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a deep affinity with other dependent and responsive members of creation.

As children begin to explore their world they come across all sorts of mini-beasts that fascinate them. Again it's partly their wondrous variety that fills them with awe, as well as how tiny they are, the way they move and how they feel when they are touched or held. Children may giggle at the tickly feel of a small insect crawling across their skin. They will be delighted by the vibrant colours and grace of a butterfly fluttering around the garden and are enthralled by the process of a caterpillar's metamorphosis. Similarly, kids are fascinated by tadpoles and how they turn into frogs - also creatures that hold an appeal to many kids (particularly little boys). They also love to watch a bumblebee buzzing from one flower to another as it collects nectar.

The fact that the bees make the honey they eat is very engaging. I remember when a young lady I know was just a little tot she always referred to honey as "the honey that the bees made". Children have a wonderful time linking animals to their actions and purposes in our lives. They sense that they are all important to us and play their own vital roles in the master creation plan.

Children are very interested in birds from an early age too. Again there is such an amazing number of different kinds - and they see and hear so many of them in the world around them all the time. The fact that birds can fly has always been a source of wonder to children. Their wide range of whistles and other sounds are captivating to them. Birds that can talk, such as cockatoos, macaws and budgerigars are of particular delight to kids.

They love to feed ducks because they are doing something nice for another creature that's essentially free and independent, while at the same time reliant on human kindness in many ways. Again they are fascinated by its looks - the bill, feathers and webbed feet; its behaviour (the way it waddles along, the fact that it can glide along so serenely on a pond and the way it dives for food); as well as the quacking sound it makes.

Children enjoy having chooks around because they find the way they peck at their food and cluck gently appealing. They like to collect the eggs and again there is that vital link between the critter and the way it serves people in providing food. They especially love the soft downy little chicks as well - and kindergarten children love to be involved in incubating chickens.

Then there are the creatures that

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