...and got a pretty thoughtful response.
A lot of kids use small talk to get through the day and, I suspect, to identify who they want to associate with, and who they don't care to. A question like "what's your favourite colour" doesn't really tell you much, as a kid, but then they get into favourite music, movies, video games, things like that. Games, they can play together. Music and movies point to broader interests.
I feel like most kids have answers ready for a lot of these questions. They matter to them because they ask each other these things, so they think about it, they have their answers, because "let me think about it" usually leads to "fine I'll ask the next kid" and then they don't come back to you. Your answer was "no answer" and now they think you're weird... and they tell their friends.
But, one on on, no pressure. Also, your family has to like you, at least that's what you think if you're a child who does not live in poverty and has not been abused. So when I asked my 7 year old niece what the cutest animal she knows about is, she had to think about it.
A lot of people are afraid of the phrase, "I don't know," but it's a very wise and powerful phrase, especially if you follow it up with something along the lines of "but let me get back to you, I can find out." She may have said a combination of those things, but she did not give me an answer and excused herself.
I know school kids get magazines and books with cute animals in them. I remember when I was in school, the work sheets had animals on them, there were zoo magazines with animals, books featuring animals, and today's children have Animal Crossing and other games, plus YouTube and, heck, you can just search "cute animals" and have a bunch dropped on your screen. And she does have a tablet.
Just when I thought she forgot about me and my question, she comes back brimming with a mixture of confidence (as in, she likes her answer) and uncertainty (she probably knows I have an answer in mind, but has no idea what it is), and she answers...
Koala.
I said okay, koala is a good answer. They look like teddy bears, but they're actually marsupials (they carry their young in a pouch in their belly), they eat bamboo... easily a top 10 cutest animal, if not top 5. I was impressed.
But then I asked her if she ~~wanted to talk~~ had heard of ~~our Lord and Saviour~~ the red panda. Also known as the firefox, as in the namesake of the web browser I'm using, though it is neither a fox nor a panda.
Oddly she said no. I didn't call her a liar, though I know she's seen Turning Red, the Disney film about a young girl who turns into a red panda when she gets ~~her period~~ "emotional". She watched it dozens of times until her parents prayed for the halcyon days of watching Frozen every day. (Now it's KPop Demon Hunters. I think by the end of the year, it'll be Forgotten Island.)
Instead, I had a bunch of red panda videos downloaded, and showed her. Being a ginger herself, she tends to prefer the red-haired character in any show. So naturally with KPop Demon Hunters, she's all about Mira (the mean, red-haired one who does the choreography). And, naturally, as I figured, she's now a big fan of red pandas, because they're red haired mammals. They're also incredibly adorable, especially when they threaten people or each other by raising their murder mittens over their heads and squealing, to appear bigger and more menacing.
It doesn't really matter what your favourite animal is, or which one you think is the cutest. It's more about the thought you put into it. Encouraging children to think about which animal is the cutest is encouraging children to be kind to animals (not just the cute ones). That's one goal, but I also kinda hope the question makes its way to her classroom. I really don't think Generation Alpha needs to learn what a red panda is (I think most of them saw Turning Red), but it's the thought process.
So, since the Casual Conversation community is about sparking conversation, not just telling stories that should inspire, to some effect, what's your favourite cute animal; and/or, what's something you tell or ask children to encourage a tangentially different (or even similar) behaviour?