A child can look into the eyes of a tiger when they go to a zoo and have a million thoughts go through their head.
How did the tiger get so strong? How did it end up in the zoo? Why is it striped?
One thing that happens for every child, though, is that their minds are captivated. The natural world is opened up to them and for many a lifelong love of animals and nature is born. That’s why bringing children to the zoo is so important.
It opens worlds that they could never imagine up to them and their natural curiosity.
Today we’re going to tap into that, and inspire some thoughtful writing. We’ve also written some prompts about birds which you might find useful too.
Let’s dive in…
How To Use These Prompts About the Zoo:
Zoos have the power to capture a child’s imagination. However, children by their nature go from idea to idea quickly.
When they go to the zoo, they can be challenged and have worlds open up to them. They may just want to move on to the next thing quicker than they should to properly retain the ideas they learned there.
The zoo is also somewhere where children can be challenged with ideas around environmentalism and naturalism. For many children, these are new ideas to them that they need to take the time to think about to properly understand and retain.
That’s one of the reasons these prompts are useful. They act as a way making sure that a child can focus on what they took away from their trip to the zoo and make sure that they retain that information.
When used properly, they can even help a child think about the zoo and what they learned from going there at a deeper level than they normally would think about something they took in a base knowledge of.
The 37 Prompts:
- If you ran your own zoo, what would be the first animal you’d get for it? Why?
- If you could trade places with one animal at the zoo, which would it be? Why?
- Which animal looked like it was having the most fun? How do you know?
- Which animals would you like to see in the wild? Why?
- What do you think animals do when no one is there to watch?
- What do you think the animals think of being in a zoo?
- Do you think animals notice the people watching them? If so, what do they think about the people?
- Which animal is your favorite? Why?
- Research your favorite animal. What does it like to eat, where does it normally live, and what are some of its habits?
- Do you think animals like being in the zoo? Why?
- Which animal do you think would be the fastest? Why?
- Do you think the animals talk to each other? What would they talk about?
- Which animal do you think has the best diet? Why?
- What differences did you notice in the different animal enclosures?
- Do you think animals from different climates, like penguins, are comfortable? Why or why not?
- What animal did you go to first? Why?
- Did you decide not to see any animals? Why?
- Would you want any of the animals as a pet? If so, which ones? If not, why?
- What would happen if the animals broke out of the zoo?
- If one animal got out of its enclosure, would it help the other animals break out? Why or why not?
- Who takes care of the animals at the zoo? Why is what they do important?
- If you could take care of one animal at the zoo, which would it be? Why?
- Do you think the different are friends? Which animals are the best friends?
- Were there any animals you didn’t expect to see in a zoo? Why?
- Besides the animals, what did you see at the zoo?
- What do you remember the most about the zoo? What is special about that memory?
- If you could feed one animal, which would it be? What would you feed them?
- What animals do you think are in zoos in foreign countries? Why?
- What are some facts you learned about animals?
- Do you have any pets at home? How do house pets differ from zoo animals?
- Are the animals better off in the zoo or in the wild? Why?
- Have you seen any animals before you went to the zoo? If so, where?
- Did you see any mammals at the zoo? If so, which ones? What makes an animal classify as a mammal?
- Did your favorite animal change after going to the zoo? Why or why not?
- Did all the animals walk on four legs? If not, how did they walk? Why don’t they use four legs?
- What surprised you at the zoo? Why was that surprising to you?
- If you could change one thing about the zoo, what would it be?
Looking For More Information?
If you’re interested in more information and resources for teachers, there are plenty throughout our website that can be easily shared with friends and coworkers – take a look at our writing prompts about pets!
If you have a suggestion for information or a resource that you don’t currently see on our website, please contact us!
Thanks 🙂
