Children's Zoo Ideas

Children's Zoo sections can seem kind of stale anymore. At least to me. To be fair, though, I am no longer the target audience of sections like these. I thought it would be a fun exercise to come up with children's zoos that defy expectations and that have appeal to children and their parents with interactive design elements and interesting exhibits. No real rules. Just interested in seeing what ideas we can come up with new ideas for children's zoos to make them a little more fresh and exciting.

Here's mine. It kind of goes along the same vein as Elephant Odyssey. The concept is displaying the modern domesticated version of an animal commonly found on a farm alongside it's counterpart from the wild. Where that isn't possible, other situations have been planned.

There would be a sheep exhibit and along with the standard sheering demonstrations and the like there would be an exhibit nearby displaying Mouflon to show how the modern sheep descended from them.

A chicken coop would open up into an aviary for Red Jungle Fowl.

A pond would display common domesticated goose species and then display Greylag Goose and Swan Goose. Alongside common ducks and mallards.

A display for donkeys would give way to a display for Wild African Ass (I am not sure about this as I am not sure any American zoos still have or have had Wild African Ass). If that is not an option, an interactive display with a large statue of the Wild Ass would be there.

Another species that I am not sure would be feasible in the United States but may be overseas would be goats. You can have your standard goat feeding, petting and grooming area, but it should be next to a ridge for Bezoar Ibex or Sindh Ibex. If those species aren't available a climbing structure with a large statue of the species should be nearby with plenty of interactive design and information elements.

The next two I know are impossible.

A horse display. Nearby a display featuring the Tarpan in either animatronic or statue form.

Same for cows and Aurochs.

To be fair, my design ideas for the section focus heavily on putting together a mix of species that might seem incongruous at first, but will hopefully make sense in the end as it shows where the species started and where they have wound up in regard to domestication and our use for them. I focused less on the interactive elements because, admittedly, I just turned 40 and realistically have no idea what a child would want interactive-wise. I just know that while kids and adults may enjoy feeding and petting goats, tossing feed to chickens, watching sheep shearing demonstrations of milking demonstrations it would also be interesting and informative to see how domestication happened and supposedly how. Lessons on extinction and conversation are also readily available to be explained with some of the species involved (extinct Tarpans and Aurochs, vulnerable Ibex species...)

Before I go I think there should also be a bee exhibit. I love a good bee exhibit and...have never seen one lol. I picture a scenario where the display for the bees is a walkthrough "hive." Guests walk through and through the use of animatronics and video displays see how bees function, their hierarchies and how bee keeping works. This would culminate in a display of an actual working bee hive and a small gift shop selling honey and bee related items.

Anyway, those are some ideas I have. I am super excited to see what we can come up with here!

 

Somali Wild Ass are present in US Zoos so could be an option. For some of the others, there are viable alternatives:

- Goats could be displayed next to the Nubian Ibex.
- Horse can be displayed next to the Przewalski's Wild Horse.
- Cattle can be displayed next to Banteng.

I would also recommend possibly looking into some of the following:
- Llama/Alpaca displayed next to Guanaco/Vicuña
- Displaying farm animals from other regions/cultures, such as yaks, watusi, water Buffalo, camels, guineafowl, boer goat, emu, and Guinea pig- as some examples.

 

A sort of regional farm zoo would be super interesting. Set up in a circle and letting families go continent by continent to see which breeds of certain zoo animals originate from which countries. I mean, the lineages of some breeds are pretty dang murky, but this could work and be pretty dang cool. Even seeing how certain wild animals interact with agriculture like civets and the like.

 

For Tarpan and Aurochs you could use Heck Horses and Heck Cattle as stand-ins.

Persian Ibex are introduced in New Mexico, so you could probably capture some to use as display animals.

Somali Wild Asses are in US zoos, so you could use them.

You could also display Llamas next to Guanacos.

