Z is for Zoo Day!

• Read “Dear Zoo: A Pop-up Book” by Rod Campbell
  • pop-up: This is a very cute book. There is a flaps version and this pop-up version. I love the pop-up version. “I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet…” and they send lots of different animals but none of them are quite right, until the last page. Cute. My kids love it.

• Zoo Animal Match
  1. Collect pictures of the animals from “Dear Zoo” from magazines or Microsoft Clipart or even pictures you’ve taken yourself at the zoo. I used the animal pictures here and shrunk them down. These are already colored and absolutely adorable! The animals in the story include:

     elephant giraffe lion camel

     snake monkey frog puppy

  2. Color the pictures
  3. Cut the pictures in half.
  4. Mix them up and let the kids make zoo animal matches!

• Read “Zookeeper” by Heather Miller
  • non-fiction: Check your library for any book about zookeepers. I love the books that have real life pictures in them.
• Zookeeper, May I? … a simplified version of Mother, May I.
  1. Stand at one end of the room and have the kids stand at the other end.
  2. You say, “Take 3 elephant steps forward.”
  3. Have the kids say, “Zookeeper, may I?”
  4. Say, “Yes, you may.”
  5. Repeat with other zoo animal steps:
     • 4 kangaroo hops
     • 2 snake slithers (they’ll think of something!)
     • 2 lion leaps
     • 3 frog jumps
  6. The first one to reach you can be the next zookeeper!

• Zoo Stamps
  1. Make several words strips with zoo animal names written on each (ELEPHANT on one, TIGER on another…)
  2. TIP: Ready to print word strips from ABCTeach here! Just click on Word Wall: Zoo.
  3. Call out a letter.
  4. Have the kids use a zoo animals stamp to stamp that letter. Or use any stamps you have. We don’t use stamps very often so my kids were thrilled!
  5. Repeat until all letters are stamped.
  6. If you want to continue the game, have them choose another zoo word strip.

• Read “Animal Strike at the Zoo. It's True!” by Karma Wilson … available here. 
  • Another fun one: we really enjoyed reading this book too. I love all of Karma Wilson’s book (she writes the bear books). The rhymes and illustrations are entertaining and flow just right.

 

• Trip to the Zoo!
  1. If possible, take a day trip to the zoo!
  2. If you want to, make a simple checklist of animals to look for.
  3. Or let your kids take a picture of each animal.

• Snack Idea: Animal Crackers