Explore Brooklyn: Prospect Park Zoo
Activities to Try at Home
Dramatic Play Activities- Practice your wild animal noises:
Try to make as many different animal sounds that you know. If you don't know what an animal sounds like, use your imagination and make something up. Next time you visit the zoo, see if you were correct. You can also go online to find out: http://www.seaworld.org/animal-info/sound-library/ - You are the Zookeeper: (Ages 3 and up)
Read Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann or Sam Who Never Forgets by Eve Rice and talk with your child about what a zookeeper does. Gather together some props for your family to use, such as boots, work gloves, hat, bucket, plastic shovel or scoop, keys, torn yellow construction paper strips for hay, and stuffed animals. Encourage your child to be the zookeeper and take care of the stuffed animals.
What your child is learning from dramatic play: Children love to take on adult roles through dramatic play. Through this kind of play they learn confidence, how to interact with others, problem solving, and important language skills.
Arts & Crafts
- Lion Mask (Ages 3 and up): Take a paper plate and cut out eye holes for your child. Give him to color yellow and draw on a nose and a mouth. Spread glue around the outside edge of the plate and give him orange, yellow and brown paper scraps to glue for the mane. You can also use yarn or tissue paper scraps, macaroni, or feathers.
- Handy Lamb (Ages 3 and up): Trace your child's hand on brown, tan or black construction paper and cut it out. If you child is ready for scissors, trace her hand with while chalk and give them safe scissors to use. Spread glue one side of the hand, but avoid the fingertips. Now give your child cotton balls to glue on the lamb. The thumb becomes the lamb's head and the fingers the four legs.
How to help: Let your child do as much of these projects as he can. For a young child, it is more about the process of doing the project rather than how the product looks. Everyone's project will look unique.
What your child learning is from arts and crafts: As your child uses his hands to create something, they are developing fine motor skills. Your child is also developing language skills when she follows the directions involved in a project.