Make the Trip to the Zoo a Summer Learning Experience

Once at Home from the Zoo

All this week we shared fun ways to help kids learn when taking a trip to the zoo this summer. Once back at home from the zoo, allow the kids to finish their Zoo Books.

Ask the kids what were their favorite animals at the zoo and help them make their own animal picture books of their favorite animals. Allow them to cut out pictures from magazines of animals you saw at the zoo. Glue them onto pieces of paper, then write down their names and as many details about the animals you can remember.

Help the kids answer these questions about the animals for their books:
Where do they live?
What do they eat?
What species do they belong to?

And don't forget to keep making animal crafts all year long:

Make a Snake
You Will Need: Card stock- one white sheet per child, round head fastener, crayons, scissors.
Prior preparation: Draw a spiral pattern on the white card stock pattern which should end with the snake's head.
Directions: Have the child color both sides of the paper, making patterns of their choice. The other side won't have the spiral pattern, however, it doesn't matter. Just ask them to color it and once it is cut, it will look just fine. Once they are done, place fasteners at the center point of the card stock, which will be the tail end of the snake. Next, cut out the outer edge of the spiral until you reach the tail and tie a piece of wool to the fastener. You could even use red felt and cut out the serpent's forked tongue and attach it to its mouth. And you will have a dangling snake ready.

Make an Elephant
You Will Need: Any can or tin which is about 4-5 inches tall, gray construction paper, makers, wiggly eyes (if available) or else, white and black construction paper for the eyes and glue.
Directions: Cut out a piece from the gray construction paper and wrap the can completely. For the ears of the elephant, fold the gray paper into half and then draw a large ear. The ear should be extended into a narrow strip of excess paper positioned towards the mid section of the ear. Now cut this out. You will have two ears with their extensions ready. Paste the extensions of the ear on the sides of the can. The ears will stand up. For the trunk, cut out a rectangular piece from the gray paper and roll it will a pencil to give it a nice curl. Use markers to draw wrinkles on the trunk. Cut out tusks from the white construction paper and paste it. Paste the eyes and the elephant pencil holder is ready.

Since the children will love animals after the trip to the zoo encourage them to borrow animal books from the library all year long.