Make the zoo trip a game

Zoo Day Scorecard

This kit is free ~ print it straight from this page (File ~ Print ~ Save as PDF).

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Print one card per child before you leave the house and bring a pencil that does not need sharpening. Tick a square whenever somebody spots it ~ five in a row wins, the whole card wins bigger. Decide the silly prize BEFORE you arrive, because negotiating it at the gift shop never goes well for anyone.

Zoo day bingo

Twenty-five squares. Tick them as you spot them, together. A line of five is a win, the full card is a champion, and arguing about whether it counts is part of the game.

An animal that is fast asleep in the middle of the day
Something with stripes
An animal bigger than your whole family standing together
A baby animal with a grown-up nearby
An animal that is eating
Something with feathers that can NOT fly
An animal doing absolutely nothing, expertly
A creature you had never heard of before today
Something that lives in water
An animal that looks like it is smiling
Two animals sitting suspiciously close together
Something smaller than your hand
An animal with a very long tail
A keeper talking to visitors
An animal that made somebody in your group laugh
Something that climbs
An animal with spots
A creature that is hiding and only just visible
Something with big ears
An animal that moved right when you looked away
The loudest animal you heard all day
A sign that taught you a fact you did not know
An animal from a country you would like to visit
Something that looks prehistoric
Your favourite animal of the whole day

The silly prize

Fill this in in the car park, before you go in. Prizes that cost nothing work best ~ the point is the ceremony, not the spending.

A line of five wins ~
The full card wins ~
Prize for the best animal impression on the way home ~
Prize for whoever spots the sleepiest animal ~
Who is the official judge today (rotate it, it prevents wars) ~
The one rule everybody agrees on before we go in ~

The drive home page

Fill this in before everybody falls asleep in the back. It takes four minutes and it is the bit you will still have in a drawer in ten years.

Today's date, and who came
Best animal, by unanimous decision (or by loudest argument)
The funniest thing that happened
Something we learned that surprised us
The animal we waited longest to see, and whether it was worth it
What we want to see first next time
A drawing of the day's favourite animal, by the youngest person present

Zoo day, packed

The short list that prevents most of the meltdowns. Tick the night before, not on the doorstep.

  • This card printed, one per child, plus a spare
  • Pencils ~ two more than you think, they vanish
  • Water bottles, filled
  • Snacks that survive a warm bag
  • Sun cream applied before you leave, not in the queue
  • Hats
  • A layer for the indoor houses, which are always a different temperature
  • Comfortable shoes for everyone, checked, including the small negotiator
  • Zoo map or app downloaded before you lose signal
  • A plan for lunch, decided in advance, to prevent the noon negotiation
  • A quiet backup plan for when somebody has had enough

How to make it a good day

Let them set the pace at one enclosure for far too long. The twenty minutes watching one otter is usually the bit they remember, not the eleven exhibits you marched past to stay on schedule.

Read one sign out loud at every stop. Children who are handed a fact tend to hand it back to you for the rest of the week.

Follow the posted rules and the keepers, always ~ do not feed anything, do not reach anywhere, and if a child asks a question you cannot answer, keepers genuinely love being asked.

A half-finished bingo card is still a win. Nobody has ever completed one of these without at least one animal refusing to cooperate, and that refusal is itself a story.

Questions

What age is this for?

Roughly four to eleven works best. Younger children do well with a grown-up reading the squares aloud, and older ones tend to appoint themselves judge, which is its own entertainment.

Does it work at an aquarium or a safari park?

Yes ~ most squares are written loosely enough to travel. A few will not apply, which is normal, and letting the group vote on a substitute square is a good way to start the day.

Is this really free?

Yes. Print it as many times as you like, for your family or your whole class. There is no charge and no catch.