 

I already talked about this on the ways to improve your zoo thread but I actually really like the idea of converting one of those infamous animatronic dinosaur exhibits into a children's area that compares dinosaurs to modern-day birds. The St. Louis Zoo has done this with its Dinoroarus but from what I've seen (I've never actually been), the bird exhibits are more of an afterthought and seem underwhelming. With focus on intriguing exhibitry, interactive opportunities, and play, I think this is actually a really solid idea for a children's area. Kids love dinosaurs, and this would be a cool way to use that as a jumping off point to inspire awe in extant species.

 

Add in as well some "ancient" Species to show what animals dinosaurs shared the earth with, such as an exhibit for crocodiles.

 

This vision is very academic, imo. Might be of some interest to parents but if you visit a zoo with children (or even observe children at the zoo) you'll quickly see that they want to be active and interactive. Children are kinetic creatures and most need to move not observe, they want to touch not read, they want the experience to be about them not didactic exhibits.
If you want to generate ideas that defy expectations and could work you need to start with the target audience.
And I have to say your choice to model it on the most perplexing zoo complex in North America is curious. Has Elephant Odyssey been such a hit that it needs to be a role model? There's a reason no one has ever taken it as their model before

 

Well I think it's important to note with the "target audience" that children are only part of the equation- it's children AND their parents. So, while yes, it is imperative to have play areas/interactivity, choosing a theme for what animals to display- even if the kids may not inherently "get it", is still an important step. Especially with how common farm-themed children's zoos are, incorporating Wild counterparts into it would breathe new life into the concept and allow some additional learning opportunities, provided that play/interactive options are also included. In this instance, a farm-themed children's zoo, some possible interactive stations are:
-milking a wooden cow (always a popular activity at places with this)
- collecting wooden eggs from a chicken coop
- "gardening"/fake garden
- fake farmer's market where kids can "sell" vegetables, fruits, eggs, etc.
- fake horse and fake tractor kids can ride (or just sit on)
- some sort of craft station with wool/yarn

 

A few other children's zoo ideas:

- Native Wildlife: I know a few places do this, but I still think it's worth mentioning since it's a great idea, in my opinion. Obviously species would vary dependent on region, but still important for kids to know what animals live in their own neighborhood. This idea also pairs well with ambassador animals, who are oftentimes native species.

- The Five Senses/Adaptations: yes, I know, there are more than five senses. But five is what kids are normally taught, making this an easy concept for them to understand. Have a children's zoo split into five sections, focusing on animals with really cool Adaptations to that sense. For instance, the sight area could include Raptors with really good eyesight, a Nocturnal house to show how some animals use eyesight differently, the smell section could include snakes or other reptiles that smell with their tongues, Giant anteaters, and other animals with highly evolved smell, etc. All five senses have different unique abilities in different species, making this a really cool concept for a children's zoo.

- The ABC's: think like a children's book, but let's replace Alligators, bears, cats with Aardvarks, Binturong, Capybara. I'm sure there could be some great species lists and some really creative opportunities to do an alphabet themed children's zoo.

- everybody eats: a food themed children's zoo. Not food webs, or human food, but everything gross and awesome about how animals eat. Have a "bug cafe" where kids can try different edible bugs near exhibits for insectivores such as anteaters and aardvarks. Highlight species that eat plants that are poisonous to people, sucb as eucalyptus (koala) and pothos (prehensile Tailed skinks), and highlight some of the incredible adaptations that allow animals to eat, such as the fast speed of cheetahs, the claws of sloth bears, or echolocation in bats. Perhaps an exhibit of pollinators could also be included in this concept. Lastly, highlight animals with a similar diet to humans, to allow connections to your own life. Interactive elements to this theme could also be cool, such as a fake commissary where kids can make an animal'a diet.

 

Me, too, noticed that the children area is usually the most frequented part of the zoo, but zoo put little care what is inside. It is a wasted opportunity to do much conservation and education, and for two rather different audiences: children and attending parents who often are slightly bored.

It would be good if such a children zoo taught actionable things, so things where visitors can do something themselves, for example buying fish from sustainable fisheries, supporting a local nature reserve etc.

