Z is for Zoo: Themed Activities

 Visit the Toronto Zoo.  

There is so much you can do.  

You can see a gorilla, a tiger or a polar bear

Maybe even participate in their daily care

Discover what animals are fed

As you learn about animals from A to Z!

(or.... Time for a visit! Go Ahead! if you are American and Z doesn't rhyme)

Gross Motor: Swing like a monkey. Do the penguin waddle.  Slither like a snake. Flutter like a butterfly,  Do the kangaroo hop.  Choose a variety of animal movements to keep you moving.  You can put them on cardboard dice and roll to see which one to do next. Pull animal cards out of a hat and mimic them. You can go to a pool to swim like a whale or to a trampoline park to jump like a grasshopper or go for a horseback ride to trot along with them. Walking a dog or hiking to find wildlife are also great ideas.

Games Use animal actions for a game of Simon Says.  Make a relay race requiring animal actions like crawl under a chair, hop over a log, jump to a 'lily pad' and strut to the finish line.  The game categories is a clapping game where you have to name something that belongs to the category within the timing of the claps.  Using zoo animals as a category is one option.  You are out when you cannot think of a word to fit that category in the allotted time.  Use animal cards to play snap or go fish. 

Expressions: Make monkey faces. Smile like a crocodile.  Put your tongue out like a python. Blow bubbles like a crab.  Growl like a tiger. 

Snacks: Eat a banana like a monkey. Connect the animal to the food it eats (eg. panda-bamboo, giraffe-leaves, tiger-meat). Eat berries like a bear (with a side of bear paws). Try animal cookies and see if you can identify each one first.

Science:  Under a microscope: close ups of animals, can you guess what it is? Search for animal tracks and see if you can identify them.  There are premade cards for this which are beautiful but you can also find printouts online. Categorize which animals live in which part of the zoo by their natural habitat.  Is a panda from a desert or a forest? Is a lion going to be in the Americas pavilion or the African Savanna one?  If you have a map of the zoo or a map of the world, you can add stickers of animals according to where they may be found.

Sounds: Identify the sound: growls, purrs, hisses, snaps, roars,  Usborne has two books with sounds, Baby's First Noisy Book:Zoo and Zoo Sounds.

Literacy:  Write the alphabet from A to Z and use it as a guide to name an animal for every letter. Complete some activities in the Zoo Activity Book by Usborne Publishers or read some other books connected to Zoo Life such as Goodnight Gorilla, Zoo Tails, 1,2,3 to the Zoo! and Curious George visits the Zoo.

Whatever you do...have fun enjoying the Zoo!  There is so much to learn and enjoy together.