Since this is National Zoo Keeper Week, I thought it would be fun to do a couple little zoo activities with the kids.

We first made some homemade zoo keeper hats. These hats are super simple to make and so much fun to make with kids. All you need for this project is paper plates, paper bowls, hot glue, brown crayons or markers, paper punch and yarn.

Zoo Keeper Hat Instructions:

• First you color the back of the paper plates and paper bowls brown with crayons or markers. You could also use paint if you want.
• Then you cut a hole in the middle of the paper plate big enough for the bowl to fit inside.
• Now you hot glue the paper plate to the paper bowl
• Next using the paper punch, put a hold on each side of the hat to attach the string to the hat.
• Finally cut a string that is long enough the the person wearing the hat and attached is to the hat using the holes you just paper punched.

The cutest little zoo board book ever is Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell. This book has been around since 1982 and is still a very popular book. It is a Lift-the-Flap book that has an animal behind each flap. Kids love guessing what kind of animal is behind each flap.

I put together an activity to do with the kids while reading them this book. All you need is the 8 animals in the book (Elephant, Giraffe, Lion, Camel, Snake, Monkey, Frog and Dog), some brown craft paper, tape and labels that say FROM THE ZOO. Wrap each animal separately with the brown craft paper and put one of the FROM THE ZOO labels on each package. Then I placed all the packages in a small basket.

As you read the book, have the kids open each animal as you come to that part of the book.

Reading this book to the kids was so much fun. It allowed them to interact with the book. They loved opening each animal as we came to that page in the book. You can do so many different activities with this book. Depending on the age of the kids you are reading it to, you could use wooden letters to match up with each animal and/or you could talk about specifics about each animal (like what color they are, where they live, what they like to eat, what sounds they make or what they look like).

Dear Zoo has been a wonderful addition to our children’s book collection. What are some of your favorite zoo themed children’s books? We absolutely love books at our house, so I would love you hear your favorites. Thanks for stopping back and I will talk to you again soon!

-Kim