But zoos are about wild animals. Why to teach about a farm? There are children farms for this. Especailly, that modern agriculture looks nothing like a zoo farm. Cows live all year in barns for 100s and are milked by machines, Better pick wild animals which are not aggressive and can be interacted with, and pick educational topic about wildlife.

Exactly. And the third word: unstructured. Children need unstructured play, when they themselves choose what to do. If you give them a basket to collect eggs, half of children will perceive it as a chore akin to washing the dishes.

I had some visions of children zoo in these threads:
All weather children zoo - Very Wild Asia
Jurek's Children Zoo

 

I think for a long time the thinking was a farm represents where animals and people are most likely to 'connect' and it would therefore make it easier to teach children about that connection. It no doubt helps that for a while it seemed the thinking was to only let guests interact with domestics, ie petting goat yards, during which it seemed like the idea of letting guests pet or interact with exotics was becoming entirely taboo, before before animal ambassadors seemed to return to the scene as a viable pathway for connection.

 

In France the children zoos are often basical and with little zoological interest, they are mostly small paddocks with common breeds of farm animals : sheep, goats, mini-pigs, poultry, ponies, donkeys, and sometimes llamas, rabbits and guinea pigs (the cows are curiously absent).
There are much more rich children zoos in other countries (USA, Great Britain) even if some displays like "animal ambassador" sessions are controversial, having their pro- and cons-.

My "dream" children zoo would be a real section of the zoo, with a mix of wild and domesticated species.
There would be ancient breeds of livestock, as well as "exotic" species as yaks, camels and water buffaloes. Besides their paddocks there would be other large enclosures (plains and woodland) for the wild cousins of these animals : Mediterranean mouflons, wild boars, Przewalski's horses, kulans...
A building could house various pets as rodents, budgies, canaries, ferrets, goldfish... and even domestic cats and dogs. The public would be trained to keep properly their own pets at home.
There would be also an "adventure" section with a Robinson Crusoe style island, with lush vegetation. At the entrance there would be red-eared sliders (given by private owners, as it's forbidden to release them in nature) in a pond and macaws in a nearby enclosure, then there would be a bridge above enclosures for ring-tailed lemurs, saimiris and/or capuchins. A walkthrough aviary could display a colony of lorikeets and maybe other parakeets (cockatiel, rose-ringed parakeet) that the children (and adults) could feed. The most interesting place of this section would be a false termite mound with a cave. After a sandy enclosure with meerkats or dwarf mongooses, the children could walk inside and see colonies of naked mole-rats, Egyptian fruit bats, black or brown rats, harvester ants, toads, ball pythons, corn snakes, millipedes, tarantulas and cockroaches.
At the end of the path, there would also be a pond for various species of ducks and geese, and a small vivarium/greenhouse with stick insects, butterflies, beetles (both exotic and natives), geckos, chameleons and green iguanas, and outdoor enclosures for European pond tortoises, Greek and/or Hermann's tortoises.

I think about it because I have a (fictive) plan to turn an abandoned amusement park into a zoo, this topic fits with the plan.

 

Interesting ideas, maybe some of the species would not be available? Good thinking!

 

All these species are displayed in European zoos, most of them are common to abundant.
For an Australian collection, it wouldn't be hard to find proxies for the species unavailable in this country (e.g. the tortoises and turtles). They would even add more value to the species list, highlighting the native biodiversity.

 

I like that idea. Why not put cattle in with Heck cattle? Assuming those are in the USA. What about also including other domestic varieties of species like guinea fowl or peafowl? Or lamas and alpacas and guanacos?

 

I know some zoos focus on domesticated species for their children's zoos because there is often a disconnect for people from larger cities to families who live in more rural areas. Urban living doesn't give one much of a chance to interact with cows and horses. Not as much as rural living may provide the opportunity. Usually this is done because zoos are trying to reach out to those children who may not have that access that others do. My initial concept was to allow them to be able to interact with those domesticated species and also, at the same time, learning about other species that are not and opening that window into a bigger experience.

