua.”

Still, the quickest path to a pet’s heart is through its stomach. Ever since the Hawleys’ 6-year-old started feeding the family’s cat every morning, the kitty follows her everywhere. “But at that age, you need to have realistic expectations,” Dr. Tierra Hawley cautions. “There’s going to be some food spilled on the f loor, and she’s not necessarily going to clean it up. And I always open the can of wet food for her because I don’t want her cutting herself on the sharp edges.” When it comes to dry kibble, she says, the best way to make sure kids aren’t overserving is to leave a measuring scoop in the container.

Even before kids are old enough to handle the responsibility of providing daily sustenance, they can endear themselves by doling out treats. “Just make sure to enforce reasonable limits on the amount given,” Dr. Tierra Hawley says. (Unlimited cookies aren’t healthy for anyone.) Kids can start young with water duty, too, Moore says. “A great first responsibility to give a young child is checking the water bowl every day, helping a parent refresh it, and making sure it’s not growing fur of its own.”

Waste Management

Most pet owners would choose to outsource poop patrol if they could. But if you’re hoping to enlist your kid, proceed with caution. “Intestinal parasites are a very real and common thing in pets,” says Dr. Quincy Hawley. “And many of them are zoonotic,