My Kids Love Animals—What Can We Do Instead of Visiting Marine Parks or Petting Zoos?

Kids’ love for animals is something to celebrate! These simple ideas help families connect with animals in ways that are kind, respectful, and fun for everyone. 

Families don’t need harmful animal attractions like marine parks or petting zoos to nurture a child’s love for animals. The simplest experiences can be the most meaningful! And when kids learn that animals aren’t here to be props or entertainment, they see them as individuals with their own lives, needs, families, and homes. 

Here are some kind, kid-friendly ways to help animal-loving kids connect with animals without supporting places that use them for entertainment.

Spend Time with Animals in Nature 

One simple way to connect kids with animals is to go outside. Visit a beach, nature preserve, wildlife refuge, hiking trail, or local park and look for animals from a respectful distance. 

Bring binoculars, take photos, or keep a nature journal. Let kids point out what they notice—shorebirds, rabbits, turtles, hawks, or any animals who share the neighborhood.

Watch Wildlife from Home

Some meaningful animal experiences can happen right at home! Wildlife livestreams, like this African River Wildlife in Kenya, as well as watching nature documentaries, are fun and fascinating ways for kids to observe animals caring for their young, building nests, and going about their daily lives.

Help the Animals Who Share Your Community

Kids can help animals in their own communities by learning about local wildlife, cleaning up the community by picking up litter, going trash fishing, or exploring ways to help protect nearby habitats. 

Support Your Local Animal Shelter

Animal shelters can be a great place to start, too. Families can collect supplies, organize donation drives, create toys for animals, or take part in community events. 

Visit and Support a Reputable Animal Sanctuary

When looking for a sanctuary to visit or support, choose one that puts animals first—not photo ops, tricks, breeding, selfies, or hands-on encounters. A reputable sanctuary provides rescued animals with a safe place to live and allows visitors to learn about them respectfully from a distance. 

Turn Their Love for Animals into Action

Animal-loving kids often want to help. Here are a few simple ways to turn that compassion into action: 

• Holding a bake sale or other fundraiser for animals 
• Collecting supplies for an open-admission animal shelter or sanctuary
• Creating an animal rescue kit with supplies that can help animals in emergencies 
• Joining a peaceful demo in your area to hold signs, pass out leaflets, and spread the word for animals 
• Creating art, crafts, or using their artistic imagination to raise money for an animal protection organization
• Putting PETA Kids stickers on water bottles and notebooks

The Best Thing We Can Teach Animal-Loving Kids 

When kids learn to appreciate animals in their natural homes rather than at attractions, that admiration grows into something deeper. They begin to recognize that animals have feelings, needs, and interests of their own. Learning to care about animals helps children develop values that extend far beyond their interactions with animals. By nurturing compassion for all animals, we’re helping raise a generation that values kindness, speaks up for those in need, and works to create a more caring world for everyone.

 

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