Zoo Lesson Plan

During our X, Y, and Z week I planned a trip to the zoo. The kids had a blast - they even got to hold a baby rabbit and touch baby chicks. Ciaran's favorite was the sharks and Rhiannon liked the dolphin and flamingos. They also really enjoyed the otters and the tigers. They watched the sun bears and the fish tanks for awhile.

We did lessons spur of the moment based on their interest. A big fish was laying right next to glass and we were able to talk about why they have gills and how they work. We compared sizes of animals and discussed why some prefer the dark to the light. We talked about what different animals eat. They were able to touch some fish and some skeltal displays. I had contemplated creating a scavenger hunt but decided instead just to go with the flow of the day.

After a few hours and lunch we headed over to the gift shop where Ciaran picked out a shark to add to his ever growing animal collection. Rhiannon picked out a dolphin ring. We do not typically pick up gifts at places we go - but I'm glad we made an exception this time, it was 5.00 well spent.

When we arrived home we did an impromptu lesson on the zoo and what we saw. We headed over to Enchanted Learning to print out fact and coloring sheets on several animals of the kids choosing. We also printed out and colored a book of zoo animals, which includes simple sentence copywork. We discussed some of our favorite animals and experiences of the day.

We ended the day with reading the following books:

If I ran the Zoo by Dr Suess
Our Class Took a Trip to the Zoo by Shirley Neitzel
Put me in the Zoo by Dr Suess
What if the Zebras Lost their Stripes? by John Reitano
What the Animals Were Waiting For by Jonathan London
Zebras by Melissa Stewart
Zoo Flakes ABC by Will Howell
Zoo Patterns by Patricia Whitehouse

Easy and fun day. There are so many more things you can do with this as well.

Peace,
Tenn