Kenson Parenting Solutions Launches New Pet Care Product, Inspired by a Twelve-Year-Old's Hack of Reward Chart
Kenson Kids is excited to announce the launch of our newest product: an innovative pet care system inspired by twelve-year-old North Carolina resident Ava Bertelli. The system features the same stars that your kids know and love, along with colorful cards illustrated by Ava herself. This is the story of how this product came to be.
In need of a system to help her care for the baby birds she would receive for the holidays, Ava created her own by, in effect, "hacking" our "I Can Do It!" reward chart.
While researching how to care for her birds and other pets, Ava learned that approximately 6.5 million companion animals enter U.S. animal shelters nationwide every year, and this number generally increases around the holiday season, with three animals being abandoned every hour.
"Owning a pet is a lot of responsibility," says Ava. "Sometimes, kids don't realize how much time and work it takes to care for a new pet and they give up."
When Ava approached us to find a way to make her system available to more kids and their families, we decided to take the product mainstream in hopes it will help other kids play a role in caring for their pets. In addition to the cards Ava illustrated, Kenson Kids' new pet care chart includes daily instructions on caring for dogs, cats, or birds, three of the most popular types of pets in the United States.
"I hope this system helps reduce the number of animals who are taken to shelters," Ava adds.
Kenson Kids is donating a portion of the proceeds to nonprofit animal charities.
When kids are involved in the process of choosing their goals and keeping track of their own progress, their solutions tend to be more effective. We love what Ava has created and it has inspired us to seek ideas from other creative customers, especially kids.
Below is the article Ava wrote for our blog, which includes tips on caring for a new pet. We're also offering Ava's printable checklist as a download, which includes the steps she uses to care for her birds. The printable can be used alone, used with the new dog or cat care charts, or paired with one of our other systems.
Be Your Pet's Hero: Pet Ownership Tips for Kids
By Ava Bertelli
Imagine that you have just spent an amazing holiday with your family. You've been playing with all your new toys, enjoying time with the ones you love; life is good.
Now imagine, all of a sudden, your family packs you into a car and takes you to a loud, cold, scary place. There are cold concrete floors, wire fences, and everywhere you look there are strangers. Your family gives you to a stranger, and then they leave forever.
This is what abandoned puppies and kittens face. Unfortunately, this happens to lots of pets. Some families buy pets without stopping to think if they can take proper care of them, or sometimes the kids are supposed to be responsible for the pets, but the job is more than they bargained for.
If adjusting to having a new pet has been difficult, don't give up! You got this! Here are some tips to make you and your pet's lives easier so your pet can have a good home and you can still enjoy daily activities.
Tip 1: Create Routines.
Make a care routine that best suits you and your pet. If you have birds, like I do, your routine might look something like:
- Change your birds' food and water.
- Give birds a piece of fruit.
- Take birds out to fly around.
- Clean cage.
Creating a routine can help you budget your time and your pet will be able to know and expect what's going to happen throughout the day.
Avoid disorganization. If you feed your cat around 10AM every day try not to feed her at 6AM some other days. This can cause confusion for you and your pet which can lead to you forgetting to feed your cat which you absolutely do not want to happen. If you make routines you can also budget your time. If you walk your dog everyday around 12:30PM you can go to your friend's house at 2:00PM because you have already walked your dog.
Consider creating a checklist for your wall, use the free printable I created for birds, or use the Kenson Kids reward charts for cats or dogs to keep yourself organized and on track.
Tip 2: Find Ways to Save Time.
You can bathe your dog less often if you keep him out of dirty places. By walking him on the sidewalk instead of on the dirt path, you can keep him clean. There are pet wipes you can buy to clean your dog in between baths.
Try also combining activities to save time. For example, train your dog when you take him out to play in the backyard. This way you will get both activities done faster, still with effective results. Feed your parakeets their daily dose of fruits and vegetables while they are having their "fly around time."
Tip 3: Make it fun!
My last tip for you is, make caring for your pet fun!
If you want to play with your friend but you need to take your parakeets out, invite your friend over and play with them together! This way you, your friend, and your parakeets will have fun and your feathered friends will get their required amount of exercise.
Remember, your pets rely on you every day; be their hero! Use these tips to help make pet care more fun and always try to make "Returning the pet" a last resort.
I wish you and your pet a happy life together filled with lots of love!
