During enrichment week the children in the Reception class at Stephenson Way Academy were very lucky to meet Rob from Zoolab and experience some real wild animals. Currently they are learning about Africa as part of a ‘Tinga Tinga Tales’ topic, so Rob brought in a collection of African animals. All the children were immediately engaged and curious as to which animals were hiding inside the various sized boxes. Rob gave the children a clue then they had to guess the animal in each box. Once they had got past the idea of a six foot elephant in the holdall, or a fully grown giraffe in Rob’s car, they were able to make sensible guesses. First to be revealed were Turbo and Shelley the Giant African Land Snails.
The children were given the opportunity to hold one of the snails whilst they listened to fun facts about them. Their favourite fact was that snail slime is an ingredient of face creams used by their mams and dads. The next animal to be revealed was a cockroach named Matilda. Rob explained to the fascinated children that the only four things a cockroach doesn’t eat are plastic, metal, glass and brick. The children then looked at Tallulah Tarantula and held Iceman a Giant African Millipede. Throughout the session, Rob was very friendly, attentive and encouraging to those that were a little unsure (including the staff).
One of the children’s favourites was Prince Harry the Central African Royal Python and nearly all the children wanted to hold him. Their final encounter was with Ted the black and yellow Salamander. Everyone had a great time and it was an amazing experience for the children who learnt both the names of African animals as well as facts about them. All the children and staff would like to thank Zoolab for the amazing experience! www.zoolabuk.com
