Have you been stock piling toilet paper tubes? With young children underfoot, you never know when  you need  a quick set of binoculars or a noise maker. Consider dong good with your stockpile. Turn those toilet paper tubes, old Easter eggs, and unused ping pong balls into easy entertainment for pets at the local shelter.

The Animal Humane Society encourages pet toy creations as a group activity, and you may have had an opportunity to make your own at the Children’s museum during their event with Doing Good Together – Small Hands, Big Hearts.

If not, carve out a little time to do this all on your own.

This project offered Miss Kindergarten and Little Miss Three a bit of catharsis, soothing their sadness over the recent loss of our aging house cat. The new pet they long for is simply not going to happen for a while. Our new baby will arrive at the end of June and will happily be our care-taking focus for the remainder of this year. Perhaps when this last baby is old enough to plead for a pet, our time will come.

Until then, we can offer our love and support to the animals at the humane society. These girls without a pet had no trouble empathizing with the pets who have no owner just yet.

Miss Kindergarten and Little Miss Three both enjoyed decorating the toilet paper tubes and ping pong balls with a variety of bright patterns and colors inspired by the play things of our poor lost Anakin.

Timothy hay, a feast for rabbits and hamsters, is available anywhere pet food is sold. It makes a royal mess as the kids stuff it into the toilet paper tubes, but on a cold winter day, the hay offers a sweet, grassy, outdoorsy reminder of summer.

I’ve talked to the good people at our local humane society, and plan to visit soon to deliver the goods.  Though my kids are too young to volunteer at the facility, they are welcome (with my supervision) to bring their gifts and snuggle a few pets on sight.

We’re looking forward to the visit, but we do have to wait for this latest winter bout of illness to pass through the house. We’ll get there soon… and hopefully we’ll be strong enough to return without any new friends!

Tags: Animal Rights, Craft

About Sarah

Sarah Aadland is striving to make family volunteering a meaningful habit for her family of five. Join the conversation as she ponders what they may (or may not have) learned and looks for helpful information about raising compassionate kids.Though she plans to one day put her Masters in Public Policy back to work for social justice, she sees family volunteering as a way to build a stronger community, a better world, and a more connected family. In addition to her children, Sarah tends a large garden, a small flock of chickens, and a habit of mindfulness amid the necessary rituals of parenting.

View all posts by Sarah