"It is an important element of any animals (human or otherwise)
upbringing that they be exposed to novel stimuli right from the start.
Exploration of new things helps them build a picture of the world around them,
increase knowledge and develop awareness of safe boundaries and interactions.
In this particular post I focus on introducing children to animals. I think it
is critical for children to meet as many weird and wonderful creatures from as
young as is safe to do so, but it must be in a positive way; not screaming at
spiders in the bath or referring to certain animals as gross or scary,
especially if the child seems naturally fearful, on that same note it is
important not to force them to engage with something they show signs of
reacting badly to, just calmly walk away and try again another time,
habituating to a fear provoking stimulus by calm, regular exposure rather than
flooding by forcing them into a situation or using bullying tactics."......continued
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