I also agree that children need unstructured play, but there is an increasing number of children who also need structured play for various reasons in order to feel comfortable and be able to have fun. It is important that a children zoo offers BOTH experiences. My nephews both have autism and without some sort of structure built into their play routine, especially in a place that is not familiar to them, it creates anxiety and other issues for them. Children zoos need to place this into consideration.

 

Frfr, considerations for special needs children need to be taken. I think the best thing would be to make sure that the children's zoo area can be heavily controlled in terms of noise pollution from guests

 

One other children's zoo idea that came to mind. Children tend to be fascinated by the "smaller" parts of the environment, from playing with dirt, mud, sand, etc. and one group of small animals that was a big part in many people's childhood were bugs! With the decreased opportunities for nature-type play, I'm willing to bet a lot of children don't have as much exposure with bugs as they historically would've. Designing a children's zoo with a special focus on bugs could be a unique idea that's popular with children, and by doubling as an insectarium provides a unique, different opportunity for adults as well. Indoor components of the children's zoo should include a bug zoo with various species of insects and arachnids, plus a butterfly Pavilion with free-flying butterflies (something I'm sure kids would be excited by). Outdoors, naturally planted pollinator gardens could help attract native bugs for people to find in the wild as well. The zoo could provide magnifying glasses and bug-catching kits to encourage children to interact with this part of nature. An animal ambassadors station would also be included, allowing people to get an up-close look (and possibly a touch opportunity) with Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches, and/or other invertebrates. Most of all, however, a good children's zoo relies on play opportunities, which is why it'd be important to build a bug-themed playground. For this, I'd propose building a "larger than life" playground that "shrinks" the people down to the size of an ant. Have human-sized ant and bee climbing structures alongside giant blades of grass, etc.- sort of like the now-closed but utterly awesome "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" playground from Disney World. And then, end the children's zoo with a small café, featuring bug-themed offerings- perhaps even edible insects. Maybe an edible bug taste testing station would be a possibility. Lastly, a traditional zoo-style exhibit could be paired with this children's zoo, with the theme of insectivores and animals with special adaptations to eat insects. Each of these exhibits could be paired with interactive stations allowing children to simulate these animals/try out their special Adaptations. Possibilities for this exhibit include Giant anteaters, Sloth bears, aardvarks, and bee-eaters, along with indoor habitats for various amphibians and insectivorous reptiles (Leopard Geckos, Chameleons, etc.).

 

That's a really cool idea. We have something "similar" to that here in Chicago at the Field Museum, although the focus is on soil for that exhibit and how certain insects are important to the health of soil, but it does have large animatronic insects (earwigs, ants...) to help provide the story needed for the educational element. I also remember not too long ago the zoo had an interesting exhibit in the old picnic section next to the former children's zoo based on large animatronic insects and also displaying actual insects. The outdoor section was mostly larger than life animatronic insects with small docent-monitored exhibits for various live insects. There was a large tent where most of the exhibits for the live insects were as well as tons of hands-on games and learning experiences for children of all ages (I am an adult and I had fun with some of the inventive exhibits they offered as well) including an area where a chef was offering insect tastings such as poached waxworms on apples with a drizzle of honey and cinnamon and sugar fried waxworms (which strangely tasted like Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal...makes you wonder...). At that moment I thought that with a bit more thought and a dedicated building this would make an amazing experience for families as it had plenty of opportunities for play/learning for children and it was equally entertaining for adults.

I also know, and I forget which zoo facility it is located at, that there are exhibits for other species such as naked mole rats to display other colony-type behavior in species outside of insects. Other places have included hummingbirds with their butterflies as well as bat caves nearby (not in the same exhibit) to help a discussion on pollination.

As for structured play, activities like building bug hotels, butterfly feeders, hummingbird feeders and other things can take place with the guidance of staff. Dig stations, large play structures and other elements can easily be incorporated into this idea. I seriously love this idea.

 

I was eight years old when I visited the Field Museum, so don't remember much, but one thing I do remember is some sort of exhibit that "shrunk" people, specifically I remember a floor to ceiling penny. Clearly it must've been a well-designed area for kids if it's one of the few things I remember from a visit as an eight-year-old.