Thinking about taking my snakes to schools...

[Pareeeee]

So I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and was wondering who else has done it. I would appreciate any advice and information from anyone who has experience in taking reptiles to schools and educating kids about them.
What do I need to do, how do I do it, etc?

I really would like to be able to educate people about the basics of snakes, and to show that they have no reason to fear them. I also want to educate about our native snakes (maybe blow up some big photos of native snakes to make it more interesting), and how to tell the difference between the venomous and non-venomous ones. Show them that snakes are good, not bad.

This is not going to happen until spring or even next fall, most likely, since I don't want to disturb Boaz (he's given me no choice, he's decided to brumate). He is the ideal snake for this since he never acts stressed, is very gentle and docile.

I also want Kalis to be a little older before I do this. Even though he's warming up to being handled, he's too skittish to be taken into an unfamiliar environment. I don't want to cause undue stress.

When I do this, I want to do it right. I appreciate any advice and ideas given.

[Lankyrob]

This is a good starting point - http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/general-discussion/95566-responsibility-live-animal-protocol-events.html

[Terranaut]

Last year I took my 2 boas, my gopher, my royal, my male jcp and my gecko to my kids school for a public speaking project my youngest was doing. I called the school first a week or so ahead of time and asked the teacher to allow any of the students who did not want to be in the room to go to the library while I was there. We did not allow any of the kids to handle my boas but made sure everyone go to touch them and see them from close up. We ended up with most of the kids from the other classrooms pouring into one class to get a look. I let my son do all the talking. It was a huge hit. He managed to even squeeze a bit of info about the pet trade and pet stores to these kids. We got many phone calls from parents asking how to aquire and keep reptiles. It was a great experience for both us and the kids at the school. I thought the funniest part was the fact that the kids who were most afraid of them were also the most focused and curious to see them up close. It's amazing how kids can stay focused for long when they are shown interesting things.
I highly recomend you do this. I have personal liability insurance so if anything bad happened I was covered. I would make sure your safe in this manner as well before you do it. Although we were super carefull you never can be 100% sure.

[reptileexperts]

Things to remember.

Always be prepared to show and tell for a particular audience (know your age group)

Never, even if they think it would make their worlds come true, let a particpent handle a snake - Liability is too great since animals are not always "sweet"

Get permission and notify appropriately. It is a great idea to make sure the school is OK with live animals coming onto the campus, and they are ok with the risk associated with bringing the animal. The kids need to also be notified so that they have an out should they not want to be near the snake. When I do my lectures I have a hands on nose rule. I walk around with the snake I'm talking about and let the students / audience touch the snake with one finger. IF the individual does not want to have an interaction with the animal, I ask them to put their hands on their nose and I steer clear of them. What this does is give the power to the student and you'll see that MOST of the time, they will see others around them touching it and being OK so they will lower their hands to touch the snake as well. This simple method has worked wonders for my lectures, especially with kids 1st - 6th grade.

WASH YOUR HANDS - be the example. Once handling is finished, encourage the audience to wash their hands or at least use hand sanitizer. DO this between each animal to show and not just tell them, what to do. This will make them more apt to follow.

KNOW your subject matter. Do your own research on the topic. Know where your animal comes from exactly, be prepared to answer questions about how long they live, how big they can get, what does their poop look like *especially from younger audiences!*

Save time for questions - Leave a question and answer section if the group is small enough, but if the group is young, be careful, or you will have to stop a kid from telling you an hour long story about how his daddy cut off the head of a snake in his back yard.

Remember the point is to educate and not intimidate. Do not force the presentation or animals on anyone who is not willingly wanting to participate. In a classroom setting this is extremely difficult. Having an open lecture that people can register for works best in my experience. This helps you control the audience, and the amount of people. Discuss this option with the school! Offer it during a free period or possibly an after school activity.

[Pareeeee]

Thanks for all the helpful information! I was thinking, when it comes to "touch the snake/lizard time" I would keep my animal's head away and let them gently touch the body and tail. I like the idea with the finger on the nose for those kids that don't want to touch the snake. With handling, I don't trust the children not to hurt my snake, and I don't trust that my snakes wouldn't bite either in a new situation like that, especially my BP. My rosy's previous owners apparently took him to schools and let kids handle him, but even if I trust him I don't trust little kids to be gentle.

Yes, I am going to make sure I'm prepared with info on each species I own.
I'll try to do a practice run - if my family and friends are willing - and tell them to think up good questions that kids might ask.

Is the native snake info idea good? With big picture blow-ups of native snakes etc.?

What types of things should I avoid? (other than letting kids handle the snakes)

[Terranaut]

I think thats about all you can do really. Call the school and set up a date.
Wait until you see how captivated the kids are. Its awesome!!

[Lankyrob]

Have only displayed mine to children under six, main questions i get are

How big will it get
What does it eat
Does it bite - i always answer this with a comparison to the number of cat/dog bites, ask the iids who has a cat/dog, keep your hand up if you have ever been bitten/scratched then explain that snakes rarely bite if handled properrly and when they do usually less painful.

I agree with the handwashing but also i explain that really you should do this after handling/touching ANY animal.

I also talk to the school and teachers before hand, let parents know so they can remove kids from the class if they want.

With the kids touching the snake i dont allow it as i am not insured. If they come to my house for a reptile visit then i ask the parents and let them know the risk, if they then allow teh child to touch/hold then i let them.

[lady_bug87]

I have a school right near my new house, I may go in and ask if they were interested in having the animals come in

[Trent]

I do it every summer just before school ends for a friend who is Grade 3 teacher.
Kids get a kick out of it,but I think its the teachers who get the biggest kick out of it:p

[reptileexperts]

I would not go into ID'ing local specimens unless the group is of age to understand fully what is being shown to them. I do an ID class but I have always done it for Adults with the option of them bringing their kids. Anyone in the room under probably 12 years of age, enjoyed the pictures but did not really benefit from its raw material. They are more for show and tell than education. It is true that we have to expose them at a younger age to help them prepare for the future, but we also need to make sure we keep it age appropriate.

Distinguishing Venomous from non-venomous has always been a huge role of my presentations. In fact, I did a education circuit back in 2010-early 2011 with the deadly three and a mimic of the forth (Southern Copperhead, Western Cottonmouth, and Western Diamondback Rattlesnake). The show was a huge success anytime I presented it. I did double caging with all the venomous (a cage locked within a cage that was ductaped (no animal anywhere near contact with the tape FYI)). And spectactor were able to view this dangerous animals up close and learn how to tell whether or not a snake was venomous. Not saying to duplicate this!! But I am saying that a very brief introduction to local venomous is generally OK for most age groups. However, it is important to make sure that you don't give kids the "confidence" to go out and start collecting things they think they are masters at . . . In my area the two most common run ins people have with are the Texas Rat Snake, and Speckeled Kingsnake. I made sure to focus on these two snakes so people knew what they were and how to ID them. I also explained the ecological signifigance. This went over well with children as young as 9 because I had live Rat snakes and king snakes taking lots of live animal "breaks" just to make sure the kids stayed alert.

To each his own though, just keep it very audience specific - and ask the teacher if you have access to a projector. A quick power point is a great tool in this line of teaching!