Young son's special interest - BONES

So my young son who is almost six and is yet to receive his diagnoses, wants to keep our recently departed hamster so he can watch how the body decomposes and collect the bones  Open mouth

I said no.

He loves dinosaurs, fossils, minerals. Always bringing home sticks, stones and the occasional dead worm from school. But it isn't the first time he has asked if he can keep the body of a deceased pet. Last time was early October when our bunny died and a year before that with a different pet.

How far do you or would you go to support your child's special interest?

After watching the Chris Packham show, I am leaning towards maybe I should let him explore his interests in a similar way. What do you think? 

Parents
  • I'd vote for yes too :) May take quite a long time at these temperatures though.

    Which part of the country do you live in?

  • So while I was awake in the wee hours this morning and he is currently interested in reading, re-reading & re-reading a library book on owls, I have brought him some Barn Owl pellets to get him started.

    Oddly he has a weak stomach and will retch over icky things, so dried owl poo with small mammal bones in might be the way forward... 

    One microscope, magnifying glass and a set of owl pellets for Christmas it is then ;0)

    South East / Surrey. 

Reply
  • So while I was awake in the wee hours this morning and he is currently interested in reading, re-reading & re-reading a library book on owls, I have brought him some Barn Owl pellets to get him started.

    Oddly he has a weak stomach and will retch over icky things, so dried owl poo with small mammal bones in might be the way forward... 

    One microscope, magnifying glass and a set of owl pellets for Christmas it is then ;0)

    South East / Surrey. 

Children
  • My sister and I often collected bones and skulls from the fields we walked in. She used them to draw from as art work. I couldn’t watch any thing decompose but bones cleaned by the weather etc are ok. It’s no less macabre than taxidermy really.. And as said it is a way of learning about nature. In the country side you get used to seeing dead mammals and birds and their carcasses. . I once found a mole the skin and hair is very velvety and it’s feet and snout were interesting.. we kept it on an outside windowsill for a few days. Life birth death are all very much part of country life and it is a natural way to learn about it. As already mentioned a walk on the beach especially after a storm can also have similar finds. How you approach the emotional side of it all is another matter! 

  • While at college a friend of mine kept a "dead box"  as she called it, where she kept and owl pellets and small animal bones that she came across whilst out walking.  She had all sorts in there from bird skulls to crab shells.  I think its an amazing interest to have and so many different interests can come from it!  

  • Hehe, brilliant! May not make much of a difference in terms of yuckyness to you, but it's not poo but rather puke of sorts :)  Sterilised though, so perfect for kids really.

    I was just asking about the area because at the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology in Lancaster they keep beetles for eating away the flesh of bird carcasses and what remains are clean skeletons and they are quite happy to show people. But from Surrey that's a bit far. They may do the same in other places though, it's pretty interesting if you can stomach it.