Early Years

Kindy & Prep

Discovery Experiences

Discovery Experiences are designed to enhance your group's visit to Australia Zoo. Presented by an Education Officer, each child will be engaged through hands-on, curriculum-based learning experiences as they explore in a classroom like no other!

Discovery Experiences can be delivered to groups of up to 10 children at a time and can be booked as a half or full day program*. Depending on staffing, we can run multiple sessions simultaneously. Please contact our Group Bookings Department for arrival and departure times.

* Half day program available for kindy and prep students only

Aussie Animals
True blue like a kangaroo

Check out these little beauties: cuddly koalas and jumping joeys, waddling wombats and spiky echidnas! Australian Animals are truly amazing. This is your chance to get close and personal with these fair dinkum Aussie icons as we investigate their habitats, and discover ways you can help protect them at school and in your own backyards. Aussie Animals is perfect for young children, with plenty of fun and hands-on interaction. So hop along for an absolute ripper of an experience!

Animal Babies
There are certainly no nappies on these little snappies!

Come on a wonderful journey to discover how life begins; as a tiny kangaroo joey, a snappy little alligator or even a squealing piglet down at the Kids Zoo! Animal Babies gives children the opportunity to help out with our bottle feed in the Kids Zoo as well as come face to tiny face with one of our gorgeous little alligator infants. What better way to discover the miracles of birth than at Australia Zoo where animal mums and babies RULE!

Animal Hide & Seek
Ready or not... here I come!

You play Hide and Seek, but did you know that hiding is not just a game for some animals; it's a matter of survival. Find out which animals use their spots and stripes, or even change colour, to help them camouflage into their surrounding environment! Come along, explore the Zoo surrounds, and try to spot some of these animals playing Hide and Seek!

Animal Investigations
The Telltale Scale

The Case of the Missing Fruit has gone cold. We've been flat out collecting evidence and now it's your turn to come along and help us to solve this mystery by investigating what we've found. Along the way we will examine the strange but wonderful differences between scaly, feathery, and furry body coverings through an exciting, interactive and hands-on approach. Can we count on your help to solve the case of the missing fruit?

Grade 1 & 2

Tribe Talks

Tribe Talks are a thirty-minute presentation delivered by one of our education staff in our beautiful surrounds (weather permitting). Of course, Australia Zoo has a reputation for up close encounters with our wildlife, and the Tribe Talk is no exception. The presentation includes a visit from an animal, relevant to your selected topic, that your students may have the opportunity to touch. There is also time for questions and answers at the conclusion of the Tribe Talk.

Tribe Talks are charged at our cheapest supplementary educational program rate, and can be delivered to groups of up to 40 students. Depending on staffing, we can accommodate up to two groups at a session time. Can't find the exact topic you're looking for? Give us a call, and we will discuss with you how we can modify an existing talk to suit your needs.

• Animal Adaptations
  (Science LL 1.1)
  Each species of animal has features (both physical and behavioural) that help it to survive, and meet its needs, within the environment that it inhabits. Using examples of animals in the Zoo, we help your students to make the connection between an animal's environment, its needs and its special features. Understanding adaptations opens up a whole new world of appreciation for nature.

• Australian Animals
  (Science LL 1.1, 1.2)
  Our sunburnt country is absolutely teeming with unique wildlife. In this Tribe Talk we learn about how special our monotremes and marsupials are, and what makes them different to the mammals in the rest of the world. We also look at the ecological roles filled by Aussie wildlife, and how our animals differ from those on other continents.

Walkabout Tours

A Walkabout Tour is a guided tour provided by one of our Education Officers. Key commentary is provided at select enclosures in accordance with the topic you have chosen. Walkabout tours can be up to 45 minutes in duration, and are best conducted for groups of between 10-15.

Education staff may be booked out for particular days, so advanced planning and bookings are essential. If you have any further questions about the content of our programs, or need help selecting one that is right for your group, please don't hesitate to contact us.

• Baby Animals and Aussie Icons
  (Science LL 1.1, 1.3, D1.4)
  What could be cuter than woolly lambs, wriggling piglets and cuddly koalas? We take your students to the most interactive of our enclosures and examine the needs of the animals who reside there. We also consider the components of their environments and the changes which take place as they grow. This hands-on tour is perfect for the children in the early years.

• Living in Wet and Dry Environments
  (Science LL 1.1, 1.3)
  Could you imagine a fish living up a tree; or a koala swimming around under the sea? I didn't think so! We go on a tour to check out the living and non-living elements of wet and dry environments and the differences between them. You might be quite surprised to find out just how well animals have adapted to living in these specific environmental conditions.