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If your little ones are fascinated by animals, let them step into the shoes of a zookeeper for a day with this Fun Zookeeper Animal Care Activity for Kids. It’s a great daycare activity or something to do with your kids at home.

A zookeeper animal care activity is a wonderful way to combine dramatic play with learning about animals, their habitats, and the importance of caring for living creatures. This hands-on activity can be done at home, in a classroom, or even at a daycare center, making it perfect for groups of kids eager to explore the animal kingdom.

This activity can introduce kids to careers as animal care professionals, veterinary technicians, animal care staff, conservation projects, research projects, and more. There is so much to explore in the animal keeping profession and so many amazing animals to learn about for the kids as they discover more about the zoo and for future zoo visitors they might influence.

Everyone can be enriched by learning about animal husbandry and daily animal care. What’s important about an animal’s environment, animal training, and the hard work of animal husbandry. 

For more animal activities for kids, check these out:

• Polar Animals Activities for Kids
• Coffee Filter Under Sea Suncatchers Activity
• Fun Farm Animals Dramatic Play Ideas
• Pet Shop Dramatic Play Printable

Zookeeper Activity for Daycare

Before the kids dive into their zookeeper duties, take a few minutes to teach them about the role of a zookeeper. Discuss the different things a zookeeper does, such as:

• Feeding Animals: Talk about what each animal eats. For example, a lion might eat meat, while a monkey might enjoy bananas.
• Grooming Animals: Explain why some animals need to be groomed and cleaned to stay healthy.
• Observing Animal Behavior: Share how zookeepers observe animals to make sure they are healthy and happy.
• Providing Enrichment: Discuss how zookeepers create activities to keep animals engaged and active.

How to Play Zookeeper

Once the zoo area is ready, here are some ways you can encourage kids to play:

• Feeding Time: Give the kids pretend food items that match each animal’s diet. Let them “feed” the animals by placing the food in the designated bowls.
• Grooming and Cleaning: Provide small brushes or combs for grooming furry animals like lions and bears. For water-loving animals like penguins, you can set up a mini pool with water (if it’s outside) or just pretend to fill their pool.
• Animal Health Check-Up: Use toy stethoscopes to let the kids play veterinarian and give the animals a check-up. They can pretend to listen to their heartbeat, check their teeth, or bandage a pretend injury.

To wrap up the zookeeper activity, gather the kids for a storytime session about zoo animals. Choose books about zookeepers, like “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell. Alternatively, let each child present their favorite animal and share what they learned about taking care of it, creating a mini animal show.

Activity Extender Ideas

• Encourage kids to find supplies in nature to create habitats for the animals. For example, a small branch can be used as a tree in a tiger habitat.
• Separate the habitats with the toy fence.
• Add bubble bath soap to the bath side.
• Kids can bathe the animals with sponges, loofahs, and toothbrushes.
• Encourage your child to talk about what they’re doing to work on vocabulary skills. They can use words like habitat, scrub, muddy, and enrichment.
• Crafts and Snacks: Include animal-themed crafts like making animal masks or creating paper plate lions. You could also serve snacks that fit the zoo theme, like “monkey bananas” or “tiger stripes” (cheese sticks).
• Zoo-Themed Songs: Play or sing zoo-themed songs like “We’re Going to the Zoo” or “Five Little Monkeys.” Music adds excitement and rhythm to the play session.
• Scavenger Hunt: Create a simple scavenger hunt where kids have to find different animals around the room or yard, simulating a zookeeper’s job of checking on all the animals.