The other day we took a trip to the zoo.  As we were leaving, my oldest said, “Man, we sure did learn a lot today!”  I thought I would go through some of the conversations we had during our trip.  My children are five, four,  three, and sixteen months right now, so I’ll specify which questions go with which age level.

Geese

There were tons of geese.  When we first walked in they were walking in a straight line.

We talked about what a gosling was and then discussed goose vs. geese

3: How many geese are there?

4: How many big geese are there?  How many goslings are there?

5: If there is a family of 7 geese, and there are 2 parents, how many goslings are there?

Bats

My oldest loves bats and is a self-proclaimed “bat expert.”  He taught us that:

• bats are not birds, they are mammals
• bats have fur, not feathers
• bats are the only mammals that fly
• most bats eat fruit, seeds, and insects

Bears

One of the bears was standing up and scratching his back on a rock.  We talked about the difference between scratching and itching. (You scratch an itch, not itch an itch).

Mist

We went on a hot day, so there were misters around to help try and cool you off.

16 month old: Do you feel that?  It’s wet and cold.

3 & 4: Do you see the rainbow?  What colors do you see?

5: Do you know why there is a rainbow there?  Discuss moisture and back lighting, (it’s science)

Other Things

• animals; sounds, what they eat, etc.
• surfaces that we are walking on: smooth, bumpy, etc.
• camouflage
• time: we have 3o more minutes until we leave
• weather
• sunscreen

Obviously this is not an exhaustive list, just thought I would share with you some opportunities to help your child learn and how much you can incorporate into an outing like this.  I did not plan to discuss all of this with my children, it just happened.  I saw opportunities and tried to seize as many as I could.  However, it was nice to just marvel at some of the animals and not ask questions about them too!