Everyone knows that a family trip to the local zoo, petting farm or other animal habitat can be a lot of fun, but did you know that there are several things you can do to make the experience even more enjoyable? Try one or more of these everyday fun ideas to make your next visit to the Atlanta Zoo and other animal themed Atlanta attractions even more fun.

1. Pack an animal themed lunch or snacks.

Your child will enjoy helping you prepare an animal themed food. Here’s a list of several items for a bountiful picnic or casual snack.

Use animal shaped cookie cutters to make the 3 yummy foods below.

• Animal shaped sandwiches – Prepare your sandwich of choice then use the animal shaped cookie cutters to cut the sandwiches.
• Animal shaped gelatin – Use animal shaped cookie cutters to mold homemade gelatin into animal shapes.
• Animal shaped cookies – Cut cookie dough into animal shapes or decorate the top of any cookie with frosting and used colored icing to create animal faces.

More animal themed food items

• Goldfish crackers
• Animal crackers
• Gummy bears and other fruit snacks

Give unique names to everyday food with these cute ideas from www.coolest-kid-birthday-parties.com

• Animal-Striped Pizzas (Make your own pizzas using alternates of white, yellow and orange cheese strips to look like animal print. Add toppings in alternates, like a row of olives in a diagonal, then a row of cheese, another row of olives, etc. for tasty animal stripes.
• Peanut Butter and Jellyphant sandwiches (Cut these out with an elephant cookie cutter.)
• Tiger treats (orange cheese balls)
• Toad-slaw (coleslaw)
• French Flies (fries)
• Monkey bites (chunks of bananas)
• Rabbit pellets (raisins)
• Pigs in a blanket (hot dog)
• Alligator-ade (green Gatorade) Make frozen ice cubes with raisins in them so it looks like flies are floating in their animal juices (the older kids just love this!)

2.  Create animal themed crafts.

Smaller children who love to wear hats will enjoy decorating animal themed caps especially for the trip to the Zoo.

Items You will Need

1. Painters caps
2.  Animal shaped sponges (these also make fun bath toys)
3. Permanent Markers (in various colors)
4. Paint

Directions

1. Write your child’s name or have them write their name on the cap using the permanent marker.
2. Place the animal sponges in the paint then position the sponges on the cap as desired.
3. Allow the paint to dry.

You can also make animal masks or animal ears by using just a few materials such as card stock, elastic string, scissors, etc.

3.  Help your child learn more about their favorite animal.

There are a variety of ways to help your child learn more about animals including how they live on a farm, survive in a jungle, hunt in the safari or roam in the wild. You can research fun animal facts online or pick up books from your local library.

DK Publishing has a series of books entitled See How They Grow and Watch Me Grow that feature zoo, farm and marine animals. These books are great for ages 3 and up and even include stickers that kids can place throughout the book. Within each book, your child will discover how animals develop.

The DK See How They Grow series includes books on Kittens, Pigs, Horses, Frogs, Lambs, Ducks, Penguins, Butterflies, etc. You can also find books about Apes, Bears, Elephants, Turtles, Pandas, and more in the DK Publishing Watch Me Grow series.

In addition to researching online and reading books, use the following ideas to help reinforce your child’s learning about animals.

• Plan a trip to the Atlanta Zoo.
• Visit your nearest pet shop.
• Take a trip to a local farm.
• Explore your own backyard.

To learn more about animals, visit the Discovery Channel’s Animal Planet website.

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