Benefits

Having animals in Early Childhood settings can provide many benefits for young children's development.

The primary benefit in having animals in an early childhood setting is that children are encouraged to develop responsibility and care for another living thing. 

Through having pets or regular contact with animals, children "learn nurturing skills and are rewarded for their efforts" (Dawson, in Marsh, found here). 

As children develop awareness of the needs of animals, of our responsibility to care for them, and our relationships to them, they are also learning many other important life skills. 

Interacting with animals benefits young children by:

Developing the individual
Building sound self-esteem
Understanding emotions of self and others, learning to read body language
Paul (2000) suggested that experiencing the emotion of an animal will mean someone is more likely to react to similar emotions in another person (cited in Bone, 2013).
"It is hopeful to think that children who have positive relationships with animals may find it harder to be violent in later life" (Bone, 2013).
Learning to regulate and express personal emotions
Alach found that the "calming influence of pets" assisted children to "settle, concentrate and learn" (Alach, 2003, p.27).
Bone (2013) notes that an animal can be a, "friendly co-participant in learning and an ally to the young child" (p.3).
Looking after self and learning how to keep safe
"As they care for a pet, a child develops compassion, self control, patience, and a sense of responsibility" (Alach, 2003, p.26).
Coming to terms with death and grief
Challenging our assumptions about what makes something valuable
Ownership of animals helps children to develop positive views towards all animals, including those considered gross, or scary (Bone, 2013).

Becoming a better observer and notice

Building connection to our wider world
Affirming home culture for children who have pets
Extending horizons for those who haven't had other opportunities to interact with animals

Do we associate more with animals that are familiar from our childhood? 
Alach (2003) claims that, "The earlier a child forms a relationship with a pet, the more likely that the adult he or she becomes will seek to won a pet later in life" (p.25). 
Having animals in an ECE setting could help children be more comfortable with a range of animals throughout their lives, regardless of whether they have pets at home or not.

Elizabeth talking with Tiddles, and Andrew curled up with Sam (who was not supposed to sleep with him but had snuck in one afternoon).

Today Elizabeth and Andrew both love cats!  Elizabeth's family now has Pixel.  In this photo is Andrew as an adult with his cat, Occy, and niece, Lydia.  Occy lives with his parents, but knows Andrew's voice and comes running for long rubs whenever he visits! 

"I had snails as a child, so letting my son hold them really doesn't bother me" (Amy, Personal Communication).

Amy as an adult with one of her chickens.  "I had a bantam when I was little, called Henny Penny and I've just loved chooks ever since!" (Personal Communication).

Amy introduces her baby, Michael to some chooks.

Growing relationships and collaboration with others as we care for our animal friends together

Rylan and Michael watch Michael's pet snails together.

Building stronger community
Creating structures and routines in order to care for our pets properly.  Some children really benefit from order and predictability.  They will love knowing that they can help feed the fish after mat time every morning.

Exploring science
Biology, Life cycles, Where food comes from

Developing rich language
Becoming more comfortable talking about feelings. 
According to Dawson, child pet owners "actually seem more motivated to talk and describe their experiences" because of the love they feel from their pet (cited in Marsh, found here).
Increase reading confidence
According to What to Expect (found here), reading to loyal pet can increase academic confidence and success.
Supporting relevant literacy through reading labels and instructions on food
Reading related fiction or non fiction books
"Many teachers felt that having pets in the centre provided a natural link to language and literature" (Alach, 2003, p.26).

Strengthening contextual numeracy understandings
Statistics, Measurement, Patterns, Classification
Pets give many opportunities to talk about maths concepts of size, measurement, spatial awareness, height, time, and more (Alach, 2003).

Inviting creativity
Drawing, Making, Representing

Providing enjoyment
Animals are interesting and fun!
They are nice to touch and look at and care for
Pets bring happiness, both to children and staff (Alach, 2003)
They complement human love in a child's life (Alach, 2003).

Jasmine enjoys the feel of the tiny feet of a rescued butterfly on her face.

As you can see, there are so many benefits to be found in having the ability to interact with animals!  But nevertheless, large amounts of animals is not for every centre.  Pitfalls do exist.